Craving Your Next Web Fix
Internet addiction is no laughing matter
By Dori Jones Yang | Posted 01/09/2000
Five years ago, poking fun at his profession, psychiatrist Ivan Goldberg coined the term “Internet addiction disorder” as a joke. No one is laughing anymore. Though still ill-defined and poorly researched, Internet addiction has emerged as a serious–and growing–problem.
As millions more go online, people are increasingly engaging in risky behavior, playing havoc with their work, relationships, and lives. Tracy, who asked that her last name not be used, is one of them. A divorced mother of two in Portland, Ore., she entered a singles chat room last May and got hooked. Soon she was skipping meals and staying up late at night to chat with newfound male friends. She began missing work, neglecting her kids, and losing her inhibitions. Rapidly, she progressed from chats to cybersex to phone sex with 40 different men. “I went completely beyond all my normal boundaries,” she says.
Yang DJ. (2000). Craving your next Web fix. Internet addiction is no laughing matter. U.S. News & World Report. 128 (2).
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