Pioneering Internet 'detox' center looks to cure online addicts |
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Pioneering Internet 'detox' center looks to cure online addicts
Are you spending sleepless hours trying to master World of Warcraft? Would you rather send a friend a text mesage than meet in person? Do you sometimes fall asleep at the keyboard?
If you answered yes to any of those questions, you may have an Internet addiction. But now there's help. The reStart Internet Addiction Recovery Program -- a first of its kind center in the U.S. -- recently opened its doors on a tranquil 5-acre spread in Fall City just a few miles away from Microsoft's headquarters.
Most people go to treatment for cocaine or booze, but the creators of reStart say Internet addiction is a growing problem.
The 45-day program -- which costs $14,500 -- is designed specifically "to help internet and video game addicts overcome their dependence on gaming, gambling, chatting, texting and other aspects of Internet Addiction," according to the press release.
It goes on to say that as much as 10 percent of the online population is dependent on various aspects of the Internet, with the directors of the center noting that similar programs have arisen in places like China and South Korea.
[Follow-up: See this post being discussed on MSNBC's Morning Meeting program.]
KING 5 spent some time at the 6-bed facility, interviewing an Iowa teenager whose parents enrolled him after he dropped out of school because of his addiction to World of Warcraft.
"I'd have all these rationalizations of, well, it's not a big deal to just miss this one class," 19-year-old Ben Alexander tells KING 5.
At the rate things are going, my wife may want to check me into the program. I just completed the questionnaire to see if I would qualify as having a computer addiction. (Three to four affirmative answers signals abuse, while five or more indicates an addiction.)
I registered seven positive answers, including changes in sleep patterns; feeling restless when not engaged in the activity and neglecting friends and family.
With that, I am calling it quits for the night. Time to hop on my bike.
John Cook is co-founder of TechFlash. Follow on Twitter @johnhcook.
Follow-up: We asked Gnomedex attendees: Are you addicted to the Internet?
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