Elderly and internet dependence: a bibliographic review

Abstract

In Brazil, as in much of the world, demographic studies have shown that people's life expectancy has increased. And in this new scenario of population aging, it is noticeable the progressive insertion of the elderly, mainly those of the great urban centers, making use of the Internet. The starting point for this movement was when these elderly people realized that they could communicate with relatives and friends who live far away. Beyond this factor, they are also motivated to use the Internet to meet new people (through social networks), to read newsreels and to use services that do not require them to leave home. However, when the individual (elderly or not) is not in control of the use of the Internet, with impairments in work and / or social relations, accompanied by psychological and psychiatric symptoms (anxiety, depression, irritability, fissure, being offline, etc.), may be triggering in itself the dependency disorder of the internet. Thus, this bibliographic review discusses the relationship between the elderly and the use of the internet, the internet dependence itself and its nosographic issues. For this, the main databases (PsycINFO, BVS-Psi, Medline-PubMed, Lilacs-Bireme and Scielo) and diagnostic manuals were accessed. In fact, it was observed that the lack of classification of diagnostic criteria for internet dependence in the manuals makes it difficult to diagnose and effectively care for the elderly, who may be suffering from this disorder, as well as the lack of research addressing this issue theme.