Computer and Cyberspace “Addiction”

With the sky-rocketing popularity of the internet, a heated debate has surfaced among mental health professionals. Are some people becoming pathologically preoccupied with their activities in cyberspace? Is this yet another type of addiction that has invaded the human psyche? Clinical and empirical research on this issue is growing (Suler, 1999; Beard and Wolf, 2001; Morahan-Martin, 2001; Davis et al., 2002; Shapria et al., 2003). Books for the public about how to recognize and remedy internet addiction also have become quite popular (Young, 1998; Greenfield, 1999).

Researchers and clinicians are divided on what to call this phenomenon. In what he originally intended as a joke sent to the Psychology of the Internet listserv in July of 1996, Ivan Goldberg proposed a set of symptoms for what he called “Pathological Computer Use.” However, that term and variations of it persist and are taken seriously by many professionals. Others prefer labels such as “Virtual Addiction” or “Internet Addiction Disorder” (IAD) and claim it is a new type of psychopathology.

The lack of consensus about terms points to some complexities about the nature of this hypothetical disorder. There are many types of compulsive online activities — and some people who are pathologically attached to their computers never become preoccupied with the internet at all. Also, let us not forget the quite powerful but now seemingly mundane and almost accepted obsession that some people develop for video games, which, technically speaking, are specialized computers.

Perhaps, on a broad level, it makes sense to talk about a computer, virtual, or cyberspace “addiction,” that is, a dysfunctional preoccupation with some type of computer-mediated activity. Within this broad category there may be distinct subtypes, each involving somewhat different underlying psychodynamic processes. Some cyberspace addictions involve gaming and competition, some fulfill more social needs, some may be an extension of work compulsions