Ah, what’s the new year without another look at “Internet addiction disorder,” especially since it’s being considered for inclusion into the DSM-V? Yours truly is quoted in this one, so at least it brings some balance to the topic. And I do note the tendency for researchers and policy makers working on the DSM-V to want to seem to err on the side of including more disorders according to what little information we have on the upcoming book (the DSM-V is being assembled in secret, so it’s pretty hard to tell what the heck they are doing over there).

What I do know is that the concept of “Internet addiction disorder” remains so muddled and contradictory, it would be a tragedy if this “diagnosis” was legitimized by the DSM-V, while other tragedies — such as TV addiction disorder, book addiction disorder, and socializing addiction disorder — remained unacknowledged (and therefore, ostensibly, untreated).

Read the full article: Once You Click, Can You Quit?

Dr. John Grohol is the CEO and founder of Psych Central. He is an author, researcher and expert in mental health online, and has been writing about online behavior, mental health and psychology issues -- as well as the intersection of technology and human behavior -- since 1992. Dr. Grohol sits on the editorial board of the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking and is a founding board member and treasurer of the Society for Participatory Medicine.

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    Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 4 Jan 2009
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