ASSOCIATED PRESS – Alexander, 19, needed help to break an addiction he calls as destructive as alcohol or drugs. He found it in this suburb of high-tech Seattle, where what claims to be the first residential treatment center for Internet addiction in the United States just opened its doors.
The center, called ReSTART, is somewhat ironically located near Redmond, headquarters of Microsoft and a world center of the computer industry. It opened in July and for $14,000 offers a 45-day program intended to help people wean themselves from pathological computer use, which can include obsessive use of video games, texting, Facebook, eBay, Twitter and any other time-killers brought courtesy of technology.
Maybe if we had imlemented John’s “computer license” idea, we wouldn’t be needing this.
“pathological computer use, which can include obsessive use of video games, texting, Facebook, eBay, Twitter and any other time-killers brought courtesy of technology.”
I only use the interwebs for pr0n and noagenda podcasts – does that count as pathological use?
I wouldn’t call the center being near MS campus as “somewhat ironic”. MS isn’t really known as the internet king.
Now if it had been near the old Netscape campus or near Google, I’d be laughing.
Why is that guy’s hand on his crotch?
Internet is a proper noun. Grammar in this country has gone to Hell. Truly pathetic.
Prelude to lawsuits.
…they just handed him the keyboard. Everyone could see the danger…
How To Waste $14,000 in 45 Days.
You beat an addiction in only one way: Avoiding the object of desire.
Alcoholics can’t get clean and then enjoy a beer now and then.
Coke lovers can’t just snort on weekends.
What are these people going to do after 45 days? Become Luddites and move to Montana?
I wonder if they have Wi-Fi…
Are you kidding me right now…$14K start a IA meeting…those are free! Internet Anonymous, that’s where it’s at!
Addiction can manifest itself in many different forms and those of us with those tendencies to be obsessive compulsive need to channel that energy in a different more positive direction.
Join the gym dude!
Great enterprise to whisle up during an economic depression. As this “addiction” problem will probably increase, with so many people being out of work. Who’s going to decide that someone is addicted? And who’s going to pay for it, when they can’t. Bet this will be a future candidate for government (taxpayer) funding. I didn’t see “pron” mentioned as one of the time wasters. But it’s likely the number one cyber addiction. How do they wean someone off of that? With REAL “pron”. Yeah, that might be worth $14K for 45 days. Cheaper than the street price.
You can bicker with specific aspects of this story, but it’s hard to deny that some people have a serious problem with the internet.
Porn, of course. But also texting.
It is so funny to know that internet addiction center will open in US…..
This is right solution of opening the addiction center of internet,the extreme access of any thing is create pathetic problem to people!!!
Good job!
Oscar brown
Is it also an addiction to drive to places (every day for gosh sakes) like work or to stores? What about addiction to books and magazines? If someone reads the Bible every day are they addicted to doing that? This is ridiculous. Everything is an addiction now. Take away his internet, his body is not physiologically affected. This is not an addiction.
Figure 8 shows a representative scatter plot.