经济学人:Addicted? Really?上瘾了?真的?

　　The internet: Mental-health specialists disagree over whether to classify compulsive online behaviour as addiction²—and how to treat it

　　互联网：强迫性上网行为是否是网瘾，该如何治疗？心理健康专家对此说法不一

　　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 plunged³ into depression, severe paranoia⁴ and hallucinations. He spent three weeks in hospital. He sued NCsoft for fraud and negligence⁵, demanding over $9m in damages and claiming that the company acted negligently⁶ by failing to warn him of the danger that he would become “addicted” to the game.

　　克莱格.斯莫尔伍德是美国一位残疾退伍军人，五年中有20,000个小时都泡在网上，沉浸在一个叫做“天堂II”的线上角色扮演游戏中。当韩国游戏开发商NCSoft公司控诉克莱格违反游戏规则并将其注销后，克莱格极度抑郁，并陷入严重的偏执和幻想中。住院三周后，克莱格控告NCSoft公司欺诈和疏忽，声称该公司没有告诫其游戏“网瘾”的危害，要求获得9百万美元的赔偿金。

　　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.

　　但是线上行为是否就一定会导致网瘾呢？精神健康专家认为三种线上行为有可能对人们有害：电子游戏、色情以及电子邮件和社交网络。然而，对于其他行为是否能被称为所谓的“网瘾”以及如何治疗，专家们至今还不能达成统一。

　　Some mental-health specialists wanted “internet addiction” to be included in the fifth version of psychiatry⁷’s bible, the “Diagnostic and Statistical⁸ Manual of Mental Disorders”, known as DSM-V, which is currently being overhauled⁹. The American Medical Association endorsed¹⁰ the idea in 2007, only to backtrack days later. The American Journal of Psychiatry called internet addiction a “common disorder” and supported its recognition. Last year the DSM-V drafting group made its decision: internet addiction would not be included as a “behavioural addiction”—only gambling¹¹ made the cut—but it said further study was warranted.

　　一些精神健康专家认为应将“网瘾”列入新近改版的第五版精神病学圣经——《精神疾病诊断与统计手册》（第五版DSM）中。美国医学协会（ASA）在2007年就曾表示支持这一想法，但几天后却又改口。《美国精神病学杂志》将网瘾视作一种“普通疾病”，并支持普及网瘾知识。去年，第五版DSM起草小组决定：网瘾将不会被列入“行为上瘾”——只有赌博加入其列——但小组表示研究将会进一步开展。

　　Sceptics say there is nothing uniquely addictive¹² about the internet. 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 criteria¹³ used to call someone an internet addict¹ 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 underlying¹⁴ clinical issues, is unwise.”

　　怀疑论者认为，互联网并无让人上瘾的特性。2000年时，密西根州立大学传播学教授约瑟夫.沃尔瑟在与他人合写的一篇文章中开玩笑似地说道，如果按照所谓的网瘾标准，大部分的教授也可以叫做“学术上瘾”了。约瑟夫还表示，其他的因素，比如抑郁，才是真正需要解决的问题。约瑟夫至今还坚信该观点。“所谓使用互联网是问题的起因，而不是因其他因素造成的结果，这一点并无科学证实。”他说道，“如果只关注并着手治疗网瘾者，而不寻找其他隐藏的临床因素，是很不明智的做法。”

　　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 navigate¹⁵.

　　反对的声音同样存在。从1994年便开始研究网瘾的研究者兼临床医学家金伯利.杨说道：“这种说法可能有误。”她坚持认为，互联网上强大广阔的空间，滋生出许多新问题，人们必须学习如何解决这些问题。

　　No one disputes that online habits can turn toxic¹⁶. Take South Korea, where ubiquitous broadband means that the average high-school student plays video games for 23 hours each week. In 2007 the government estimated that around 210,000 children needed treatment for internet addiction. Last year newspapers around the globe carried the story of a South Korean couple who fed their infant daughter so little that she starved to death. Instead of caring for the child, the couple spent most nights at an internet café, sinking hours into a role-playing game in which they raised, fed and cared for a virtual daughter. And several South Korean men have died from exhaustion¹⁷ after marathon, multi-day gaming sessions.

