Cyber-Disorders:
The Mental Health Concern for the New Millennium

by Kimberly Young, Molly Pistner, James O’Mara, and Jennifer Buchanan
University of Pittsburgh

Abstract

Anecdotal evidence has suggested that mental health practitioners’ report increased caseloads of clients whose primary complaint involves Internet. However, little is known about the incidence, associated behaviors, attitudes of practitioners, and interventions involved related to this relatively new phenomenon. Therefore, this study surveyed therapists who have treated clients suffering from cyber-related problems to gather such outcome information. Respondents reported an average caseload of nine clients who they classified as Internet-addicted, with a range between two to fifty clients treated within the past year. Five general subtypes of Internet addiction were categorized based upon the most problematic types of online applications, and they include addictions to Cybersex, Cyber-relationships, online stock trading or gambling, information surfing, and computer games. Treatment strategies included cognitive-behavioral approaches, sexual offender therapy, marital and family therapy, social skills training, and pharmacological interventions. Based upon their client encounters, efforts to initiate support groups and recovery programs specializing in the treatment of Internet addiction were being considered. Finally, based upon the findings, this paper examines the impact of cyber-disorders on future research, treatment, and public policy issues for the new millennium.

 Introduction

Among a small but growing body of research, the term addiction has extended into the psychiatric lexicon to identify problematic Internet use associated with significant social, psychological, and occupational impairment.^1-10 Symptoms include a preoccupation with the Internet, increased anxiety when off-line, hiding or lying about the extent of on-line use, and impairment to real-life functioning. In particular, this research argued that addictive use of the Internet directly lead to social isolation, increased depression, familial discord, divorce, academic failure, financial debt, and job loss.

Such cyber-related issues not only appear to be a growing social concern, but anecdotal evidence has suggested that mental health practitioners ranging from college counselors, martial therapists, to drug and alcohol counselors report increased caseloads of clients whose primary complaint involves Internet. A few comprehensive treatment centers for Computer/Internet Addiction Recovery have even emerged in response to these new cases. However, outcome data related to the reason for referral, primary complaints, the associated behaviors, attitudes of practitioners, and interventions applied to this new phenomenon have yet to be collected. Therefore, this study is the first to survey therapists who have treated clients whose primary or underlying complaint involves the Internet to gather such outcome data and to utilize the results for future research, treatment, and public policy recommendations.

Methods

Subjects:  Participants were therapists who responded to: (a) postings on relevant electronic discussion groups (e.g., NetPsy) and (b) those who searched for the keywords "Internet" or "addiction" on popular Web search engines (e.g., Yahoo) to find The Center for On-Line Addiction web site where the survey existed.

Measures:  A survey was constructed that could be administered and collected electronically. The survey consisted of both open-ended and closed-ended questions and was divided into three sections. The first section contained questions related to incidence rates, primary complaints, the presence of other addiction problems or psychiatric conditions, and interventions utilized. The second section assessed therapists’ attitudes regarding addictive use of the Internet on a five-point likert scale that ranged from (1) strongly agree to (5) strongly disagree. The last section gathered demographic information such as gender, years of practice, professional affiliation, and country of origin.

Procedures:  An offline pilot study first established that the survey instrument was reliable and valid. The survey then existed as a Web page implemented on a UNIX-based server that captured the answers into a text file. Answers were sent in a text file directly to the principal investigator’s e-mail box for analysis. Results yielded a total of 44 responses within a six-month period with 35 valid responses. These responses were then analyzed using frequency counts, means, standard deviations, and content analyses.

top | continued

home | about us | articles | tests | cyberwidows | virtual clinic | resources
books | send page