Revisiting 'Net addiction'

Have to say, I've tended to lean to the opinion of a Welsh researcher of online community who told the Washington Post that the Internet is an environment, and one can't be addicted to an environment. But I do think there's content and community on the Internet to which people can, in a way, get addicted, and the Post reports that "there are signs that the [Internet addiction] question is getting more serious attention," for example in a new study "published in CNS Spectrums, an international neuropsychiatric medicine journal." It found that "about 6% of respondents reported that 'their relationships suffered as a result of excessive Internet use' … about 9% attempted to conceal 'nonessential Internet use,' and nearly 4% reported feeling 'preoccupied by the Internet when offline'." The Post article led with a 47-year-old woman in Washington state who was spending 15 hours a day online, "but it took near-constant complaints from her four daughters before she realized she had a problem." The in-depth Post article includes names of various Internet-addiction support groups and discussion boards, a list of Internet-addiction trouble signs, and links to a sidebar with tips for unplugging.