Tag: Technology Addiction / Excessive Use

Technology Addiction is hotly debated and is sometimes referred to as Excessive Use or Internet Addiction. All get at similar concepts.

Technology Addiction refers to the uncontrollable urge or impulse to continue using technology to the point that it starts to interfere with the individual’s mental, physical, and social life. This can be in forms of social media, internet surfing, video games, online gambling, and other related acts. It is also called internet addiction, internet use disorder (IUD), and internet addiction disorder (IAD).
—Addiction Resource, “Technology Addiction: Signs, Risk Groups, And Treatment Options”

There is considerable controversy with respect to so-called Internet Addiction and whether it ought to be reified as a diagnosis in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition. The relationship between “addiction” and various compulsive or impulsive behaviors is also a source of confusion. Some psychiatrists have argued that internet addiction shows the features of excessive use, withdrawal phenomena, tolerance, and negative repercussions that characterize many substance use disorders; however, there are few physiological data bearing on these claims. It is not clear whether internet addiction usually represents a manifestation of an underlying disorder, or is truly a discrete disease entity. The frequent appearance of internet addiction in the context of numerous comorbid conditions raises complex questions of causality.
—NIH, PubMed Central, Psychiatry, “Should DSM-V Designate “Internet Addiction” a Mental Disorder?“