I'm Addicted to Love...(ing) the Internet

The DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Health Disorders is about to publish its 5^th version, the DSM-V. With this new revision, those in charge of the manual have made several changes. Some of these changes are due to outdated diagnoses and new information psychologists have gathered on current diagnoses. Some of the changes are as simple as a name change in order to place a diagnosis into a new category, while some changes are due because society has changed itself.

One of these new changes to the DSM involves addictions. Before talking about addictions. One must know what the DSM and psychologist refer to as mental illness. It can be defined as “medical conditions that disrupt a person's thinking, feeling, mood, ability to relate to others and daily functioning. Just as diabetes is a disorder of the pancreas, mental illnesses are medical conditions that often result in a diminished capacity for coping with the ordinary demands of life.” (http://www.nami.org/template.cfm?section=about_mental_illness). With this being said, one would think an addiction would be something that would have an affect, whether positive or negative, on ones self. So, when the updated version of the DSM is published, I wonder how they can say that gambling can be an addiction, but Internet and sex are not. Nothing explains why, or how, the writers decided which addictions would be part of the DSM and which would not. But when one thinks about the definition, anything one does to an extreme disrupts part of their life. It can be drugs, gambling, Internet, working out, church, etc. However, all this being said, after reading a few articles, I have to agree with the new DSM, at least on the part of internet not being part of an addiction, but I think sex should be included.

Once they cross the borders of including Internet as an addiction, then there has to be a type of treatment, and this also opens up a whole new world of possible addictions. John Grohol, Founder & Editor-in-Chief explains it as “If people are using the Internet to socialize — on Facebook, Twitter, etc. — how can we turn around and characterize that as a bad thing? Would we engage in the same negative characterization if we were referring to someone who simply did this over the telephone? Or face-to-face?” (http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2011/04/10/virginia-heffernan-on-internet-addiction/). Technology has changed the way we do things and there is no way around that fact. If using the Internet is labeled as an addiction, how do we draw the line? I know I’ve spent countless hours in front of my computer this semester alone studying for school and doing research. I have an I-phone that allows me to check my email anytime, anywhere as well as stay connected with what I need to. Even our class uses this source, the blog, as a resource to share our knowledge as well as using something called “Black Board” that allow professors to post class material. Isn’t that all using the Internet? So if it is considered an addiction, would that make me an addict?

I can see how some people can become caught up within the technological world. There’s Facebook, where people confess to spending hours in front of distracting them from the real reason they got onto the computer in the first place. Other mediums, such as games have developed whole worlds, such as World of Warcraft, where players have this alternate life in another world. People spend days playing this game and even making schedules around events going on in the game. So yes, I do believe there can be extremes, such as there is an extreme to everything. But should we label using the Internet as an addiction that one needs help, what kind of help should they receive. Is there going to be yet another type of medication that will supposedly decrease the amount of time one spends online?

An article in the New York Times by Virginia Heffernan gives an account of one person’s self-proclaimed addiction to using the Internet. This lady explains that she spends a majority of her time on the computer, day through night, but yet she remains successful. Heffernan does not believe that this is so much a problem, as an outlet. Heffernan explains that Dr. Kimberly Young, a professor of business at St. Bonaventure University believes it “allows us to create new personalities and use them to fulfill unmet psychological needs” — which sounds worrying except that art, entertainment and communications systems are designed explicitly to permit self-exploration and satisfy psychological needs.” (http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/09/miss-g-a-case-of-internet-addiction/). Heffernan also stated that, just like the Internet, Opera and novels used to be considered addictive and problem causing. But, we won’t ever see those in the DSM.

So yes, some people out there spend too much time in front of their computers. They have chosen technology over sunshine and friendships. Their sedentary lifestyle is, or probably will cause them health problems in the future. But can wanting to stay close to friends, or do research for an article, or even post a blog about your feelings really be considered an addiction. Does it really interrupt ones life, or, since this is the technological age, does it just allow us to fit in and stay caught up with the times.