Abstract
Commentary on: Addictive influences and stress propensity in heavy internet users: A proposition for information overload mediated neuropsychiatric dysfunction (Kumar et al., 2017)
Highlights
At a time when internet overuse is increasingly investigated, with its addictive attributes being at the heart of scientific debates [1,2,3], Kumar et al [4] suggest that this behaviour is a serious public health problem that requires “deaddiction” measures
Kumar et al [4] assert that internet overuse is a “syndrome similar to the addiction of drug and substances of abuse”. They state that the clinical manifestations of internet overuse “may be milder” than those of substance addictions and that they include withdrawal
This reflects a reductionist biomedical approach to problematic use of technologies, which has been strongly criticized by scholars, including those who specialize in addiction research [5,6,7,8]. Such an approach is inadequate because of its focus on the surface, symptom manifestations, unjustified imposition of the substance addiction framework on problematic internet use, conceptual shortcuts that may result in inappropriate treatment strategies and the risk of pathologizing normal behaviours [5, 7, 9]
Summary
At a time when internet overuse is increasingly investigated, with its addictive attributes being at the heart of scientific debates [1,2,3], Kumar et al [4] suggest that this behaviour is a serious public health problem that requires “deaddiction” measures. Such an approach is inadequate because of its focus on the surface, symptom manifestations, unjustified imposition of the substance addiction framework on problematic internet use, conceptual shortcuts that may result in inappropriate treatment strategies and the risk of pathologizing normal behaviours [5, 7, 9].
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