So, it’s finally happened. We’ve all said we’ve been addicted to the Internet, or to an MMO, and now the actual condition will be written in the Handbook of Crazy, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV).
In its May 2013 edition, the international mental health encyclopedia will be adding Internet-use addiction as a condition “recommended for further study,” taking a big step toward classifying it as an actual mental illness.
Psychologists are adamant that this disorder must be made official and enshrined in the DSM-IV, noting that the symptoms (emotional shutdown, withdrawal, lack of concentration) are similar to that of many other forms of officially recognized addiction.
It’s also one that can be in conflict with the direction that society is going. With increasing coverage, options and connection speeds, we are becoming overall more and more hooked in.
Obviously, those of us who, you know, work completely on the Internet would obviously be capable of being on the Internet just about any moment of the day, but the average Internet use is, as with every year, increasing both in frequency and duration of use.
It’s unknown whether or not my compulsion to tell people on the Internet how they’re wrong and the Illuminati was entirely behind 9/11 is also an addiction of some sort.
Question, Addicts: Are you an addict? The first step to fixing a problem is admitting you have one.
