When Logging Off Is Hard to Do

Health experts have long debated whether Internet addiction is a dangerous disease or an illusory phenomenon. But if online addiction is real, there can be little doubt that college students — armed, as they are, with high-speed Web connections and plenty of unstructured time — are especially susceptible.

Now a new study brings worrisome news to campus officials who want to keep students’ Internet use under control. The report, published in Perspectives in Psychiatric Care, argues that between 5 percent and 10 percent of Internet users demonstrate "problematic compulsions" on the Web.

For more on Internet addiction, see an article from The Chronicle by Elizabeth F. Farrell.