Any psychiatric disorder is challenging enough, but there’s a single disorder that frequently makes the sufferer even more vulnerable to additional psychiatric problems. A new study from the McGill University Department of Psychiatry in Montreal, Canada, has found that people who have suffered from depression are more likely to develop an Internet addiction.
The idea of a behavioral addiction calls many people’s accepted definition of addiction into question. Addictions are not limited to substances, with gambling addiction, sex addiction and Internet addiction being examples of addictions to specific patterns of behavior. This may be puzzling at first, but the truth is that behavioral addictions are ultimately chemical in …
Internet, Gambling Addicts Also Suffer From Withdrawal Read More »
Internet gaming disorder is the name of a proposed mental health condition designed to give mental health professionals the ability to diagnose a dysfunctional, addictive pattern of playing video games, especially games played over the Internet. Tentatively, it belongs to a group of disorders known as behavioral addictions or process addictions. The American Psychiatric Association …
Science Unsure Whether Internet Gaming Is a Mental Disorder Read More »
Addiction has long been limited to the abuse of chemical substances that leads to physical and emotional dependence. While still debated by some experts, many now agree that there are indisputable similarities between traditional substance addictions and what are called process addictions. These are addictions to any kind of activity or behavior, and do not …
Behavioral addictions, also called process addictions, are often no taken seriously. Many professionals in the addiction community do not consider them to be proper addictions. These are things like compulsive eating, gambling addiction, Internet addiction and compulsive shopping. In other words, a behavioral addiction is anything that is not a chemical dependency—an addiction to drugs …
If you spend much time on Facebook, you’ve probably seen the posters complaining about how children today are raised, proclaiming that, among other things, we used to play outside. The number of “likes” and comments on these nostalgic posts, reminiscing about the good old days and suggesting how much healthier the “old school” ways of …
You may have seen the signs. Your child, once obsessed with Little League, SpongeBob and skateboarding, now seems to be squirreled away in his bedroom for hours at a time. He has developed a jailhouse pallor. On the rare occasions you see him, it’s just long enough for him to raid the fridge before scurrying …
The technological trappings of the modern age may be opening up a door to a new type of addiction. The evidence is increasing that people are showing signs of addiction to the Internet, smart phones, and videogames, but it’s unclear whether it’s an addiction to technology itself or an underlying problem such as anxiety manifesting …
Feeling ‘Phantom’ Vibrations? That’s So Not Good, Author Says Read More »
As a parent, you’ve had a sneaking suspicion that you child’s heavy use of the Internet just can’t be healthy.
The American Psychiatric Association does not recognize addictions to new technologies such as the Internet or video games, because as their spokesperson put it, "The data is unreliable." However, two new studies, one from the University of Chicago and the other from Adelphi University in New York, presents some compelling new evidence that high-tech devices …
Two New Studies Indicate Facebook and Video Game Addiction is Real Read More »