Year: 2014
Type: article
Abstract: The Internet has positively revolutionized our lives: it facilitates interactions across gender, race, social classes and geographic boundaries. Moreover, it sustains culture and democracy through the sharing of knowledge and information (Schimmenti and Caretti 2010). However, there is a dark side of the coin, i.e. the psychiatric symptoms related to Internet abuse and addiction. Research has shown that Internet abuse is associated with a plethora of symptoms, including depressive feelings, social withdrawal, anxiety, lack of concentration, insomnia and dissociation, among others. These symptoms have been increasingly observed in clinical practice (Block 2008), so the identification of a proper diagnostic category for their assessment is imperative for both prevention and treatment.In Section III (Emerging measures and models) of the latest DSM edition (DSM-5; APA 2013), Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) is recognized as a condition that requires further study. IGD is described as a “persistent and recurrent use of the Internet to engage in games, often with other players, leading to significant impairment or distress” (p. 795). However, when the DSM-5 describes the diagnostic features of the disorder, it is stated that IGD is “(…) also commonly referred to as
Institution: Università degli Studi di Enna Kore
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2564989841