What is 鈥減roblem internet use鈥�?
The usual suspects: excessive online gaming, gambling, porn, social media use or being cyberbullied. According to a released today by the European Problematic Use of the Internet Research Network, we urgently need to wake up to the mental health problems caused by these activities, especially in young people, whose brains are still developing.
Anything can be done to excess, so are these really mental illnesses?
Gambling addiction has long been recognised as a real problem. Just as people can get hooked on going to physical casinos, now they can on online versions. Pathological gambling can certainly wreck lives, but despite fears, it鈥檚 not clear that gambling via the internet .
How about the other issues?
This is where using the term 鈥渁ddiction鈥� gets contentious. It has connotations of drugs like heroin, which cause brain changes so people need increasing amounts to get the same high. It鈥檚 unclear if any kinds of behavioural addictions have this effect. Some neuroscientists say brain scans show online porn is addictive, while others say the same results prove it鈥檚 not. Some users do report feeling addicted, but studies show these people aren鈥檛 using more porn than others, they just think it鈥檚 morally wrong and so feel guilty about it.
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But isn鈥檛 gaming addiction now a thing?
Yes, the World Health Organization is in the process of adding a new mental health condition called 鈥�gaming disorder鈥� into its official diagnostic manual, the International Classification of Diseases. It鈥檚 defined as when gaming takes precedence over other interests and someone carries on doing it despite negative effects. Sceptics on the other hand, say the new diagnosis just reflects the growing tendency for psychiatrists to medicalise normal variation in behaviour.
Surely being cyberbullied is unequivocally bad?
No one鈥檚 denying it can be distressing for children to get abusive messages online. But those who experience cyberbullying are usually being bullied in real life too 鈥� it鈥檚 not that the internet is causing more bullying.
So is there anything to be worried about at all?
Henrietta Bowden-Jones, who heads the UK鈥檚 National Problem Gambling Clinic, says she has started fielding calls from parents whose teenagers are spending many hours per week on gaming, to the detriment of their schoolwork and outside interests. She wants National Health Service provision of cognitive behavioural therapy for extreme cases. For most children, though, she recommends parents just set some common sense limits on screen time.
