Internet addiction may be classified as mental disorder
Can’t we ever catch a break?
Just as we were all beginning to come to terms with the fact that our gadget mania can only be quelled by psychotherapy, the American Journal of Psychiatry comes out, fingers pointing, with a warning that Internet addiction is a "compulsive-impulsive disorder that should be added to psychiatry’s official guidebook of mental disorders."
A university psychiatrist concurs with the assessment and adds that addicts can "lose all track of time or neglect [basic needs] like eating or sleeping." Considering that I’m often checking my RSS feeds and updating one of my sites well past 3 a.m. and it’s already past 3 p.m. right now and I still haven’t had lunch, I can’t help but feel like one of the accused.
Pair that with the fact that I’m seriously mesmerized by that 3D map of the World Wide Web shown above, which illustrates domains and connections (colors used to differentiate between .com, .net, and other domains), and I’m starting to fear a hard knock at the door.
If you don’t hear from me again, I’ve been taken by people in white coats to a place that can give me the "psychoactive medications or hospitalization" that my "brain illness" apparently needs. And if you’ve been taken too, flash me a P sign at lunch to let me know it’s you. We’ll break into the facility’s computer room together and get our Internet fix after midnight.
[textually via Engadget]
