Internet Addiction

It is thought that nearly five million people today are addicted to the Internet. With that many people experiencing addiction symptoms, it is important for the mental health community to develop methods of treatment. In an article in the March-April 1998 issue of Psychology Today, author Carol Potera explores the questions and realities of online use and addictions.

Although use of the Internet became common in the early 1990s, it wasn't until 1994 that an associate professor of psychology, Kimberly Young, discovered that some people were spending a large amount of time online and suffering negative consequences for it. Not having a real name for the condition, she called it "Internet Addiction."

The survey of 500 Internet users led Young to classify people as dependent or non-dependent on the Internet. Dependent users claimed that they used the Internet 38 hours per week, compared to 5 hours reported by...
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