Drug Commissioner: 560,000 Internet addicts in Germany

Drug Commissioner: 560,000 Internet addicts in Germany

In Germany, a study found that around 560,000 people can be classified
as addicted to the Internet. That is about one percent of 14 - to
64-year-olds reported, the Drug Commissioner of the Federal Government,
Mechthild Dyckmans, in Berlin on Monday. In the age group of 14 - to
24-year-olds, this proportion was significantly higher: here there were
2.4 percent and 13.6 percent dependent "problematic Internet user." The
girls used to be 77 percent dependent on social networks, online games
rather rare, that 7 percent of them. 64.8 percent classified as
dependent on the young men use social networks, 33.6 percent of online
games.

The numbers go to the Federal Ministry of Health-sponsored study
entitled "prevalence of Internet addiction" (PINTA) of the Universities
of Greifswald, Lübeck and back. For the study, some 15,000 people were
interviewed. According Dyckmans is the first representative study on the
incidence of Internet addiction among 14 - to 64-year-olds in Germany.

Internet dependency was determined in the study by a number of features.
It's about people living "almost entirely in the virtual world of the
Internet". In addition, the parties lose control over how much time they
spend online, and they suffered from withdrawal symptoms such as
dysphoria, anxiety, irritability, or boredom, if they are not online.

Of the total 15 023 persons interviewed had 8130 (54.1 percent)
indicated they had used the Internet for private purposes, either at
least an hour on a weekday or a weekend day. These were for example
asked how often they remain online, even though she wanted to quit, how
often they think of the Internet when they are not currently online and
how often they go to the Internet if they feel depressed.

"We suspect that girls and young women are particularly susceptible to
the confirmations that are found in social networks, and thereby also
more likely to develop a dependency," said Hans-Juergen hull of the
University of Luebeck. "The exact extent of these problems but we can
only investigate in-depth interviews." The Federal Ministry of Health
has therefore a follow up study based on the PINTA-commissioned study.
Through clinical interviews are even more detailed data on the spread
and the diagnosis can be obtained from Internet addiction. Dyckmans
announced to make computers and Internet addiction as a focus of their
work.