Gaming among college-aged men may provide a healthy source of socialization, relaxation, and coping. In college aged men there was no significant correlation between BMI, academic performance, social functioning and frequency of online game play. Women and men differ hardly in performance with online gaming. Women probably use gender neutral characters and names, they probably game as much online as men. Online game players score higher in openness, conscientiousness and extraversion compared to non players. They are eager to learn and master new challenges, they are motivated by competition and they enjoy social activities which can all be provided by online .....read more »

Scales to diagnose Internet Dependence and Internet Addiction prosper. Even when this diagnosis is doubted by scientists and bloggers alike these scales get used very frequently and their publications accepted in peer reviewed journals. It is possible that this diagnosis will be included in the new DSM V. Recent research evaluated the utility of the proposed diagnostic criteria for Internet dependence as measured by Young’s Diagnostic Questionnaire. As much as the diagnosis is debatable this questionnaire shows that the proposed diagnostic criteria do not adequately discriminate individuals scoring no Internet dependence from those currently classified as Internet dependent with .....read more »

The digital divide in this post refers to the disparity in Internet access between developed and developing countries. In a recent published study they explored Internet addiction among university students in China and the United States to develop a better understanding of Internet addiction in a cross-national setting. Three hundred fourteen respondents were evaluated on 10 Internet addiction symptoms and five Internet addiction dimensions. And the conclusion was: We conclude that Internet addiction may result as an artifact of the stage of Internet adoption within a society. More information on the non existent diagnosis of Internet addiction can be found on this .....read more »

Two most popular posts according Wordpress Blog Stats this year were Sex, Video Games and the Brain and How much Chocolate is Good for your Health? Popularity is probably mainly based on the title and keywords (or was it the picture?). The first post discusses the differences between results of brain imaging in men and women while playing video games. While playing video games on a computer men generally exhibit greater activation of the mesocorticolimbic reward circuitry and also greater connectivity. Male were more effective in gaining space and learned the implicit goal faster than females. This was the .....read more »

How many poets could cram eBay, Friendster and Monster.com into 3-minute poem worthy of a standing ovation? Enjoy Rives' unique talent. Puts Internet Addiction in a whole new perspective, enjoy Related posts:Evolution of Life in 60 Seconds The Evolution of Life in 60 Seconds is an... What is it with 4 in the morning? Poet Rives does 8 minutes of lyrical origami, folding... Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin. ..read more »

I am not a firm believer of Internet Addiction. One of the main features of addiction is having complaints, suffer complications of the addiction. The main features of an addiction are social and/or emotional problems leading to doctors visit or other forms of help seeking. So what we are looking for is teenagers using the Internet as there only way to communicate, play and doing that at night. Anyone can explain to them why that isn’t healthy. Internet is mostly defined as excessive use, withdrawal, tolerance and negative consequences. If these flimsy characteristics are followed most of us suffer from .....read more »

Both Shrink Rap and Mind Hacks report on a debate about how transparent the process for developing the upcoming DSM-V should be. This debate is published in the LA Times. Those in charge of the revision want secrecy, nobody knows why. It is suggested in the comments it could have something to do with the insurance companies? Besides transparency of the making of the new revision of this psychiatric diagnostic bible other problems were mentioned on this blog as well as others: Psychiatrists updating the DSM did not disclose ties with pharmaceutical drug companies Will Internet addiction be a new diagnosis in the .....read more »

We all know the attitude of the Chinese government towards Internet: China's Crackdown on the Internet. Especially online video game playing is used as excuse to block the Internet. In China Internet addiction is a major problem . Another explanation: Another explanation for Internet addiction could be a creative manner of censorship by the Chinese government. Internet is a relatively new phenomena in China, a side effect of its booming economy and technological advances, but how to control this development and how to fit it in with its communist government? In a recent published article excessive game playing is proposed to .....read more »

The title of this post is the suggestion of The Last Psychiatrist after reading an editorial in the American Journal of Psychiatry by Jerald Block. In his editorial he explains why he believes Internet Addiction should be considered a psychiatric disorder.Now I don't feel so lonely anymore. Read his comment on this editorial here. You can read the opinion of dr Shock here.Related posts on this blog about Internet addiction Related posts:Brain Rules, a book review Brain Rules is the title of an excellent book.... Twitter Revolution, A Book Review This is the second review on a book on... Online Medical .....read more »

Problematic Internet Use (PIU) of male students is higher than that of female students. On the Problematic Internet Usage Scale (PIUS) male students scores are higher compared to female students on all subscales such as negative consequences of Internet (NCI; 17 items), social benefit/social comfort (SB/SC; 10 items), except on excessive use(EU; 6 items). The students with psychological symptoms demonstrate more PIU.The students using the Internet from mostly their homes may feel more also have higher PIU scoresThose students that use the Internet mostly at night also score higher on the PIU.Using the Internet for social interactions is a risk .....read more »