考研閱讀精選：真的上癮了嗎？

『強迫性上網行為是否應視為網癮以及應如何治療，心理健康專家對此眾說紛紜。』

　　Addicted? Really?

　　真的上癮了嗎？

　　Mar 10th 2011 | from The Economist

　　CRAIG SMALLWOOD, a disabled American war veteran, spent more than 20,000 hours over five years playing an online role-playing game called “Lineage II” . When NCsoft, the South Korean firm behind the game, accused him of  breaking the game’s rules and banned him, he was plunged into  depression, severe paranoia  and hallucinations . He spent three weeks in hospital. He sued  NCsoft for fraud  and negligence , demanding over $9m in damages and claiming that the company acted negligently by failing to warn him of the danger that he would become “addicted” to the game.

　　But does it make sense to talk of addiction to online activity? Mental-health specialists say three online behaviours can become problematic for many people: video games, pornography  and messaging  via e-mail and social networks. But there is far less agreement about whether any of this should be called “internet addiction”—or how to treat it.

　　Back in 2000 Joseph Walther, a communications professor at Michigan State University, co-wrote an article in which he suggested, tongue in cheek , that the criteria used to call someone an internet addict might also show that most professors were “addicted” to academia . He argued that other factors, such as depression, are the real problem. He stands by  that view today. “No scientific evidence has emerged to suggest that internet use is a cause rather than a consequence of some other sort of issue,”  he says. “Focusing on and treating people for internet addiction, rather than looking for underlying clinical issues, is unwise.”

　　Others disagree. “That would be wrong,” says Kimberly Young, a researcher and therapist  who has worked on internet addiction since 1994. She insists that the internet, with its powerfully immersive  environments, creates new problems that people must learn to navigate .

　　No one disputes that online habits can turn toxic.  But compulsive  behaviour is not limited to gamers. E-mail or web-use behaviours can also show signs of addiction. Getting through a business lunch in which no one pulls out a phone to check their messages now counts as a minor miracle in many quarters. 

　　Pornography is hardly new, either, but the internet makes accessing  it much easier than ever before. When something can be summoned in an instant via broadband, whether it is a game world, an e-mail inbox or pornographic material, it is harder to resist.

　　Treatment centres have popped up  around the world. In 2006 Amsterdam’s Smith & Jones  facility billed itself as  “the first and, currently, the only residential video-game treatment program in the world”. In America the reSTART Internet Addiction Recovery Program  claims to treat internet addiction, gaming addiction, and even “texting addiction”.

　　Yet many people like feeling permanently connected. As Arikia Millikan, an American blogger, once put  it, “If I could be jacked in  at every waking hour of the day, I would, and I think a lot of my peers would do the same.” Bob LaRose, an internet specialist at Michigan State University, doesn’t believe her. In his research on college students, he found that most sense when they are “going overboard  and restore self-control”. Less than 1% have a pathological  problem, he adds. For most people, internet use “is just a habit—and one that brings us pleasure”. (533 words)
 

  Lineage II: “天堂II”，一款大型多人在線角色扮演網絡游戲，由韓國游戲公司NCSoft開發。具有逼真的全3D立體畫面，血盟可以進行升級及轉職，較注重職業間搭配，需與其他玩家組隊合作。
  accuse sb (of sth): 控告（某人）；控訴（某人）；譴責（某人）
  plunge into sth: 陷入某狀態。如：The news plunged us into despair. （我們聽到那消息后就陷入了絕望。）
  paranoia 9pArE5nRIE n. 偏執狂；妄想狂
  hallucination hE9lu:sI5neIFn n. 幻覺
  sue sb (for sth): 控告（某人）；訴訟（某人）
  fraud frR:d n. 欺騙（行為）；欺詐
  negligence 5neglIdVEns n. 疏忽；過失
  pornography pR:5nCgrEfI n. 色情（或淫穢）材料
  messaging 5mesIdVIN n. 短信收發
  tongue in cheek: 有反話意味地；開玩笑地。如：The offer was made almost tongue in cheek.（這種提議差不多只是說說而已。）
  academia9AkE5demIE  n. 學術活動
  stand by: 堅持認為；堅決支持
  因特網的使用是引發其他問題的起因，而不是因其他問題造成的后果，這一論點并無科學依據。
  therapist 5WerEpIst n. 治療專家
  immersive I5m\:sIv adj. 沉浸式的
  navigate 5nAvIgeIt v.（有效地）處理。如：There’s no one I trust more to navigate these tricky political situations. （沒有一個能讓我更信賴的人可以處理這些復雜的政治局面。）
  No one disputes that online habits can turn toxic: 上網的習慣會導致弊端是無可置疑的。
  compulsive kEm5pQlsIvadj. 強迫性的
  如果在一個商業午餐中，沒有一個人拿出手機檢查信息，許多人會覺得這是一個小小的奇跡。in many quarters意為“在許多人當中”，如：Concern has been expressed in many quarters about the policy.（許多人已表達了對這項政策的關注。）
  access 5Akses v. 接近；進入
  pop up: 突然出現；迅速出現。如：The daffodils and tulips are popping up everywhere.（水仙花和郁金香從四處一下子冒了出來。）
  Smith & Jones: 史密斯與瓊斯治療中心，位于荷蘭阿姆斯特丹市，提供戒毒和戒酒方面的醫療服務。
  bill sb/sth as sth:（把人或事物）說成是……，宣傳為……。如：Some patients are receiving what has been billed as a revolutionary treatment.（有些病人正在接受所謂的革命性治療。）
  reStart Internet Addiction Recovery Program: reStart網癮康復項目，美國首家網癮康復中心，位于美國華盛頓州。