　　上网有弊端已是公认事实。以韩国为例，宽带普及导致高中生平均每周花23小时玩线上游戏。2007年，韩国政府估计近21万的儿童需要接受网瘾治疗。去年，全球的报刊都报道了一对韩国夫妻因喂养不足导致女婴死亡的新闻。这对夫妻因为整夜泡在网吧里，沉浸在一个线上喂养和照顾女儿的虚拟游戏中，根本没有时间照顾真正的女儿。另有几名韩国男性因长时间沉浸于线上游戏劳累过度而死。

　　The South Korean government has since asked game developers to adopt a gaming curfew for children, to prevent them playing between midnight and 8am. It has also opened more than 100 clinics for internet addiction and sponsored an “internet rescue camp” for serious cases.

　　此后，韩国政府要求游戏开发商采取电玩宵禁，禁止儿童在半夜到早晨8点之间玩游戏。同时，政府还增开了100家网瘾治疗诊所，并资助针对严重案例展开的“网瘾拯救营”活动。

　　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 minor¹⁸ miracle in many quarters. A deluge¹⁹ of self-help books, most recently “Alone Together” by Sherry Turkle, a social scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, offer advice on how to unplug.

　　但强迫性行为并不仅仅是玩游戏。电子邮件和其他网络行为也可能导致上瘾。很多时候，如果一个商业午餐中没有一个人拿出手机查邮件的话，就已经是个小奇迹了。现在有许多自救书目，包括最近MIT社会学家谢里.特尔可的《一起孤独》，提供了如何摆脱上述强迫性行为的方法。

　　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. New services lead to new complaints. When online auction²⁰ sites first became popular, talk of “eBay addiction” soon followed. Dr Young says women complain to her now about addiction to Facebook—or even to “FarmVille”, a game playable only within Facebook.

　　色情作品由来已久，但是网络让人们更易接触到色情资源。无论是游戏还是电子邮件，或是色情资源，只要能够通过宽带轻松获得，人们就更难抵挡其诱惑。新型的服务滋生新抱怨。当初线上拍卖开始流行时，随之而来的是“eBay上瘾”的说法。杨博士表示，现在很多女性向她抱怨，Facebook和只能在Facebook上玩的“FarmVille”游戏让她们非常上瘾。

　　Treatment centres have popped up around the world. In 2006 Amsterdam’s Smith & Jones facility billed itself as “the first and, currently, the only residential²¹ 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”. In China, meanwhile, military-style “boot camps” are the preferred way to treat internet problems. After several deaths, however, scrutiny²² of the camps has intensified²³.

　　这样一来，治疗中心在全球如雨后春笋般出现。2006年，位于阿姆斯特丹的史密斯与琼斯治疗中心自称其为“目前世界上第一家也是唯一一家居住式线上游戏治疗中心”。美国reSTART网瘾康复项目声称能治疗网瘾、游戏瘾，甚至还有“短信瘾”。而在中国，人们更倾向于通过军事化“训练营”戒除网瘾。但是，经过几起受训者死亡事件之后，对训练营的监管也更加严格。

　　Yet many people like feeling permanently²⁴ 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.”

　　许多人喜欢一直保持连接的感觉。就像美国一位博主阿里克亚.米里坎曾经说过，“如果可以的话，我愿意在我醒着的每时每刻都在线，我相信很多同龄人也是一样的。”然而，密歇根州立大学互联网专家鲍勃.拉罗斯表示质疑。在他对大学生的研究中，鲍勃发现当学生们“一旦玩的太过头了，就会开始自控。”只有不到1%的学生会出现病态的问题，鲍勃补充道。对于大部分人来说，使用网络“只是一种习惯——并且是一种带来快乐的习惯。”

1 addict   

v.使沉溺；使上瘾；n.沉溺于不良嗜好的人

参考例句：

• He became gambling addict,and lost all his possessions.他习染上了赌博，最终输掉了全部家产。
• He assisted a drug addict to escape from drug but failed firstly.一开始他帮助一个吸毒者戒毒但失败了。

