Neowin.net

+1 ! , your right cause it seems like everyone nowadays has some sorta 'illness' or 'mental disorder' lol

i dont believe half the crap this stuff says... me personally, i go by my own judgement if someone is 'off' in the head, lol. ... cause i think it's usually fairly easy to spot someone who's not right in the head after being around them for not to long.

and as far as im concerned... 'most people' are 'normal' (pretty much lol) ... sure, we aint perfect as everyone has there own flaws but for the most part people are normal.

It's a game of semantics. Pure and simple. And the responses here showing hostility (on varying levels) toward the study (but more importantly toward the researchers) proves that the words "disorder" and "illness" still pack a punch to some degree.

Using 'disorder' and 'illness' to describe anything in the extreme surrounds it with a stigma that actually does more harm to the people behaving this way, it makes them feel as if there's something wrong with them for doing what they're doing, even though there were good enough reasons for them to start acting the way they did. They just didn't know better at the time, and got caught up in something they didn't know how to handle, and people call that an illness. Yeah technically it's 'dis-order', but certainly the stigma of such and that of an illness, doesn't belong there.

Maybe there really are some people frothing at the mouth if they are afk for 5 minutes but there are also a lot of people who just spend a lot of time online. I used to be online a lot when I had nothing to do, but then a lot of stuff in my life started happening and I couldn't even get an internet connection to my own home, I was on a computer maybe once a week, and it wasn't that big a deal. Sure I missed staying in contact with people, but that's normal, humans are social. But this editoral seems to be just sensationalism. They're presenting a bunch of facts and using shocking words like 'disorder' and 'illness' to characterize a few people who if the internet didn't exist, they would probably find something else to go nuts over, and calling it a warning to people who use the internet too much.

Lots of people know how to keep themselves in check, and if they don't, then yes, there is something seriously wrong with them. It's not because of the internet though, which is simply a catalyst to exploit the person's weakness, whatever it is. If it weren't around, then they would find some other outlet for their crazyness and do something else. Don't tell me that people are ticking timebombs, and if the right thing comes along suddenly they're going to go nuts and develop a 'disorder' or 'illness'. This is just a finger pointing witch hunt written by the Jack Thompson of the internet.

Thankyou, you put the semantic issue here perfectly.

But I wouldn't call it a witch hunt primarily. I'd say it's a ploy for the limelight, and the bias of extensive involvement in the subject.

As for the ticking timb bomb thing, there are actually some disorders with a sudden primary onset. However, dependency related disorders usually take habituation.

There's an old saying which kinda fits right about now:
Leave well enough alone

They just addicted. There are worse forms of addiction, like smoking and drinking, and religion ( )....

So excessive addiction isn't a disorder?

Let's look at some definitions...
1. a disturbance in physical or mental health or functions
2. An ailment that affects the function of mind or body: eating disorders and substance abuse.

I think it's hilarious that the reason you're all hopping up and down over drawing the line before "disorder" is because you yourselves have fallen victim to the implications associated with the word. Talk about hypocritical.

The responses in this comment section are the most ridiculous attempt at self-defense I've seen here.

Have you ever heard of the mental illness of being anal retentive?

What you mean like obsessive compulsive disorder? And that's one of the oldies too.

Edit: Oh I get it now. I'm anal retentive for looking up definitions. What were we talking about again? I suddenly forgot. You're good.

Last edited by intrinsik4 on 05 Apr 2008 - 22:50

lol... my mate smokes, drinks AND plays WOW for about 14hrs a day (he sleeps for the other 10hrs). It would be funny if I was exaggerating.

LOL!

indeed.

Well. That shows a clear misunderstanding of the study. But hey, the insult wouldn't have worked if you didn't misinterpret it. I understand. It had to be done.

And here we see the (false) implications realized. A disorder does not need explicit medical attention in the form of medication or professional aided help. Ofcourse, either could be beneficial depending on what the disorder is.

Though, any help from an external source (friend, colleague, loved one) is usually beneficial to someone with a psychological disorder, as the person operating under the disorder tends to perpetuate it through numerous avoidant methods.

Mentally ill people: live their lives the way they want.

Not mentally ill people: Get up at 8 AM, go to work at 9AM, return at 5PM, eat with family, have fun with family(oh, that is also some sort of illness), go to bed at 10~11PM to get some rest so the next day they will be able to get to work at 9PM, retu...... ok, i'll just shut up now.

This is writing is making me mentally ill.

You seem upset. If the article obviously doesn't pertain to you, why be offended? Oh nevermind, you're not offended. My mistake. You're just free to choose how you respond. You could have responded as if you were happy to read such an article, utterly depressed by it, or completely neutral to it - and disagreed with it in each case.

Like most things, the issue here is not black and white. The same way your action is not completely independent from the situation. There are levels of physiological enertia, and thus there are levels of cognitive involvement. Then, beyond that, there is the issue of percieved cognitive involvement, which could be rather innaccurate itself.

Oh, and here's your ringing declaration of personal freedom realized.
http://www.fpce.uc.pt/nucleos/niips/novopl...on&aron1974.pdf

Last edited by intrinsik4 on 07 Apr 2008 - 00:55

That is true, but considering the creation of social networks, perhaps the phrase "social life, school or work" should be replaced with something like "life outside of cyberspace".

For the record, I'm not addicted to the Internet. I use it as a reference guide more than anything else because my main use for computers is programming. I guess some hobby programmers could be considered mentally ill since many program as much as Internet addicts, if not more.

I don't know. I'd agree that social interaction on the internet does not count for a social life. It's like saying an emoticon is a decent surrogate for the human face.

You, sir, win the Best Comment Ever award. All that arguing and hate up there, and I scroll down and laugh uncontrollably. Well done putting the fun back in here

Yet avoidance is an intrinsic part of healthy living. What's up with that?

There's no evidence that Dr.Block's patent preceded his interest in the topic.

Everyone has the potential to develop ADD or ADHD to an extent. Mental illnesses are not like getting the flu. It's a matter of physiological predisposition, and physiological dependency. We are all human, all made of the same stuff - just not the same amounts.

Mental illness... is not black and white. Neither are Dr.Block's motives.

You people take the term mental illness/disorder as too much of a character-judgement. Really.

just incase you didnt catch it, i was alluding to the fact that ADD and ADHD is a made up and fake "illness" they came up with to cash in on the normal behavior of children. since every child does this by nature, and parents wanted a quick fix instead of ACTUALLY parenting... they made billions off it. if that wasent enough, they tried to pull the same **** with adults too

since we are in an age where people spend alot of time on a computer and the internet, why not cash in on it by making it a mental illness? its a really ****ed up world we live in

and btw, i actually do have REAL mental illness. so ill have you know, that i know the definition of the term quite well

Allow me to enlighten you. ADD and ADHD are real mental illnesses. Yes, there are many parents and doctors that jump to the conclusion that an over-active child has it and prescribes drugs. And that is lazy and irresponsible. There are many cases of "false positive ADD / ADHD".

But there are children and adults who have real cases of ADD and ADHD. Sometimes drugs are helpful and sometimes they are not appropriate. But it is a real condition that can affect children and adults.

It's not always laziness or irresponsibility although there are many cases where that was true.

yup, we like to ruin it for everyone