Internet Addiction Rehab??

I recently read an article from Spectrum Magazine title "China's e-Junkies Head for Rehab" by Jen Lin-Liu. Jen tells us about Qin Xinle's teenage son who stopped eating meals regularly and refused to go to school. Jen mentioned that this teenager was sometimes so engrossed in an online game that he would play for a 24 hour stretch! This got me wondering about Internet Addiction and whether it's real or not? Could it be that Qin Xinle is a bad parent and has simply lost control of his son? Or maybe this boy is just your typical bratty teenager. Qin Xinle ended up driving 5-hours to admit his son to Internet Addiction Rehab which is 20-days of treatment and costs $1000. I'm wondering is there any reason to send the boy to Internet Rehab or could this situation be dealt with differently?

I decided to look-up the definition of addiction. The Addiction Intervention Resources (AIR) defines addiction as:

Addiction is defined as the compulsive need for and use of something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming, characterized by tolerance and by well-defined physiological symptoms upon withdrawal; Being abnormally tolerant to and dependent upon a habit forming substance.

What matters most is whether or not the substance or behavior causes what we now know to be the essence of addiction: uncontrollable, compulsive drug craving, seeking, and use, even in the face of negative health and social consequences.  

This definition has two criteria, a compulsive or uncontrollable need for something and having physiological symptoms upon withdrawal. Based on AIR's definition of addiction I would not say that Qin's son had a "compulsive" need for the internet. Jen said he played constantly, but that doesn't mean it was uncontrollable. She doesn't mention whether Qin's son had physical withdrawal symptoms, but I couldn't imagine what those symptoms might be. Finger twitching maybe?? Qin's son wasn't sleeping, but that wasn't upon withdrawal, rather it was caused by the Internet.

I also decided to attempt to find some psychological studies on the subject but I only found surveys, which really didn't answer my question.

Personally I don't believe in Internet Addiction. I especially don't believe in Internet Addiction Rehab, where they basically begin controlling the person environment. The entire Internet Addiction Program, minus the shock treatments and antidepressants (which may be used to make it seem like this is a real issue), says to me that this is more of a personal/parental control issue rather then a true addiction

Please leave your opinion, especially if you know someone who has been labeled an Internet Addict or has actually been treated in Internet Addiction Rehab.

Are we all internet addicts now?

The debate about the risks posed by internet addiction has begun again with the publication of an editorial in the American Journal of Psychiatry on the topic.

Let's take a look at what Jerald Block said. He identifies three "subtypes" of internet addiction: excessive gaming, sexual preoccupations, and e-mail/text messaging (not strictly internet, I know).

Want to know if you're addicted? He provides these four criteria:

1. Excessive use, often associated with a loss of sense of time or a neglect of basic drives

2. Withdrawal, including feelings of anger, tension, and/or depression when the computer is inaccessible

3. Tolerance, including the need for better computer equipment, more software, or more hours of use

4. Negative repercussions, including arguments, lying, poor achievement, social isolation, and fatigue

Ignoring the sex and gaming addicts, aren't rather a lot of people email/text messaging addicts according to this scheme?

Modern life revolves around the two - and increasing around online social networking as well. We use at all times of the day (excessive use), get stressed when a low battery stops us messaging (withdrawal), constantly buy new devices (tolerance) and would probably get more done if we showed more restraint (negative repercussions).

Those communication methods are becoming ever more central to everyday life - part of nearly every social, commercial and business transaction. Is society driving us all into addiction, or have the doctors got ahead of themselves and medicalised social and technological trends?

I'm no psychologist. But I do not think there is anything inherently dangerous or addictive about internet technologies and applications. The reported increases in addiction are still preliminary results, and likely mostly an effect of growing medical attention to the "problem".

Some people certainly will suffer genuine problems with addiction to online activities. But surely those that do are susceptible to such problems, even in the web's absence? I struggle to believe that the web could shove lots of otherwise healthy people over that particular edge.