2 addiction   

n.上瘾入迷，嗜好

参考例句：

• He stole money from his parents to feed his addiction.他从父母那儿偷钱以满足自己的嗜好。
• Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction,poverty and murder.贩卖毒品的地区往往是吸毒上瘾、贫困和发生谋杀的地方。

3 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

4 paranoia   

n.妄想狂，偏执狂；多疑症

参考例句：

• Her passion for cleanliness borders on paranoia.她的洁癖近乎偏执。
• The push for reform is also motivated by political paranoia.竞选的改革运动也受到政治偏执狂症的推动。

5 negligence   

n.疏忽，玩忽，粗心大意

参考例句：

• They charged him with negligence of duty.他们指责他玩忽职守。
• The traffic accident was allegedly due to negligence.这次车祸据说是由于疏忽造成的。

6 negligently   

参考例句：

• Losses caused intentionally or negligently by the lessee shall be borne by the lessee. 如因承租人的故意或过失造成损失的，由承租人负担。 来自经济法规部分
• Did the other person act negligently? 他人的行为是否有过失？ 来自口语例句

7 psychiatry   

n.精神病学，精神病疗法

参考例句：

• The study appeared in the Amercian science Journal of Psychiatry.这个研究发表在美国精神病学的杂志上。
• A physician is someone who specializes in psychiatry.精神病专家是专门从事精神病治疗的人。

8 statistical   

adj.统计的，统计学的

参考例句：

• He showed the price fluctuations in a statistical table.他用统计表显示价格的波动。
• They're making detailed statistical analysis.他们正在做具体的统计分析。

9 overhauled   

v.彻底检查( overhaul的过去式和过去分词 )；大修；赶上；超越

参考例句：

• Within a year the party had drastically overhauled its structure. 一年内这个政党已大刀阔斧地整顿了结构。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A mechanic overhauled the car's motor with some new parts. 一个修理工对那辆汽车的发动机进行了彻底的检修，换了一些新部件。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 endorsed   

vt.& vi.endorse的过去式或过去分词形式v.赞同( endorse的过去式和过去分词 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品

参考例句：

• The committee endorsed an initiative by the chairman to enter discussion about a possible merger. 委员会通过了主席提出的新方案，开始就可能进行的并购进行讨论。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The government has broadly endorsed a research paper proposing new educational targets for 14-year-olds. 政府基本上支持建议对14 岁少年实行新教育目标的研究报告。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 gambling   

n.赌博；投机

参考例句：

• They have won a lot of money through gambling.他们赌博赢了很多钱。
• The men have been gambling away all night.那些人赌了整整一夜。

12 addictive   

adj.(吸毒等)使成瘾的，成为习惯的

参考例句：

• The problem with video game is that they're addictive.电子游戏机的问题在于它们会使人上瘾。
• Cigarettes are highly addictive.香烟很容易使人上瘾。

13 criteria   

n.标准

参考例句：

• The main criterion is value for money.主要的标准是钱要用得划算。
• There are strict criteria for inclusion in the competition.参赛的标准很严格。

14 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

15 navigate   

v.航行，飞行；导航，领航

参考例句：

• He was the first man to navigate the Atlantic by air.他是第一个飞越大西洋的人。
• Such boats can navigate on the Nile.这种船可以在尼罗河上航行。

16 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

17 exhaustion   

n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述

参考例句：

• She slept the sleep of exhaustion.她因疲劳而酣睡。
• His exhaustion was obvious when he fell asleep standing.他站着睡着了，显然是太累了。

18 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

19 deluge   

n./vt.洪水，暴雨，使泛滥

参考例句：

• This little stream can become a deluge when it rains heavily.雨大的时候，这条小溪能变作洪流。
• I got caught in the deluge on the way home.我在回家的路上遇到倾盆大雨。

20 auction   

n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖

参考例句：

• They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
• They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。

21 residential   

adj.提供住宿的；居住的；住宅的

参考例句：

• The mayor inspected the residential section of the city.市长视察了该市的住宅区。
• The residential blocks were integrated with the rest of the college.住宿区与学院其他部分结合在了一起。

22 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。

23 intensified   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Violence intensified during the night. 在夜间暴力活动加剧了。
• The drought has intensified. 旱情加剧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

24 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。