Web Addiction Could Become An Official Disorder
from the sign-me-up... dept
Researchers are now proposing that excessive web surfing be classified as a disorder. The article points out that diagnosis and treatment of such a “disorder” could have a huge impact on business. What other disorder is actually a requirement of some jobs? You don’t have jobs where you need to drink all day, but you do have jobs that require you to be online all day. I’m certainly not a psychologist, but I find it hard to believe that internet addiction is a separate classification all on its own, rather than an indication that something else is wrong.
Comments on “Web Addiction Could Become An Official Disorder”
Addiction is multifaceted
Each type of addiction requires its own treatment. Social phenomena change with the times; gin addiction was a very serious problem during the Victorian Era, yet we do not talk about gin addiction today.
No Subject Given
It sounds to me like a case of the usual prejudice against intellectual activities. Notice that there’s never been a serious move to classify addictions to sports, television shows, talking on the phone, or similar things — because those are the activities that the popular/jock-type individuals do. There has long been a prejudice by the average masses against the relatively rare people that prefer individual intellectual activities of any kind, whether it involves physics, books, or working with computers. This is just the latest manifestation of that.
Re: No Subject Given
When has there ever been a classification for book addiction?
I have this disorder.
It’s hard to not click on that little blue e. I just want a little more information. I want to know what’s cool, what’s new, what’s happening. I click on it when I should be doing other things. I am not addicted to anything, I am not depressed – far from it, and I live an otherwise normal life. But I am online more than is healthy. You can call it what you want, but for me, addiction is a pretty damn good word.
Web addiction
A disorder, eh? So, that would mean that it falls under the Americans with Disabilities Act, and my employer would be required to make “reasonable accommodations” to my condition – justification for upgrading the corporate bandwidth! Justification for “browser breaks”! Do I get company-paid counseling?
No Subject Given
just more of the “I’m not responsible, its (an addiction, a disease, the fault of a big company, someone else)” dogma that’s pervalent in our society these days.
wwwithdrawal tremors
Au contraire…First part of fixing a ‘problem’ is to identify it, give it an accurate name, recognize its existence and our responsibility for it. I guess.
Sinceriously: the screen could become, to the user, their spouse’s competition, even without surfing the internet. First it’s word processing, the thrill of seeing one’s name in exotic typestyles. Then it leads to stronger stuff – spread sheets. Soon, it’s not a long distance to the soul-snatching graphics – pie-charts.
Next thing the addict learns, their spouse has fallen asleep … alone.
Web Addiction
People are not taking this seriously. My wife and son’s mother began playing World of Warcraft over a year ago, and we have not seen her since. When I threatened to stop paying the fee for our DSL line; she moved out, changed her address, and filed for a divorce; naming me as the custodial parent and abondoning both I and her son. She continues to play the game at her mother’s house and was fired from work. Still playing, even at this moment Im sure, she is unaware of the world around her.
I read that in China is has been clasified as a National problem affect 14% of the youths. Here in the states I believe it is probably higher like about 25%.
Joke if you want, laugh if you want, or read about Greenspans announcement we are going into a recession and consider the affects of the web in light of you losing your income, home, and family.