That is the question some mental health experts are asking. Goldberg, who specializes in treating people with treatment-resistant mood disorders, fabricated and posted a list of IAD symptoms on PsyCom. Net , a site he operates and which sponsors Internet-based information services for mental health professionals. He compounded the irony by starting an Internet addiction support group online, akin to holding an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting in the middle of a cocktail party. I don't think Internet addiction disorder exists any more than tennis addictive disorder, bingo addictive disorder, and TV addictive disorder exist.
People can overdo anything.
Clinical psychologist Kimberly Young, PsyD, assistant professor of psychology at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford in Pennsylvania, doesn't like the term IAD either, but she does think the phenomenon exists. She has been researching it since the fall of 1994. Her interest began after watching students in computer labs and listening to a friend lamenting her husband's preoccupation with the Internet. She said that symptoms include preoccupation with the Internet, an inability to control Internet use, and restlessness or irritability when attempting to cut down on Internet use. Sharing Young's belief is Maressa Hecht Orzack, PhD, founder and coordinator of the year-old Computer Addiction Service at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts.