When properly used, Internet is an important technology that provides people with vital skills for the 21st century such as information access, problem solving, and self-directed learning. However, when Internet is used unconsciously, it can cause anxiety or fear and negatively affect personal development (Colwell & Kato, 2003; Kerberg, 2005). In addition, excessive use of Internet may have detrimental effects on biological, physiological, psychological and social
development of the user (Caplan, 2002). In this context, Internet addiction has gradually become a serious problem. Thus, although it was not mentioned in the previous editions, American Psychiatric Association (APA) has added Internet addiction, with a particular reference to online gambling, as a mental illness to the fifth edition of the Handbook of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (American Psychiatric Association, 2013).
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