Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD)
I just wrote a blog post about Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD) and wanted to bring the questions here, to the Mental Health group and see what others think. Because IAD is so closely tied to other mental health issues - I thought people here would have the best perspective to speak about IAD and think about it critically and honestly.
Supporters of disorder classification often divide IAD into subtypes by activity:
• excessive viewing of pornography
• overwhelming and excessive gaming
• inappropriate involvement in online social networking sites or blogging
• Internet shopping addiction
Some supporters would like to see this type of addiction added to the next version of the DSM-V, which will be released in 2012. Supporters in the medical community believe that IAD affects a person because it alters their mood a lot like other addictions, and that change in body chemistry can become addictive. They tend toward classifying IAD as a compulsion or as a psychological escape (because it is often triggered by anxiety or stressful situation).
Oppositions come from the belief that the internet is a social environment, which can't really cause a person to be addicted. (You can't be addicted to your hometown, for example). "For many patients, overuse or inappropriate use of the Internet is merely a manifestation of their depression, anxiety, impulse control disorders, or pathological gambling. IAD is compared to food addiction, in which patients overeat as a form of self-medication for depression, anxiety, etc., without actually being truly addicted to eating."
A new treatment center called "reStart Internet Addiction Recover Program" offers a 45-day treatment that's "designed specifically to help internet and video game addicts overcome their dependence on gaming, gambling, chatting, texting and other aspects of internet addiction." The program, however, costs $14,500. Do you think that's right? According to their online test to see if you have IAD, the reStart center seems to side with the supports who believe that the internet provides an mood response within people that in turn causes their addiction. They basically become addicted to the "high" they get from doing whatever it is online that they need (gaming, chatting, shopping, gambling, etc).
What do you think? Does IAD sound like its own disorder? Does it sound like IAD is more of a coping method of self-medication, obsession, or compulsion (similar to those associated with depression, anxiety, etc?) What sort of treatment do you think would work? Do you or someone you know experience IAD? Do you think the internet is the cause or something else?
Read more about IAD at PsychCentral
Supporters of disorder classification often divide IAD into subtypes by activity:
• excessive viewing of pornography
• overwhelming and excessive gaming
• inappropriate involvement in online social networking sites or blogging
• Internet shopping addiction
Some supporters would like to see this type of addiction added to the next version of the DSM-V, which will be released in 2012. Supporters in the medical community believe that IAD affects a person because it alters their mood a lot like other addictions, and that change in body chemistry can become addictive. They tend toward classifying IAD as a compulsion or as a psychological escape (because it is often triggered by anxiety or stressful situation).
Oppositions come from the belief that the internet is a social environment, which can't really cause a person to be addicted. (You can't be addicted to your hometown, for example). "For many patients, overuse or inappropriate use of the Internet is merely a manifestation of their depression, anxiety, impulse control disorders, or pathological gambling. IAD is compared to food addiction, in which patients overeat as a form of self-medication for depression, anxiety, etc., without actually being truly addicted to eating."
A new treatment center called "reStart Internet Addiction Recover Program" offers a 45-day treatment that's "designed specifically to help internet and video game addicts overcome their dependence on gaming, gambling, chatting, texting and other aspects of internet addiction." The program, however, costs $14,500. Do you think that's right? According to their online test to see if you have IAD, the reStart center seems to side with the supports who believe that the internet provides an mood response within people that in turn causes their addiction. They basically become addicted to the "high" they get from doing whatever it is online that they need (gaming, chatting, shopping, gambling, etc).
What do you think? Does IAD sound like its own disorder? Does it sound like IAD is more of a coping method of self-medication, obsession, or compulsion (similar to those associated with depression, anxiety, etc?) What sort of treatment do you think would work? Do you or someone you know experience IAD? Do you think the internet is the cause or something else?
Read more about IAD at PsychCentral
Tags: addiction, anxiety, compulsion, depression, gambling, internet, online, self-medication, treatment
© 2009 Created by Marie
