Can the Problematic Internet Use evolve in a pre-psychotic state? A single case study with the Wartegg

This study consists in a single case report. A 17 year old boy was hospitalized for 80 days at the Psychiatric Service of Diagnosis and Treatment (SPDC), due to his overwhelming anxiety of going mad. From the anamnesis results that around the age of 13 begun a slow but progressive retirement in the virtual world. For his psychological evaluation, during hospitalization, were used: the Social Adaptation Self-evaluation Scale (SASS), the Scale for rapid dimensional assessment (SVARAD), the Base-Symptom Questionnaire (FBF), the Kleinian Psychoanalytic Diagnostic Scale (KPDS) and the Wartegg projective method, analyzed with the Crisi's Wartegg System (CWS). The analysis of the questionnaires and the psychological interpretations in the light of the individual clinical history suggest that the withdrawal in cyber dependence could have represent a first sign of the pre-psychotic state. The implications for clinical practice and research are discussed. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.