Web Addiction a Clinical Disorder Says China

Are you one of those people who presses refresh on their emails every five minutes? Do you constantly go to your favourite sites to see if they have updated their content (in this case, we hope you do!)? 

Well, you may well be one of the growing number who suffer from internet addiction, a psychological disorder not yet given official diagnosis... until now.

China has told the world that it is to officially call web addiction a disorder, saying the condition is as compulsive as gambling or drinking alcohol. 

42 per cent addicted 

The move comes after one of China's top legislators said that 10 per cent of the country's youth were addicted to the internet. 

An even newer study by InterActiveCorp points to around 42 per cent of those under the age of 18 having an internet compulsion. This widespread web addiction is said to stem from online gaming. 

To make internet addiction official, the Chinese government is to write up a new manual on the condition next year. Let's just hope that they don't make the literature available via the internet in PDF form.

Source: Marc Chacksfield, Tech Radar