What is Internet Addiction?
Internet addiction*, also known as internet addiction disorder, is a term denoting someone who has difficulties controlling their use of internet activities to the point that they are having significant relational, occupational, educational, or personal problems. Some subcategories of internet addiction include internet gaming addiction, cybershopping addiction, social media addiction, pornography addiction, and online gambling addiction.
The term internet addiction was popularized by the late Dr. Kimberly Young, who opened the Center for Internet Addiction in 1995 and eventually developed the Internet Addiction Test. The development of internet addiction tests and scales by Dr. Young and other researchers usually incorporates criteria taken from gambling disorder, which is currently featured in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.
Internet Addiction Test
Gambling disorder was used as a blueprint for internet addiction disorder because, unlike substance use disorders, gambling addiction is known as a behavioral addiction. Other behavioral addictions include food addiction, sex addiction, and technology addictions. By shifting criteria from gambling disorder, researchers were able to use something similar enough to internet addiction to develop relevant tests and scales.
Some questions from Dr. Young’s Internet Addiction Test include:
- How often do you find that you stay online longer than you intended?
- How often do you lose sleep due to being online?
- How often do you try to hide how long you’ve been online?
- How often do you choose to spend more time online over going out with others?
- How often do your grades or school work suffer because of the amount of time you spend online?
Although Dr. Young paved the way for internet addiction and tests to assess whether people should be diagnosed with it, the American Psychological Association has yet to develop an official diagnosis for any technology addiction, though the authors of the latest version of the DSM-5 placed Internet Gaming Disorder in the section for further study. However, the authors of the International Classification of Diseases 11 introduced Gaming Disorder as an official diagnosis.
With the rise of more modern versions of technology addictions like gaming and social media disorders, it could be argued that the term “internet addiction” is now antiquated. Researchers are even exploring and developing scales for subcategories of these modern addictions (e.g., addiction of Facebook, Instagram addiction, YouTube addiction). Nevertheless, Dr. Kimberly Young’s contribution to the field of internet addictions will remain as an important milestone in the understanding of these addictions and the eventual creation of future diagnoses.
Internet Addiction Therapy
Because internet addiction is such a broad category, therapy will likely begin with an exploration of what types of activities the user engages in. This will help narrow down which aspects of the internet are difficult to control and will provide more specific assessment and intervention options for the client.
Contact The Center for Technology Wellness for Your Free Internet Addiction Consultation Today!
At the Center for Technology Wellness, we believe that people want a healthy relationship with technology. We also believe that people want to feel fulfilled in their lives. By combining individual and systemic treatments supported by a harm reduction philosophy, we believe that we can help people express their unique concerns with their internet activities, develop a treatment plan that works for their busy life, and implement interventions that can improve their relationship with the internet.
Some of our assessments and interventions include:
- Helping people define what “problematic usage” means to them or their loved ones
- Using internet addiction scales developed by researchers to gain a better understanding of symptoms and potential treatment options
- Determining “green, yellow, and red zone use” to provide clarity on when a user is using the internet in healthy, cautionary, and concerning ways
- Assessing how other mental health issues could be contributing to problematic internet use (e.g., anxiety, depression, social anxiety, impulsivity)
- Identifying emotional, cognitive, behavioral, and environmental cues that lead to problematic use
- Practicing ways to recognize these cues to curb problematic use and divert energy to other fulfilling activities
- Constructing a support network of family members, friends, and professionals who can have the gamer’s back as they seek a more fulfilling life
*The term “addiction” in relation to technology is controversial amongst researchers and clinicians. Although some are attempting to use terms “addiction” and “disorder” to describe problematic usage of technology to develop scales and diagnoses for clinical settings, others contend that these terms are inappropriate for several reasons (e.g., they could stigmatize people, they mislead people into thinking substance addictions are identical to technology addictions).
These terms are used on this site because it is the language that most people commonly use when seeking information and help on this topic. At the Center for Technology Wellness, we use the preferred terminology of our clients, whether it includes more diagnostic terms like “addiction” and “disorder,” or simple descriptions provided by our clients (e.g., “I feel like I’m watching Tik Tok too much”).
