Internet addicts should be considered mentally ill

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/internet-addicts,news-27802.html

Must cover most of us.

Forcible 're-education' then?

What a load of pseudo-scientific bollocks!

Just another fun policeman.

Puki, even if you are crazy, I still love you.

I think some people can get addicted, but not everybody.

Internet addiction is a real mental illness because it exhibits four characteristics:

The online addicts lose the sense of time or neglects basic needs like sleeping and eating.

Addicts also feel anger or depression when their computers are inaccessible.

Online addicts continually buy better computer equipment or software.

Online addiction has serious negative repercussions like social isolation and poor achievement.

Yep, I have all 4.

I'm two sandwiches short of a picnic.

Plus in addition to the 4 symptons:

I chew the furniture

I sometimes bark at people

I have a squeaky bone

I dig big holes.


Yep - 4 tortoises short of an igloo.

Shut that squirrel.

That is a conflict of interest, and just one example of why psychology is not science.

People skills poor will be. :0

Yoda much?

I meet those symptoms, in fact, I once cried when a forum went down :(

..im sure that someone who spent so much time on research about such mental illness, must be one of those he just described in his research..

If it's a true addiction, then were are the hoards of world-of-warcraft users hanging around the local bus station looking to get paid for having unprotected sex with strangers just so they can pay for next month's subscription fee?

they are called stupid. otherwise they would collect gold and sell it. 1000g are enough to pay the monthly fee for WoW ...

I agree that Internet depending on given usages (online gamble, online gaming) can be seen as addiction.
But for others - studies, workoholics etc - its just a very important place for their regular day life so they get kind of pissed if some outside effect breaks their time tables (which often are quite tightly layed out) and show some of those symptons then. Like getting angry that a board is not accessable and the like.

Yeah man... It.. It.. started with like a little pure hotmail and like some dodgy free MSNs.... Lately i been sniffin' news sites just to get through the day! They make me so clinically depressed i feel like ending my second life.
Got to mug and burgle people just to pay my broadband habit man...

:P

Its an insult to people with -real- problems.

(I wonder if this would qualify for long-term paid sick leave like other MIs.. Good news for mmorpgers :)

Phychology isn't the only science/thing to have conflicts of interests ;)