News / Health & Wellness
Internet Addiction on the Rise
A legitimate disorder, IAD is garnering more interest, and new studies are being undertaken regularly to learn more about how excessive Internet use affects us.
We’ve all heard someone joke about their growing Internet addiction (maybe you’ve even said it about yourself), but the relatively new Internet addiction disorder (IAD) is no laughing matter. In fact, it’s becoming a serious mental health issue. With the soaring number of Internet users, the problem of IAD has currently attracted considerable attention from psychiatrists, educators and the public; therefore IAD is becoming a substantial mental health issue around the world.
Fortunately, new studies are giving us more insight into how IAD works. One recent study looked at 17 IAD subjects and 16 healthy individuals and found that IAD may be linked to some behavioral impairments.
IAD, also called problematic or pathological Internet use, is characterized by an individual's inability to control his or her use of the Internet, which may eventually result in marked distress and functional impairments of general life such as academic performance, social interaction, occupational interest and behavioral problems.
Current studies about IAD have focused on case summaries, behavioral components, negative consequences in daily life, along with clinical diagnosis, epidemiology, associated psychosocial factors, symptom management, psychiatric comorbidity and treatment outcomes. Most of these studies are based on psychological self-reported questionnaires, which consistently reported that heavy Internet overuse may exert potential effects on individuals' psychological problems and cognitive impairments. To date, only few neuroimaging studies have been performed to investigate brain structural and functional changes associated with IAD. As the problem continues to become more widespread, the amount of studies and the types are likely to grow as well.
Help for Substance Abuse and Process Addictions at La Paloma
If you or someone you love needs help with substance abuse and a process addiction like IAD, call La Paloma at the toll-free number on our homepage. Someone is there to take your call 24 hours a day and answer any questions you have about co-occurring disorders treatment, financing or insurance.
