Adolescents with ADHD and Depression More Likely to Have an Internet Addiction

By Rachel Howell Stockton

No need to tell our readers that we’re not in Mayberry anymore; life has changed at such warp speed over the last 50 years that reruns of Andy Griffith are as foreign as any science fiction classic would be.

The technological changes have been so tremendous that they bring with it certain dysfunction and social disruption that is contingent upon the new lifestyle technology brings with it.

One problem garnering more attention these days is the problem of internet addiction in teenagers.  Professionals in adolescent behavior are pushing to have the condition listed in the latest edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. 

A recent Taiwanese study published in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine this month illustrates how prevalent internet addiction has become.  It also reveals some of the warning signs that might suggest internet addiction, as well as some concrete internet addiction statistics for parents and educators.

Here are a few of the findings:  boys and girls who had adhd or hostility issues were more likely to be addicted to the internet than those who did not have these disorders. 

Additionally, girls who have any kind of social phobia or depression are more likely to have trouble leaving the internet world for the real one, which they live in.

The internet provides a relatively “safe” escape for teenagers to let go and be themselves.  It’s also easy to convince adolescents that this technological fantasy world and the relationships found within it are just as they seem.

No other incident describes how misguided this notion can be better than the situation several years ago of the young mother who found herself emotionally invested with someone she was playing an online game with.  The young woman, who had two children of her own, was ready to leave her husband for this pseudo relationship she’d found online.  When she realized that her suitor was more reticent in pursuing a life together, she decided to dig a little deeper.  She found out that the man she thought she’d fallen in love with was actually a woman.

Symptoms of Internet Addiction

Like any other addiction, whether chemical or behavioral, the compulsion that drives it leaves no room for much of anything else.  Internet addiction symptoms involve putting computer time above anything and everyone else, no matter who gets hurt.  For an adolescent, it manifests itself in falling grades, deteriorating family relationships, and isolation.  Boys who spend at least 20 on the computer or playing online games are probably have an internet addiction.

What Can be Done?