Exploring the Mind of Internet Addicts

4-Review of Literature Addiction is a commonly used word that is mostly associated with a substance(drug or alcohol) and sometimes thought of as an illness. We often hear the word addiction thrown around in conversations. I’ve often used the word addiction when referring to my love of chocolate, but in this case it’s just an expression of speech. For a long time now, though, a lot of controversy has been going on about adding other activities, other than substance use to the word addiction. In this case excessive use of the Internet, Internet Addiction(IA). Many people are wanting to take addiction to a whole new level, by adding Internet Addiction to the DSM-V (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition; in other words the “psychiatric bible”) but is our need, love, desire, and excessive use of the internet just a compulsion or an addiction? Addiction is when a person is dependent on a behavior or specific substance in order to cope with life. The dependence is so important to the individual that even when it becomes harmful to themselves, their family, work, and other important areas of their life they will persist in using the substance, or engaging in the behavior. Also, “There are actual changes that occur in the brains of addicts and treatments for addiction must address the biology behind the behavior.” So far addictions have focused on highs that are caused from the use of drugs or other substances that affect the brain’s chemical responses. However it has recently been discovered that a person can receive a similar “high” from using the Internet. The research for this disorder is scarce and fairly new, but the results leave something to argue about for the supporting side. Overly excessive use of the Internet affects everyone involved with the “user.” There have been confessions from individuals who claim to suffer from IAD (Internet Addiction Disorder). A case was, reported in the New York Times,

A woman who