Study finds ‘Internet addicts’ can suffer withdrawal symptoms similar to substance abusers

Scientists at Swansea and Milan Universities have found that young people who use the internet for excessively-long periods can suffer similar withdrawal symptoms to substance mis-users.

In a study of Internet users, Differential Psychological Impact of Internet Exposure on Internet Addicts, published online in the international journal PLOS ONE, Professor Phil Reed of Swansea University's Psychology Department and Dr Lisa A Osborne of the University's College of Medicine and Professor Roberto Truzoli and Michela Romano of the Università degli Studi in Milan, reported the results of the first study into the immediate negative psychological impacts of Internet use.

Their research found that those who engage in long periods of use reported increased negative moods after they stopped surfing the net, possibly triggering them to re-engage in net use to remove these unpleasant feelings.

Professor Reed, who is based in the University's College of Human and Health Sciences, said: ''Although we do not know exactly what Internet addiction is, our results show that around half of the young people we studied spend so much time on the net that it has negative consequences for the rest of their lives.

''When these people come off-line, they suffer increased negative mood – just like people coming off illegal drugs like ecstasy.

''These initial results, and related studies of brain function, suggest that there are some nasty surprises lurking on the net for people's well being.''