Problematic Internet use or Internet addiction?

The aim of this paper is to review the gradually evolving body of the literature on Internet addiction. Two schools of thought have emerged: those authors who believe that Internet addiction merits classification as a new or emerging psychiatric disorder in its own right, and those who define certain individuals as having problematic Internet use in relation to specific online activities, such as gambling, email or pornography. Despite a total lack of methodologically sound research, the evidence appears to support the second perspective. It appears that individuals who are premorbidly vulnerable, especially with a history of impulse control and addictive disorders, are especially at risk of using the Internet in a problematic way. Aside from the personal and social implications of this finding, this behavior has important implications for the workplace and may be resulting in substantial loss of productivity in companies who are not implementing Internet governance policies. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.