Internet addicts should be considered mentally ill
Chicago (IL) – Internet addiction should be considered a true mental illness, according to a recent editorial published in the prestigious American Journal of Psychiatry. Jerald Block MD says excessive online gaming, porn surfing along with e-mail and text messaging are signs of mental collapse and “merit inclusion” in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM V).
Block pointed to ten deaths in South Korean Internet cafes as sure signs of addiction. He adds that the average high school student in South Korea plays online games 23 hours a week and that more than 210,000 children required treatment for excessive gaming and Internet usage in 2006. Chinese figures show that 13.7% of teenagers are addicted to the Internet, according to Block.
Internet addiction is a real mental illness because it exhibits four characteristics said Block. The first is that online addicts lose the sense of time or neglect basic needs like sleeping and eating. Addicts also feel anger or depression when their computers are inaccessible. Block claims that online addicts continually buy better computer equipment or software. Finally, he says online addiction has serious negative repercussions like social isolation and poor achievement. Basically, he’s just described most World of Warcraft players I know. Trust me, I know how hard it is to quit.
Interestingly enough, Dr. Block owns a patent on a way to restrict computer access. According to the Journal, this was not considered to be a conflict of interest in publishing the editorial.
You can read Dr. Block’s editorial in the American Journal of Psychiatry here.
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He has just desrcibe me and Im 40. However I do have depression and a physical medical condition that helps that along plus I found myself secluded due to looking after my mother full time when she was ill. Now she has passed on I cant get myself out of the idea the ebs is the only thing I have to make my life slightly interesting.
"online addicts continually buy better computer equipment or software."
When I had my ZXspectrum I thought I could handle it.
Then I got an Amiga500. Just another level at 4am is nothing. I mean all my friends, - w,w doing it too.
In the 90s, I was at a friend’s house. In the corner he had a PC. It was only a 386, the sound and graphics were awful; but then he showed me Wolfenstein. That's when it all started to go wrong for me.
I got a PC of my own; I’d spend all my money on 4mb of ram - just to upgrade. I needed a sound blaster card and a matrox graphic card. Of course there were no 3d cards back in those days and the internet wasn’t in every home.
If I only knew what would happen I could have stopped myself. Now I’m up to 1 or 2 graphics card a week. I over clock them to get high of the fumes.
Please can someone help me??