US: Students addicted to the internet, says study

American college students are hooked on cell phones, social media and the internet and are showing symptoms similar to drug and alcohol addictions, according to a new study, reports Reuters.

Researchers at the University of Maryland who asked 200 students to give up all media for one full day found that after 24 hours many showed signs of withdrawal, craving and anxiety along with an inability to function well without their media and social links.

Susan Moeller, the study's project director and a journalism professor at the university, said many students wrote about how they hated losing their media connections, which some equated to going without friends and family. "I clearly am addicted and the dependency is sickening," said one student. "Between having a Blackberry, a laptop, a television and an iPod, people have become unable to shed their media skin."
Full report on The New York Times site