Bradford Regional Medical Center Opens First US Inpatient Internet Addiction Program

by Jane Weber Brubaker

The 2014 Sundance Film Festival lineup includes a docu­mentary titled “Web Junkie,” a film about an Internet addiction treat­ment center outside Beijing. In a clip from the film posted by The New York Times on YouTube, a title ap­pears over scenes of the military-style treatment center: “In 2008 China declared Internet addiction to be a clinical disorder, saying it’s a top health threat to its teenagers.” China is not alone. According to a 2012 Associated Press article, in South Korea 160,000 children between ages 5 and 9 are addicted to the Internet and 2.55 million people of all ages are addicted to smartphones.

Not convinced that Internet addiction is a valid diagnosis, the American Psychiatric Association has categorized it as “a condition warranting more clinical research and experience before it might be considered for inclusion in the main [DSM-5] book as a formal disorder.” Therefore, it is listed as “Internet Gaming Disorder” in Section III of the latest version of DSM-5, or fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, released in May 2013, with other diagnostic categories that require further study.

In spite of this provision, in September 2013 Bradford (PA) Regional Medical Center launched the first inpatient Internet addiction treatment program in the United States. The program is part of the hospital’s dual diagnosis clinic. A dual diagnosis program treats patients who have addiction prob­lems co-occurring with a mental dis­order such as depression or anxiety. Dual diagnosis treatment programs typically treat patients with drug or alcohol addiction. Bradford Re­gional has added Internet addiction to its program, recognizing it as a “compulsive behavior that interferes with normal living and causes severe stress on family, friends, loved ones, and one’s work environment,” ac­cording to the hospital’s website. Roger Laroche, MD, the hospital’s medical director of behavioral health services, collaborated with psycholo­gist Kimberly Young, PsyD, to de­velop the program.

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