Women who are obsessed with Facebook, Twitter and online shopping can now blame it on their genes, after scientists claimed internet addiction was hereditary.

Although the world wide web has been around for less than a generation, Dr Christian Montag from the University of Bonn, said they had found a gene in people who could not drag themselves away. Most were women.

Dr Montag said that, biologically speaking, internet addiction had the same genetic cause as smoking addiction.

He said: “Internet addiction is not a figment of our imagination. Researchers and therapists are increasingly closing in on it."

Describing the impact of the genetic variant on those who had it, he said: “Within the group of subjects exhibiting problematic internet behaviour this variant occurs more frequently, in particular, in women.

"The sex-specific genetic finding may result from a specific subgroup of internet dependency, such as the use of social networks or such."

He and colleagues drew their conclusions after interviewing more than 800 people about their internet habits, including how often they thought about it and how much of an impact they felt if it was denied to them.

They then looked at the genetic makeup of 132 who seemed most addicted to the net, comparing them to a 'healthy' control group.

They found that many of the 132 had the same genetic variant, which has previously been linked to nicotine addiction.

More studies were needed, he said, but added: "The current data already shows that there are clear indications for genetic causes of internet addiction.

"If such connections are better understood, this will also result in important indications for better therapies."


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/health...genes.html

Interesting.  I wonder how that equates with computer gaming addiction, which is almost always seen in men?  Is it the same gene at work there, or another variant?  Or something else entirely?
Alison

I would bet it to be the same gene

I havent found any proof of that, that I can link to

What's the difference between being addicted and just using it a lot because you enjoy it?

This post was last modified: 09-01-2012 01:29 AM by Xaisede.

'enjoying it' would be the addiction

I remember when I was addicted to online gaming. Now I found a new drug, and it's called AFF lol

addiction (n.)
enjoyment of something which is socially unacceptable

Great, now I have "Addicted to Spuds" stuck in my head.  Thank you, Weird Al.  

Some people have an addictive personality.  I have to be careful, it runs in my family.  My Dad is an alcoholic smoker.  

I would add:

to the detriment of your health or other necessary activities such as maintaining relationships, getting to work, getting enough sleep, etc.

this is just silly. just about the same gene is at work in any addiction. Thats why when someone quits one addiction they usually just replace it with another. The same changes occur in the brain regardless of the object of addiction.

Mainstream science silliness.

addiction is hard to control sometimes.... you just need to break it into tiny pieces of ways to recover from it.... small baby steps to be honest.

Why was my first mental image someone sticking an ethernet cable into their arm like a heroin needle?

That's a really good question.

I am sure someone somewhere has tried it

interesting...i wonder...