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Internet addiction: The emergence of a new clinical disorder (1996) [pdf]

netaddiction.com

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Re: Internet addiction: The emergence of a new clinical disorder (1996) [pdf]

#21

Have we collectively forgotten that Ivan Goldberg coined this term as a joke? It was also an ironic commentary on the overreach of addiction metaphors to encompass everything that existing social structures, especially established structures of productivity and wealth extraction, found disruptive. In that sense, the advent of "internet addiction" as a frame of reference was also part of the internet moral panic, whic…

I hadn't heard this before, and was curious (especially since the paper being discussed is from 1996, 25 years ago) so I did a quick Google to see what was out there. This paper [0] describes how Goldberg first mentioned the idea on the PsyCom BBS (which he founded) in 1995, apparently as a response to his issues with the DSM IV, which had just been published the year before.

So, I learned that today - thanks, 'bigger_inside ;)

0. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4776584/

Re: Internet addiction: The emergence of a new clinical disorder (1996) [pdf]

#22

Have we collectively forgotten that Ivan Goldberg coined this term as a joke? It was also an ironic commentary on the overreach of addiction metaphors to encompass everything that existing social structures, especially established structures of productivity and wealth extraction, found disruptive. In that sense, the advent of "internet addiction" as a frame of reference was also part of the internet moral panic, whic…

Strange reasoning. If I make a joke about holodeck addiction, then it can't be a real thing after the holodeck is invented? Or should every doctor refer to my joke?

Re: Internet addiction: The emergence of a new clinical disorder (1996) [pdf]

#23
post #22

Have we collectively forgotten that Ivan Goldberg coined this term as a joke? It was also an ironic commentary on the overreach of addiction metaphors to encompass everything that existing social structures, especially established structures of productivity and wealth extraction, found disruptive. In that sense, the advent of "internet addiction" as a frame of reference was also part of the internet moral panic, whic…

Strange reasoning. If I make a joke about holodeck addiction, then it can't be a real thing after the holodeck is invented? Or should every doctor refer to my joke?

no, rather that its funny how a term coined was so far from the reality of the situation just a few years down the timeline.

initially the internet was a bit of an enemy, and turns out they were right eveyone became internet addicted.

Re: Internet addiction: The emergence of a new clinical disorder (1996) [pdf]

#26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I definitely recommend checking out your local public library, or going for a long walk in a nearby park. Don't take your phone. Allow yourself to be bored. Let your mind wander. Once you get over the weird feeling, and the anxiousness of not knowing what's been happening, you'll likely find that your mind amuses itself. I have a sneaky suspicion that relaxing in this way and encouraging that mental wandering grants…

Your advice to the comment, sadly, amounts to someone telling a drug addict to "just not use drugs", or a depressed person to "just go outside".

Cold turkey is a legitimate addiction strategy. Not successful for everyone though, and basically impossible for most people with the internet.

Re: Internet addiction: The emergence of a new clinical disorder (1996) [pdf]

#28

One of those old scares which seems a little quaint now, not because the fears were unfounded, but because the feared thing came to pass and is normal. Similar to old fears that family time would turn into TV time.

And in the meantime suicide and depression keep climbing

Suicide rates worldwide have been consistently dropping. The same is true for Europe.

The US is an outlier, the suicide rate has increased by 10% between 1996 and 2017.

Source: https://ourworldindata.org/suicide

I'm not sure that there is comparable data available for depression since our understanding of it has changed over the last 30 years and getting consistent data is very difficult.

Re: Internet addiction: The emergence of a new clinical disorder (1996) [pdf]

#29

One of those old scares which seems a little quaint now, not because the fears were unfounded, but because the feared thing came to pass and is normal. Similar to old fears that family time would turn into TV time.

Back in 2009 some French website wrote an article about a man they call Marc L and they showed they were able to tell a very big chunk of his private life based on what he had posted on the internet. At the time everyone was shocked after reading this article. Nowadays everyone's life is out there on Instagram, FB, YT, ...

Just an other of these feared things that came to pass and are now normal.

Link to the article (in French) : http://www.le-tigre.net/marc-l.html

Re: Internet addiction: The emergence of a new clinical disorder (1996) [pdf]

#30

> Dependents spent a M = 38.5, SD = 8.04 hours per week compared to Non-Dependents who spent M= 4.9, SD = 4.70 hours per week. Rookie numbers.

Came here to read exactly this comment, thanx for not letting me down.
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