Asst. Marko Gošovic, MA participated in management committee meeting In Barcelona (Cost Action „Problematic Usage of Internet) on 11th October 2018 .

This action is about growing global concern about the public health and societal costs of problematic use of the internet (PUI), which has an estimated prevalence of 6% among the general population and which is increasingly recognised to affect children and young people, represents an emerging challenge for mental health research. Some disordered online behaviours, such as excessive gaming, buying, gambling, email checking, social media use and viewing pornography, cause such significant impairment of everyday functioning of some individuals that mental health professional help is sought. National health authorities are now expressing concern. However, there is lack of agreement on the definition of PUI as a ‘mental disorder’ and a critical scarcity of reliable information on its prevalence, clinical parameters, brain-based biology and socio-health-economic impact. Moreover, significant geographical differences in the magnitude of the problem (e.g. East Asia versus Europe) need to be better understood, to inform health policy and service development.