older survey but the results are said to be in
FRIDAY, Oct. 20 (HealthDay News) -- Research is shedding new light on the often-controversial topic of Internet addiction, suggesting that online usage has significantly disrupted the lives of millions of Americans.
About six percent of people surveyed by Stanford University researchers said their personal relationships have suffered as a result of their Internet use, and nine percent reported actively hiding their online habits at home or at work.
The findings don't confirm that Internet addiction is an actual mental disorder, but they "should start the conversation about the subset of the population for whom the Internet is not so wonderful," said study lead author Dr. Elias Aboujaoude, an assistant clinical professor in psychiatry and behavioral sciences and director of Stanford University's Impulse Control Disorders Clinic.
Mental-health specialists have worried about Internet addiction for about a decade, although the condition hasn't become an accepted psychological diagnosis. Some specialist lump it in with "impulse-control" disorders.
"Is Internet addiction a unique mental disorder, or is it just a symptom of another, more 'traditional' type of disorder? Research has yet to determine this," said John Suler, a professor of psychology at Rider University in Lawrenceville, N.J., who began writing about the condition in 1996.
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