It is generally considered that addiction is a compulsive, uncontrollable dependence of a substance, habit, or practice with cessation (stopping it) causing emotional, mental, or physiological reactions that are distressing to the person. The question is whether this definition can realistically applied to the use of modern technologies such as the internet.

The American Psychiatric Association has refused to find a place for addiction to the internet or the new term Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD) in its forthcoming DSM V classification, stating that further research needs to be conducted, before the diagnosis can be considered valid.

Experts who have argued that IAD should be classified in DSM V have divided the condition into subtypes such as excessive social networking, pornography use, online gaming, blogging, email, or e-commerce.

Recent studies have shown that people who are “addicted to the internet” may show addictive behaviors in other areas such as alcohol, nicotine, and gambling. However, there is also evidence that excessive internet use is more akin to obsessive compulsive disorder. A further study has shown changes in the brain in teenagers who excessively use the internet.

United States

The Center for Internet Addiction

http://www.netaddiction.com/

Dr. Kimberly Young,
Director
PO Box 72
Bradford
PA
16701
USA
814-451-2405

Help For Internet Addictions

http://www.helpforinternetaddictions.com/

1001 290th Ave SE
Fall City
WA  98024-7403
USA
(800) 682-6934

Promises Treatment Centers

http://www.promises.com/

West Los Angeles
866.871.3149

C.A.R.E.

http://www.careflorida.com

Mitchell E. Wallick, Ph.D., C.A.P., C.M.H.P., I.C.A.D.C., C.A.G.C., F.A.B.F.C.E.
Executive Directo
321 Northlake Blvd.,
Suite 102 North Palm Beach,
FL 33408
1-866-494-0866

Hazelden

http://www.hazelden.org/

info@hazelden.org
Hazelden
PO Box 11
Center City,
MN  55012-0011    800.257.7810

UK

12 Step Treatment Centers

http://www.12steptreatmentcentres.com/

info@12StepTreatmentCentres.com
UK London – (020)-3239-0394
USA California – (831) -440-8479
Australia – (02) -8006-4254

CANADA

TechAddiction

http://www.techaddiction.ca/internet-addiction-treatment.html

Dr. Brent Conrad    info@techaddiction.ca
Attention: Dr. Brent Conrad
Counselling Services, Saint Mary’s University
O’Donnell-Hennessey Student Centre
923 Robie Street
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
B3H 3CS

CHINA
Internet Addiction Treatment Center,
General Hospital of Beijing Military Region,
No. 5,
Nanmencang,
Dongsishitiao,
Dongcheng District,
Beijing,
China.

SOUTH AFRICA
We Do Recover    http://wedorecover.com/
hope@wedorecover.com
South Africa
082 747 3422

AUSTRALIA

Online Addiction

http://www.onlineaddiction.com.au/internet-addiction-treatment/

Dr Andrew Power

1. 9 – 15 million people in the United States use the internet every day. Every three months the rate of use increases by 25%.
2. Internet users in Greece have an internet addiction prevalence rate of 8.2%. Most internet addicts are males who play online games and access internet cafés.
3. 10% of South Korean young adults are considered to be at high risk for internet addiction.
4. A diagnosis of internet addiction should include symptoms of at least 3 months duration and at least 6 hours of “non-essential” internet use per day.
5. 96% of teenagers in China use Instant messaging (IM) and 10% can be classified as IM addicts.
6. 41% of online gamers play video games to escape and 7% are classified as being at risk of developing a psychological and behavioral dependence to online computer games.
7. 1% of Norwegians are addicted to the internet. An additional 5% are at risk of developing internet addiction. The highest rate of addiction is in the 16-29 year old group (4% addicted, 19% at risk).
8. 11% of South Korean students are considered to be at risk for internet addiction.
9. The prevalence of problematic internet use among South African technology workers is 4% (compared to 2% of a control group of non-IT workers).
10. 34.3% of teens in 7th to 12th grades showed intermittent internet addiction.

Sources:

Wieland et al., 2005.
Konstantinos et al., 2008
Park et al., 2009
Tao et al., 2010
Leund et al., 2009
Hussain et al., 2009
Bakkan et al., 2008
Park et al., 2008

Jang KS et al 2004