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Internet addiction growing among young Taiwanese

Internet addiction disorder (IAD), a form of pathological Internet use that mainly affects children and young adults, is becoming a grave issue in Taiwan, with doctors warning yesterday that other illnesses, such as social anxiety disorder, may be hiding behind IAD.

IAD is characterized by uncontrollable and excessive use of the Internet. Other symptoms include functional impairment, withdrawal symptoms and increased tolerance to Internet use for extended periods.

“[IAD] is a form of behavioral addiction, which means it’s not like drug or alcohol abuse, where a chemical reaction occurs in the brain,” said Chen Sue-huei (陳淑惠), associate professor at National Taiwan University’s Department of Psychology. “It’s more like gambling or shopping.”

Research by Ko Chi-hung (柯志鴻), a professor at Kaohsiung Medical University, shows that IAD affects between 6 percent and 17 percent of the Taiwanese population, with about 7.5 percent of junior high school students and 10.3 percent of college students diagnosed with the condition.

Chen said IAD worsens over the winter and summer break, and is most prevalent at the beginning of school, which means that students have difficulty returning to class after a long periods of Internet use.

“You will notice that [individuals with IAD] are not the most popular kids,” she said. “They rarely interact in class and are not liked by their peers.”

Other conditions, including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, depression and social anxiety disorder, may be hiding behind IAD, because patients with these disorders may be hiding online to escape their problems, said Chen Yin-hsueh (陳映雪), chief of Taipei Veterans General Hospital’s Department of Child Psychiatry.

“This phenomenon is increasingly occurring in males, such as otaku [people obsessed with anime, manga and video games],” Chen Yin-hsueh said.

Doctors said many teenagers now live almost entirely in virtual reality.

Chen Yin-hsueh said people with IAD should turn their online interests into productive activities like hosting online auctions, computer graphic design or game design.
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