A DISEASE, BY ANY OTHER NAME

Clinically speaking, the label "addiction" is a serious one.
Addictions can destroy both body and mind, and lay waste to careers,
friendships and families. Now in recent years, there has been talk of
an Internet addiction, and while obsessive Internet use may be a real
phenomenon, it's important to differentiate between addictions and bad
habits.

In the current issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry, Jerald
Block, an Oregon psychiatrist, argues that Internet addiction is a
mental illness and should be added to the Diagnostic and Statistical
Manual of Mental Disorders, the bible of the psychiatric profession.
"Conceptually, the diagnosis is a compulsive-impulsive spectrum
disorder," writes Dr. Block, who goes on to explain that Internet
addicts denied access to a computer exhibit real withdrawal symptoms,
such as depression and feelings of anger.

The difficulty, however, is that, as Dr. Block notes, some 86 per cent
of online "addicts" suffer from other mental disorders. So the
question becomes: Is the Internet truly addictive or is merely another
temptation that people predisposed to addictions find difficult to
resist?

Mental health experts generally agree an addict's brain is not wired
the same way as a non-addict's. Our brains have "reward systems,"
which place more value on some things than others. An addict's reward
system is warped; it values getting high more than anything else. It's
easy to say addicts should choose not to use. It's difficult for them
to make the choice.

There are, however, deterrents to developing a drug or gambling habit.
Drugs can lead to arrest. Casinos are public places; spend too much
time in one and word gets around. But the Internet provides anonymity.
You can access it in your bedroom. It is cheap and open 24 hours a
day. So it's not surprising that people who are prone to addictive
behaviour might become enmeshed in it.

Unfortunately, terms like "techno-addict" have entered common use and
people not only
refer to their technology "addictions" flippantly, but often with
pride. Of course we're
addicted to our BlackBerrys: Heaven forbid we not be reachable every
minute of every
day. Yet lamenting about our inability to pull ourselves away from
Facebook would
rightly elicit little sympathy from a real victim of addiction, such
as a mother who
can't feed her family because her man won't pull himself away from a
slot machine.

When a bad habit is framed as an addiction, it absolves an individual
of personal responsibility to break that habit. It also trivializes
real addictions, which are complex physiological disorders.

Is Internet addiction real? In South Korea, a 24-year-old man died
after playing an online video game for 86 hours straight. Nine others
gamers met with the same fate. Clearly these people have a problem.

But many addiction experts are reluctant to medicalize an obsession
with the Internet. They are right to be cautious. Although ubiquitous,
the Internet is still relatively new. Do Internet addicts have a
social dysfunction? No doubt. Are they ill? Before doctors answer yes
they have to be careful that they don't trivialize their understanding
of disease.