The words “Internet Addiction” have been bandied about for quite some time now. However, it hasn’t yet found a place in the prestigious Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V) which lays down extensive criteria for various mental disorders.

But a team in Korea has found that Internet addicts have different brain responses from those who do not, laying down the physical foundations for the formal classification of Internet Addication as a mental disorder. The research was still limited to a small test group however – something that the team intends to correct. There are also some who contest the implications of the findings.

The test was performed using the infamous “World of Warcraft” series which has garnered a lot of publicity over it’s addictive properties. Whether or not psychologists wish to place the addiction on par with other addictions such as coccaine, is another matter. The problem arises when beginning to discuss whether or not Internet disorders are merely manifestations of previously existing conditions which need to be identified. This is similar to food addiction.

Researchers say that if they can consistently uncover the reward pathways in the brain relating to Internet disorder, that would be the clinching argument since such pathways are the hallmark of other more tangible addictions.