Internet addiction: a mental disorder?

The Internet has finally made the journals--the psychiatry journals that is. The American Journal of Psychiatry reports that its official guidebook of mental disorders has officially outlined Internet addiction as a mental disorder. The description includes distinct symptoms displayed by sufferers. These include withdrawal and an associated sense of anger or depression when a computer is not available. The conditions are difficult to treat because Internet addiction is "resistant to treatment, entails significant risks and has high relapse rates." You might think it's a big problem in the United States but the problem is most acute in South Korea, where Internet addiction is one of the country's "most serious public health issues."

For more on the Internet and addiction:
- See this Vnunet.com article