Applying fairness in labeling various types of internet use disorders. •

Jon D Elhai; Haibo Yang; Jason C Levine

doi:10.1556/2006.2020.00071

Applying fairness in labeling various types of internet use disorders. •

J Behav Addict. 2020 Oct 6;9(4):924-927. doi: 10.1556/2006.2020.00071.

Authors

Jon D Elhai^{1

2}, Haibo Yang³, Jason C Levine^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ 1Department of Psychology, University of Toledo, 2801 West Bancroft Street, Toledo, OH, 43606, USA.
² 2Department of Psychiatry, University of Toledo, 3000 Arlington Avenue, Toledo, OH, 43614, USA.
³ 3Academy of Psychology and Behavior, Tianjin Normal University, No. 57-1 Wujiayao Street, Hexi District, Tianjin, 300074, China.

Abstract

We comment on arguments about internet and smartphone use disorders by Montag, Wegmann, Sariyska, Demetrovics, and Brand (2020). Although not currently official diagnoses, we emphasize that for some individuals, excessive internet/smartphone use can have dangerous consequences. We discuss the challenges with ICD-11 codifying only internet gaming as an internet use-related disorder, neglecting other types of excessive internet users. Montag et al.'s approach to classifying a broader range of internet use disorders seems more fair than the current system in aiding individuals needing treatment resources for excessive internet use.

Keywords: internet addiction; internet gaming disorder; smartphone addiction.

MeSH terms

Behavior, Addictive* / diagnosis
Humans
International Classification of Diseases
Internet
Internet Use
Smartphone
Video Games*