评论
打印
The internet: Mental-health specialists disagree over whether to classify compulsive online behaviour as addiction—and how to treat it
互联网：强迫性上网行为是否是网瘾，该如何治疗？心理健康专家对此说法不一
CRAIG SMALLWOOD, a disabled American war veteran, spent more than 20,000 hours over five years playing an online role-playing game called “Lineage II”. When NCsoft, the South Korean firm behind the game, accused him of breaking the game’s rules and banned him, he was plunged into depression, severe paranoia and hallucinations. He spent three weeks in hospital. He sued NCsoft for fraud and negligence, demanding over $9m in damages and claiming that the company acted negligently by failing to warn him of the danger that he would become “addicted” to the game.
克莱格.斯莫尔伍德是美国一位残疾退伍军人，五年中有20,000个小时都泡在网上，沉浸在一个叫做“天堂II”的线上角色扮演游戏中。当韩国游戏开发商NCSoft公司控诉克莱格违反游戏规则并将其注销后，克莱格极度抑郁，并陷入严重的偏执和幻想中。住院三周后，克莱格控告NCSoft公司欺诈和疏忽，声称该公司没有告诫其游戏“网瘾”的危害，要求获得9百万美元的赔偿金。
But does it make sense to talk of addiction to online activity? Mental-health specialists say three online behaviours can become problematic for many people: video games, pornography and messaging via e-mail and social networks. But there is far less agreement about whether any of this should be called “internet addiction”—or how to treat it.
但是线上行为是否就一定会导致网瘾呢？精神健康专家认为三种线上行为有可能对人们有害：电子游戏、色情以及电子邮件和社交网络。然而，对于其他行为是否能被称为所谓的“网瘾”以及如何治疗，专家们至今还不能达成统一。
Some mental-health specialists wanted “internet addiction” to be included in the fifth version of psychiatry’s bible, the “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders”, known as DSM-V, which is currently being overhauled. The American Medical Association endorsed the idea in 2007, only to backtrack days later. The American Journal of Psychiatry called internet addiction a “common disorder” and supported its recognition. Last year the DSM-V drafting group made its decision: internet addiction would not be included as a “behavioural addiction”—only gambling made the cut—but it said further study was warranted.
一些精神健康专家认为应将“网瘾”列入新近改版的第五版精神病学圣经——《精神疾病诊断与统计手册》（第五版DSM）中。美国医学协会（ASA）在2007年就曾表示支持这一想法，但几天后却又改口。《美国精神病学杂志》将网瘾视作一种“普通疾病”，并支持普及网瘾知识。去年，第五版DSM起草小组决定：网瘾将不会被列入“行为上瘾”——只有赌博加入其列——但小组表示研究将会进一步开展。
