Original research into this disorder began with exploratory surveys, which cannot establish causalrelationships between specific behaviors and their cause. While surveys can help establish descriptions of how people feel about themselves and their behaviours, they cannot draw conclusions about whether a specific technology, such as the Internet, has actually caused those behaviours. Do some people have problems with spending too much time online? Sure they do. Some people also spend too much time reading, watching television, and working, and ignore family, friendships, and social activities. But do we have TV addiction disorder, book addiction, and work addictionbeing suggested as legitimate mental disorders in the same category as schizophrenia and depression? I think not. It's the tendency of some mental health professionals and researchers to want to label everything they see as potentially harmful with a new diagnostic category. Unfortunately, this causes more harm than it helps people.
What most people online who think they are addicted are probably suffering from is the desire to not want to deal with other problems in their lives. Those problems may be a mental disorder (depression, anxiety, etc.), social isolation, high pressure lifestyles or relationship problems. It is no different than turning on the TV so you won't have to talk to your spouse, or going "out for a big one" so you don't have to spend time at home. Nothing is different except the modality.
What some very few people who indulge in too much screen time without any other problems maysuffer from is compulsiveover-use. Not to downplay this over-use, compulsive behaviours are already covered by existing diagnostic categories..Process addictions of any kind have the ability to cause serious consequences just as substance addiction and are always to be taken seriously. It's not however, the technology (whether it be the Internet, a book, the telephone, or the television) that is important - it's the behaviour. Unhelpful or challenging behaviours are always treatable.
Posted by Aly Birmingham Geats
extracts from http://psychcentral.com/netaddiction/
