Are you addicted to Facebook…Twitter…blogging? Is it affecting your life and daily activities to the point of no return? In an article written a few weeks ago in the Baltimore Sun, a new debate was brought to the table: Internet addiction. The article focuses on a University of Iowa student who flunked out on account of an addiction to Internet gaming. He is now attending a $14,000 residential treatment center for Internet addiction, the very first in the United States. Internet addiction is not recognized as a disorder by the American Psychiatric Association here in the United States, but it is a very serious issue is places such as China, South Korea, and Taiwan. Some say this addiction is comparable to that of an alcohol addiction, leaving people without jobs, marriages, and in life-threatening situations. Believe it or not, people can die from being on the computer for excessive amounts of time. Blood clots form as a result of being sedentary.
Should this addiction treatment be covered by health insurance? While there does not seem to be enough evidence just yet, we may see Internet addiction listed as a illness in the 2012 edition of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. If it makes the cut, health insurance will cover this issue.
Check out the article here: http://www.baltimoresun.com/health/sns-health-internet-addiction,0,4290154.story
Wow, this is very interesting. I had no idea that people could actually die because of blood clots as a result of being sedentary. I agree that too much use can cause damage to relationships, and I know that internet can get very addicting. It is interesting that people compare it to an acohol addiction, but is even more intersting that is beginging to become a disorder. I would have never thought of it as anything more than just technology... I guess I was a bit blinded to its effects.
ReplyDeleteAs technology continues to evolve, we can expect to see the positive and negative affects in society. Thus, it is not surprising that Internet addictive cases are occurring, since Americans are using the Internet for almost everything. I think there will be an increase in the number of cases and I also expect the American Psychiatric Association to list this as a disorder relatively soon. As the techonlogical world changes, so will the rest of society, including medicine.
ReplyDeleteI am not surprised at all that this will soon actually be classified as a disorder. Too much of anything usually will have negative effects. I assume that staring at the computer screen for hours will probably cause problems with vision too. It may be a little extreme to classify it with alcohol addiction, but I guess in some cases it could be worse.
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