Technological Addictions: Are These the New Addictions?
Technological addictions, despite its short history, also have a great deal of clinical, social, and scientific support for its inclusion as an addictive disorder, although it may still require some time and some additional research before this is reflected in the DSM.
Abstract
Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are a hallmark of today's societies. These tools are necessary and useful for any successfully functioning organisation, and they are used by the majority of the population. The major factors that foster the ICT use to get in touch with other people are accessibility, availability, intimacy, high stimulation and anonymity. Nothing is wrong with the use of ICT. However, clinical evidence of overuse in numerous patients, in some cases with symptoms similar to those of addictive disorders, has been reported. Technological addictions may be particularly relevant to adolescents [1], a population of great vulnerability to addiction. Indeed, teenagers have less impulse control [2], are poorer at long-term planning, and tend to minimise the risks of potentially dangerous behaviours. This is due primarily to cortical immaturity [3], particularly in the prefrontal cortex [4]. Additionally, adolescence is a period during which individuals develop personal independence from adults. ICT support this independence in that the younger generation is more comfortable with these tools, which provide access to social relationships that teenagers find particularly important. With respect to addictions, both the DSM-IV-TR [5] and the ICD-10 [6] recognise the existence of only so-called substance dependence disorders (i.e., those that are traditionally known as drug addictions). Even pathological gambling disorder is not considered to be a disorder of this type, but instead is currently classified as an "impulse control disorder". However, it is probable that the next edition of the DSM (the DSM-5) will include "Addictive Disorders" as a new category, with "Gambling Addiction" as the only behavioural addiction included under this rubric. In fact, a near unanimous agreement in the scientific community that pathological gambling meets the main diagnostic criteria for an addictive disorder has been reached [7]. Technological addictions, despite its short history, also have a great deal of clinical, social, and scientific support for its inclusion as an addictive disorder [8], although it may still require some time and some additional research before this is reflected in the DSM.