Taipei Times: What are the views of psychologists or psychiatrists on the Internet -- a technology that has only been with us for less than 20 years? The Internet must have been unthinkable to psychological pioneers like Sigmund Freud. Is the phenomenon of Internet interpretable by the theories of psychology ?
Dr. Wang Hao-wei (
From what I can see, the Internet provides new opportunities for communication, a new form to read and to learn new information and a new style of recreation, such as computer games, which are similar to television, but with a stronger interaction with other people. In fact, even the three functions I just mentioned are not enough to fully describe Internet.
PHOTO: CHEN CHENG-CHANG, TAIPEI TIMES
When people talk about Internet addiction, the addicted are often young adults. In fact, the way these youngsters become addicted to the Internet is the same way as middle-aged people become addicted to the TV. They turn on their TV when they reach home and sit in front of the TV for the whole evening, watching programs while dozing off.
People are addicted to TV because they feel tired of working and worn out by the stress from their daily lives. They try to escape their problems by watching TV. It's the same with online addiction. When you go online or start to watch TV, your brain will become pre-occupied and you will forget about your weariness or problems temporarily.
In our society, I think TV addiction is more serious than Internet addiction. In many families, family members sit in front of TV together without making conversation.
Moreover, some people blame the Internet for cyber-porn addiction. I do not think this is really a problem. Without the Internet, pornography would still exist in other media. However the Internet has made pornography more available to "potential porn-lovers" -- those who enjoy pornography but used to be too shy to watch it on TV or read it in the magazines.
Thus, although we have to admit that pornography becomes more available with the prevalence of the Internet, I doubt whether the population of those who enjoy pornography has increased just because the Internet serves as one of the channels where people can obtain pornography.
TT: Since there are different kinds of addictions, such as TV addiction, tobacco addiction or drug addictions, which seems to be more serious, why has Internet addiction become an issue?
Wang: The reason for that is a political-economy issue, in which the standard for what is good or what is bad is determined by multinational conglomerates. Tobacco hazards are a good example.
The hazard to human health brought by smoking cigarettes could be much greater than smoking marijuana. However, marijuana has been banned for years while cigarette smokers are only "encouraged" to give up smoking for health reasons.
Nowadays, TV is the most popular form of home recreation. Imagine what the TV companies will do if the medical experts say that TV addiction is a kind of mental illness.
TT: "Disorder" seems to be a vague term whether compared to "disease." How do psychologists or psychiatrists define when a person has a "disorder?"
Wang: When a person does something that jeopardizes the normal functioning of his or her life, we call it a disorder.
For example, if a person failed to go to work for many days because he could not resist the urge to go online every night without sleeping, he has lost his ability to function normally.
However, in many cases, the term "disorder" has been so abused that sometimes people accuse others of having some form of disorder just because he or she did not agree with someone else's lifestyle.
TT: What do you think of the questions designed by Dr. Kimberly Young, a cyber-psychologist, to examine whether we are suffering from Internet addiction?
Wang: Since this set of questions has not been authorized by either the ICD-10 (International Classification of Disease) or the fourth edition of the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders), there might be the problem of over-diagnosis with this set of questions. In fact, if you replace the word "Internet" with "television" in the questions, over 90 percent of the population might be suffering from a TV addiction disorder.
TT: Have you ever encountered any patients that you diagnosed as having an Internet Addiction Disorder?
Wang: Although diagnosing Internet Addiction Disorder sounds like an easy thing, especially with Young's questions, it is important for us to realize that the reasons that lead a person to Internet addiction are often very complicated. In many cases, a person may need to focus his or her attention on a certain thing or a kind of activity when he or she feels frustrated, lost or when he or she longs for partnership.
In fact, for those who are extremely shy or lack self-confidence, the Internet provides a place for them to practice their social skills without having to meet people face to face. On the Internet, those who are shy can use this "transitional period" to learn to shake off their anxieties, meet with people who have the same interests as them and gradually learn to communicate with others on topics familiar to them.
In fact, those who fail to make proper contacts with other people can seek romance on the Internet. It is a place for them to practice their interaction with friends or even to flirt -- an action they dare not do when they actually see someone they like.
When they have enough practice online, when they feel confident again, they may feel prepared to approach others personally next time. This "transitional period" on the Internet, in my opinion, is a course of treatment rather than an addiction.
Therefore, I believe that the Internet, rather than ruining people's live, provides chances of learning and practice that psychotherapy requires. I will encourage those who have difficulties in dealing with interpersonal interactions to practice online.
TT: Are those who already have mental illnesses such as anxiety or depression more likely to become addicted to the Internet?
Wang: I would say that those with mental illnesses, family problems or difficulties in self-development may present their problems as a form of Internet addiction. However, this does not necessarily mean that Internet addiction is the result of those problems.
This indicates that when we encounter a patient with Internet Addiction, we need to sort out what is the main problem that is causing him or her to indulge in the Internet.
It is useless to ban the Internet just because we are afraid that our children might become addicted. Even without the Internet, these youngsters will still become addicted to other things.
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