Addiction to Internet is an illness

Level 2
1

Intermediate

Warmer
addiction a strong need that someone feels to regularly take an illegal or harmful drug: There is a growing problem of drug addiction in our cities. addiction to a strong need or wish to spend as much time as possible doing a particular activity: Many people have an addiction to nicotine. His addiction to the Internet is taking over his life. Source: Macmillan English Dictionary Online

What things might people become addicted to? Make a list. Can you divide the list into new or modern addictions and old or traditional addictions?

Key words and phrases

Write the keywords and phrases from the article into the sentences. discussion boards inaccessible diverse clinical disorder psychiatrist adolescent irony excessive self-help group significant other repercussions component

withdrawal symptoms

1. When something is ___________________ it is much more than is reasonable or necessary. (subtitle) 2. ___________________ are the unpleasant physical and mental effects suffered by someone who stops taking a substance that they are addicted to. (subtitle) 3. A ___________________ is a medical problem or condition. (para 1) 4. A ___________________ is a doctor who treats people with mental disorders. (para 1) 5. A ___________________ is a part, or feature of something. (para 2) 6. When something is ___________________ it is impossible to reach or use. (para 2) 7. ___________________ are the bad effects that something has, usually lasting for a long time. (para 2) 8. An ___________________ is a boy or girl who is not yet a man or a woman. (para 3) 9. Your ___________________ is the person (or thing) you are having a (romantic) relationship with. (para 4) 10. ___________________ is a form of humour in which you use words to express the opposite of what the words really mean. (para 6) 11. ___________________ is another term for online forums. (para 6) 12. When things are very different from each other they are ___________________ (para 7 ) 13. A ___________________ is a group of people who discuss their similar problems and find ways to deal with them. (para 8)
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Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2008 NEWS LESSONS / Addiction to Internet is an illness / Intermediate

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Addiction to Internet is an illness

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has been reported that about 10 million adolescent Internet users could be considered addicts.

Addiction to Internet is an illness

New evidence shows that excessive use of the Internet causes people to suffer from isolation, tiredness and withdrawal symptoms David Smith, technology correspondent March 23, 2008 1 Tense? Angry? Cant get online? Internet addiction
is now a serious health problem that should be officially recognized as a clinical disorder, says a leading psychiatrist.

2 In the respected American Journal of Psychiatry,

Dr Jerald Block writes that the disorder is caused by excessive gaming, viewing online pornography, emailing and text messaging. He says that the disorder is now so common that it should be included in medical text books. According to Block, Internet addiction has four main components: Excessive use, often associated with a loss of sense of time; Withdrawal symptoms, including feelings of anger, tension and/or depression when the computer is inaccessible; The need for better computers, more software, or more hours of use; Negative repercussions, including arguments, lying, poor achievement, social isolation and tiredness.

Dr Block, a psychiatrist at the Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, writes that it is more difficult to estimate how bad the problem is in America because people tend to surf at home instead of in Internet cafes. But he believes there are similar cases, and says: Unfortunately it is not easy to treat Internet addiction. He told The Observer that he did not believe specific websites were responsible. The relationship is with the computer, he said. First, it becomes a significant other to them. Second, they use up emotions that they could experience in the real world on the computer, through any number of mechanisms: emailing, gaming, porn. Third, computer use takes up a huge amount of time in their life. Then if you simply try to remove the computer, they feel theyve lost their best friend. That can take the form of depression or rage. Harry Husted, a single 51-year-old from New York, spends 16 hours a day on the Internet. He insists that he is not addicted, but admits that he used to be. I used to work with computers for eight hours, then get home and go online for another seven hours. I stayed up until two or three in the morning, or until I got so sleepy I had to go to bed. I didnt go out to get the groceries and I didnt care about friends, TV, or anything. After a while I realized what was happening and did something about it. Now if I use MySpace its only to advertise my business. Internet addiction clinics are opening all around the world, and many people have turned, apparently without irony, to web discussion boards with names such as Internet Addicts Anonymous. The Centre for Internet Addiction Recovery in Bradford, Pennsylvania, says Internet addiction has become a growing legal issue in criminal, divorce and employment cases. Robert Freedman, editor of the American Journal of Psychiatry, said Internet addiction can be diverse. In Korea, it seems to be mostly gaming sites. In America, it is Facebook. Additionally, its porn, its games, its
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3 Block says that in South Korea 10 people died from

blood clots because they stayed seated for long periods in Internet cafes and another was murdered because of an online game. South Korea now considers Internet addiction one of its most serious public health issues. The government estimates that around 210,000 South Korean children need treatment. 80 per cent of them might need drugs that target the brain and nearly a quarter could need to go to hospital. Since the average high school pupil there spends about 23 hours per week gaming, another 1.2 million are believed to be at risk of addiction and require basic counselling. Many people are also worried about the number of addicts who stop going to school or leave their jobs to spend more time on computers. In China it

Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2008 NEWS LESSONS / Addiction to Internet is an illness / Intermediate

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Addiction to Internet is an illness

Level 2 Intermediate
gambling, its chatting with friends. All these things existed before, but now theyre a lot easier.

To beat the addiction, he advised: A self-help group might be a good place to start, but maybe a real group is better than an online one.
Guardian News & Media 2008 First published in The Observer, 23/03/08

Comprehension check

According to the article, are these sentences True (T) or False (F)? 1. The four basic components of Internet addiction are excessive use, withdrawal symptoms when the computer is not accessible, the constant need for better computers and software and negative repercussions on the users social life. 2. In South Korea, the main cause of Internet addiction is spending time on social networking websites such as Facebook and MySpace. 3. The average South Korean high school student spends 16 hours a day playing online games. 4. People have died as a consequence of their Internet addiction. 5. South Koreans go online at Internet cafes more often than Americans. 6. Internet addiction is easy to treat.

4 Vocabulary: Pronunciation and intonation

Write the words from the article into the following columns according to their intonation patterns. psychiatry isolation addiction withdrawal repercussion excessive

pornography components significant psychiatrist adolescent specific

oOo

oOoo

ooOo

Can you find any more words in the article that have these intonation patterns?

Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2008 NEWS LESSONS / Addiction to Internet is an illness / Intermediate

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Addiction to Internet is an illness

Level 2
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Intermediate

5 Discussion: Addictions

Below are four examples of things people might be addicted to:

the Internet

alcohol

smoking

hard drugs (e.g. heroin, cocaine, etc.)

Work in groups or pairs and make notes about how being addicted to one of them affects the addicts life. Think about, money, social life, family, time, health, etc. What similarities and differences do you find? Is one addiction worse than the others? What advice would you give an addict?

6 Webquest
Go to the website www.netaddiction.com. Here you can take tests, read about real-life cases of internet addiction, listen to podcasts and watch videos.

Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2008 NEWS LESSONS / Addiction to Internet is an illness / Intermediate

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Addiction to Internet is an illness

Level 2 KEY
2 Keywords and phrases
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. excessive withdrawal symptoms clinical disorder psychiatrist component inaccessible repercussions adolescent significant other irony discussion boards diverse self-help group

Intermediate

4 Vocabulary: Pronunciation and intonation oOo

addiction withdrawal excessive components specific

oOoo
psychiatrist pornography significant psychiatry

ooOo
isolation repercussion adolescent

3 Comprehension check
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. T F F T T F

Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2008 NEWS LESSONS / Addiction to Internet is an illness / Intermediate

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