Internet Addiction

Does Internet Addiction exist? Professionals from many different fields of study are asking this question. Some medical professionals such as Dr. Kimberly S Young unequivocally believe that it does exist while others such as Dr. Ronald M. Pies are skeptical think- maybe. On the other hand, if there have been studies on the effectiveness of treatment programs for Internet Addictions does that mean the patient was cured - or was there even an addiction in the first place? Or perhaps the treatment cured the source of the addiction such as depression? The current gold standard (in the United States) in mental health diagnosis is the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 4^th edition Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR) and that does not include Internet Addiction. However, there is much discussion if it should be included and where.

Most studies conclude that more research is required to define and understand Internet Addiction, and that is true. It is very rare in the medical world a disease that is completely understood, especially in the mental health world. Each day new discoveries are being made. At this point the research on the impact of the Internet on the Brain is still in it’s infancy. Wouldn’t our society be better served to have a concrete diagnosis for Internet Addiction?