Byline: G. Swaminath Trapped in the Net The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) at Powai, Mumbai, prides itself for having churned out brilliant professionals who led this country's surge into the global economy as a software powerhouse. For such an institution, the restrictions on Internet use imposed recently for students in its hostels, drip with irony. Tripping the Web Fantastic is off. The genesis of the decision was from the suicide of a student, growing attendance problems in morning classes, and a fear that IITians were turning into unsocialized zombies, ensnared as they were in the worldwide web. Discomgoogolation, a neologistic term from the findings of a survey of British Internet users, is meant to refer to a distressing condition, characterized by stress and anxiety at not being able to access the Internet. These Internet users felt frustrated at not being able to go online, experienced stress, and showed changes in brain activity and blood pressure. The survey opined that 76% of Britons could not live without the Internet, with over half of the population using the web between one and four hours a day and 19% of people spending more time online than with their family in a week.[sup] [1] Starting as a hypothetical disorder, perhaps originating from a satirical hoax,[sup] [2] pathological Internet use - Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD) - seems to have stood its ground and its votaries promote its inclusion in both the International Classification of Diseases 11[sup] th Edition (ICD 11) and Diagnostic and Statistical Manual V Edition (DSM V). Goldberg, who specializes in treating people with difficult-to-manage mood disorders, fabricated and posted a list of IAD symptoms on PsyCom.Net.[sup] [2] He said it was intended to be a parody of the DSM-IV, the present Bible for the diagnosis and reimbursement for treatment of mental health disorders. He compounded the irony by starting an Internet addiction support group online, akin to holding an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting in the middle of a cocktail party.[sup] [2] Goldberg's spoof on society's fascination with its own addictive behaviors took on a cyberlife of its own, and news of this new disorder spread among netizens. Across the board, mental health experts agree that the Internet has provided valuable service to people looking for support groups, treatment options, and other help. Web sites, newsgroups, and E-mail lists all are powerful resources for people to find the information and help they need. A Class of its own? However, this categorization of IAD in diagnostic manuals causes concern among most mental health professionals. Robins and Guze[sup] [3] followed by Feighner et al ,[sup] [4] proposed formal[sup] criteria for establishing the validity of psychiatric diagnoses. These are: 1) clinical description[sup] (including symptom profiles, demographic characteristics, and[sup] typical precipitants), 2) laboratory studies (including psychological[sup] tests, and radiology and postmortem findings), 3) delimitation from[sup] other disorders (by means of exclusion criteria), 4) follow-up[sup] studies (including evidence of diagnostic stability), and 5)[sup] family studies. Of these criteria IAD at present fulfils only clinical description, for there is as yet paucity of delimitation from other disorders, and of lab, family, and follow-up studies. An overview of etiology, assessment, and treatment, of IAD has appeared in print[sup] [5] skirting the basic issue of its validity. Jerald Block in an editorial in the American Journal of Psychiatry recommends the inclusion of IAD in DSM-V. He opines that conceptually, the diagnosis is a compulsive-impulsive[sup] spectrum disorder that involves online and/or offline computer[sup] usage and consists of at least three subtypes: excessive[sup] gaming, sexual preoccupations, and E-mail/text messaging.[sup] These variants share the following four components: 1)[sup] excessive use, often associated with a loss of sense of time[sup] or a neglect of basic drives, 2) withdrawal, including feelings[sup] of anger, tension, and/or depression when the computer is inaccessible,[sup] 3) tolerance, including the need for better computer equipment,[sup] more software, or more hours of use, and 4) negative repercussions,[sup] including arguments, lying, poor achievement, social isolation,[sup] and fatigue. …