<p>Stanford study takes “a step toward resolving the debate over whether compulsive use of the Internet merits a medical diagnosis.” Does CC count as an essential, good internet habit?</p>
<p>"Is spending too much time online a prevalent and damaging condition, or simply a bad habit among a select few? School of Medicine researchers have taken an important step toward resolving the debate over whether compulsive use of the Internet merits a medical diagnosis.</p>
<p>In a first-of-its-kind, telephone-based study, the researchers found that more than one out of eight Americans exhibited at least one possible sign of problematic Internet use. The findings follow results from previous, less rigorous studies that found a significant number of the population could be suffering from some form of Internet addiction.</p>
<p>“Our telephone survey suggests that potential markers of problematic Internet use are present in a sizeable portion of the population,” the researchers noted in their paper, which appears in the October issue of CNS Spectrums: The International Journal of Neuropsychiatric Medicine…</p>
<p>Aboujaoude, clinical assistant professor in psychiatry and behavioral sciences and director of Stanford’s Impulse Control Disorders Clinic, said that a small but growing number of Internet users are starting to visit their doctors for help with unhealthy attachments to cyberspace. He said these patients’ strong drive to compulsively use the Internet to check e-mail, make blog entries or visit Web sites or chat rooms, is not unlike what sufferers of substance abuse or impulse-control disorders experience: a repetitive, intrusive and irresistible urge to perform an act that may be pleasurable in the moment but that can lead to significant problems on the personal and professional levels.</p>
<p>According to preliminary research, the typical affected individual is a single, college-educated, white male in his 30s, who spends approximately 30 hours a week on nonessential computer use…</p>
<p>In the Stanford studywhich Aboujaoude said is the first large-scale, random-sample epidemiological one ever donethe researchers conducted a nationwide household survey and interviewed 2,513 adults. Because no generally accepted screening instrument exists for problematic Internet use, the researchers developed their questions by extrapolating from other compulsive and addictive conditions.</p>
<p>The researchers found that 68.9 percent were regular Internet users, which is consistent with previous studies, and that:</p>
<h1>13.7 percent (more than one out of eight respondents) found it hard to stay away from the Internet for several days at a time</h1>
<h1>12.4 percent stayed online longer than intended very often or often</h1>
<h1>12.3 percent had seen a need to cut back on Internet use at some point</h1>
<h1>8.7 percent attempted to conceal nonessential Internet use from family, friends and employers</h1>
<h1>8.2 percent used the Internet as a way to escape problems or relieve negative mood</h1>
<h1>5.9 percent felt their relationships suffered because of excessive Internet use.</h1>
<p>Aboujaoude said he found most concerning the numbers of people who hid their nonessential Internet use or used the Internet to escape a negative mood, much in the same way that alcoholics might. “In a sense, they’re using the Internet to ‘self-medicate,’” he said. “And obviously something is wrong when people go out of their way to hide their Internet activity.” "</p>
<p><a href=“You’ve requested a page that no longer exists | Stanford News”>You’ve requested a page that no longer exists | Stanford News;
<p>…</p>
</p>