Internet Use Disorder is now an official disease in the DSM-IV. Think you’ve got it? Wasting hours on Facebook doesn’t count. — Click to Tweet.
The term “Internet Addiction Disorder” started life as a satirical hoax in 1995, but now the disease has gone official. The official psychiatrist’s manual now recognizes the disease.
But a diagnosis requires more than wasting a few hours on the Internet, so chances are you probably don’t have it. The medical term Internet Use Disorder applies mainly to children, and was coined thanks to the research of a few psychiatrists in Australia.
Children’s Dilemma
Children with Internet Use Disorder are said to experience withdrawal symptoms, experiencing nervousness, irritability, and even anguish when their computers, laptops, tablets, or smartphones are taken away from them.
With children, says Professors Mike Kyrios of Swinburne University of Technology, “gaming is an obvious issue.” But gaming is just one part of an overall technology problem.
Real Addiction
The inclusion of this new disease in the DSM-IV and DSM-V has definitely been controversial, but there is a lot of research to back it up. Internet addiction studies have demonstrated changes in people’s brains that correspond to the changes brought about by “cocaine, heroine, special K, and other substances.”
Brain areas that control attention, executive control, and emotional processing have all been shown to undergo changes during Internet addiction. Just like in drug use, important areas like the prefrontal cortex have been affected by the compulsive behavior.
Treating the Problem
Treatment for Internet addiction is especially tricky, because most people can’t just quit entirely. They need it for information, or they’re constantly bombarded by it anyway. In this way, Internet addiction is like food addiction, which is also very hard to treat.
Both addictions have to be managed, rather than cutting off the addictive substance completely, which is usually much easier. Cognitive behavior therapy has found a special niche in treating addictions like this one. CBT techniques try to treat a person how to replace damaging thought and behavior patterns with healthier substitutes. Studies have shown remarkable success with treating IUD this way, so who know what lies in the future!
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