14 DAY TRIAL // Internet addiction is a condition that, when first announced, raised a few eyebrows at best. Over the years, as more and more children and teens became glued to their computer monitors, it became painfully clear that this wasn't something that healthcare experts made up in their own spare time. In a paper presented in the October issue of one of the JAMA/Archives journals, Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, experts indicate that a number of psychiatric signals may indicate a developing Internet addiction in teens and children.
According to psychiatrists, those exhibiting signs of social phobia, hostility and depression, as well as those with an attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), may be at an increased risk of developing this type of addiction than others. This is especially true for teens, who are easily influenced by passing fads. They can suffer significant ill-effects from Internet addiction, ranging from alienating friends and family to suffering from low self esteem and negative emotional states, experts believe. School performances can also be adversely affected, although that may seem counter-intuitive, considering that the Internet is the main source of information for school projects and the like for teens.
“This phenomenon has been described as Internet addiction or problematic Internet use and classified as a possible behavior addiction. Identification of the risk factors for Internet addiction is therefore of clinical significance for the prevention of, and early intervention into, Internet addiction in adolescents,” the authors write in the journal entry. Some scientists have proposed that Internet and gaming addictions be added to the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Statistics show that 1.4 to 17.9 percent of teens in both Eastern and Western societies are addicted to one of the two, Science Daily reports.
The new study “results suggest that ADHD, hostility, depression and social phobia should be detected early on and intervention carried out to prevent Internet addiction in adolescents. Also, [gender] differences in psychiatric comorbidity should be taken into consideration when developing prevention and intervention strategies for Internet addiction,” the authors also add. “Our culture both mandates and facilitates time spent online. As pediatricians and indeed as parents, we have all experienced the pull that the Internet can have on children,” Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development expert Dimitri A. Christakis, M.D., M.P.H, concludes.