Internet addiction center opens in US

[MMAJAY]

September 06, 2009 9:10 PM EDT
FALL CITY, Washington - Ben Alexander spent nearly every waking minute playing the video game "World of Warcraft." As a result, he flunked out of the University of Iowa.
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, IC Mag ,eBay, Twitter and any other time-killers brought courtesy of technology.

 

[MrsEvlme2]

Good idea I guess. This is definitely a hard one. It's like food addiction. People have to eat and people have to use a computer for work or school. But, when playing on the computer consumes so much of your time that you neglect the job, school, wife or kids then you have a problem.
$14,000 for 45 days seems pretty steep though.

 

[whiterabbit9]

Yeah

very expensive

for 14000$
I could cure myself

I could do it with 5000$

 

[Kizzattack]

Hi. I'm Kizzattack, and I'm an Icmag-a-holic.


I have known people who have spent way too much time on games like World of Warcraft. A guy who was a good friend of mine only goes out of his house to go to work now. It's been over a year since I've seen him, even though he only lives about 30 miles away. His free time is spent on World of Warcraft and other MMORPGs.

People have died playing these games too, so it's probably a good idea that they've started doing this. These games appeal to people who are socially deprived and probably just need a good night out to realise what they're missing. Many of them won't leave their house to get their problem sorted.

 

[DoobieDuck]

Hello...my name is DoobieDuck....and I'm addicted to ICMag......DD

edit: Darn... Kizz beat me to it by seconds....stoners think alike..

 

[whiterabbit9]

I agree tough

going on the computer is too easy

 

[FrankRizzo]

You think they have free wifi at this place? I'm not goin' unless they do.

 

[LiLWaynE]

haha bump...

my name is LiLWaynE and im an IC-MAG Addict!

L MOTHER FUCKING O FUCKING L

 

[SoCaliSmoker]

I too am an ICmag addict......

(Does Call of Duty count too? My Xbox is "hooked up" to the internet...)

 

[SpasticGramps]

I have an IC Mag problem too, I'm noticing. I need it fed intravenously into my brain. It has certainly helped me get through some tough medical times.

 

[SpasticGramps]

I saw a brief snippet on this addiction center. They interviewed one of the kids going. He was addicted to World of Warcraft. lol. He was this emaciated looking kid with a pony tail. Looked like shit.

The dudes and program seemed to be a run of the mill 12 step program. Total seclusion. Counseling, etc, etc

 

[SoCaliSmoker]

We joke about ICmag (ICmag really is addicting) but you know that there are real problems with people and internet abuse. If you like, read the link I've attached from MSNBC.

It gives different families addictions to the internet and online-gaming that they neglect their kids and explains the outcomes. Its pretty fucked up to see people so obsessed over a video game that it takes over their lives. Literally.....


Link:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19855372/



Example:
And it's not just an American phenomenon: In 2005, a couple in South Korea were arrested after their 4-month-old daughter suffocated at home alone while her parents played World of Warcraft at a nearby Internet café. According to police, the couple claimed that, "We were thinking of playing for just an hour or two and returning home like usual, but the game took longer that day." (Please note the use of the word “usual.”)

 

[LiLWaynE]

i personally look at my laptop as my "BOOK"... you all sit around and read fairy tails and all that garbage, and ill be on the net reading a bunch of real life shit...

 

[SpasticGramps]

The way I figure it, your computer is your link to the information revolution. We are a few clicks away from answering whatever question pops in our head. I believe that makes for profound advances in society. It's definitely not all good, but nothing is in excess. Moderation is the key to life, so they say.

 

[Hash Zeppelin]

you might be addicted to ic mag if you have ever held the activity award.

 

[Peanut Butter]

Shit is addictive. Defiantly easier to take a break from smoking than it is taking a break from the net. My damn phone has email, rss feeds, podcasts, browser...how am I supposed to quit now? When was the last time your phone supplied you with weed the second you asked it to? Its like having a buddy who purposely smokes around you just because he knows your on a break, but a cell phone never leaves and never runs out of weed.

 

[j6p]

I've been working in IT for 30 years, and have always been a computer and information junkie. I can remember the very first time I opened an internet browser. I surfed for 14 hours nonstop, made a quick trip for takeout sushi, came back and surfed some more. Anything which is fun can easily take over. But much of my time is spent slinging code, which is slightly less addicting. As previously mentioned, the key is moderation.

 

[sparkjumper]

I think the word addiction is way overused and this is just another example.Its so easy to call bizarre behavior an addiction and stick you in a 12 step program.People that over eat are not addicted to food the notion is preposterous.

 

[sorcival]

Addiction
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
"Addictive" redirects here. For other uses, see Addictive (disambiguation).
This article is about the concept of addiction. For other uses, see Addiction (disambiguation).
"-holic" and "-holism" redirect here. For the suffixes themselves, see -holic and -holism. For the unrelated complete word, see Holism.
Bottle of heroin, an addictive drug

The term "addiction" is used in many contexts to describe an obsession, compulsion, or excessive psychological dependence, such as: drug addiction (e.g. alcoholism, nicotine addiction), problem gambling, crime, money, work addiction, compulsive overeating, credit card addiction, compulsive debting, computer addiction, video game addiction, pornography addiction, television addiction, etc.

In medical terminology, an addiction is a chronic neurobiologic disorder that has genetic, psychosocial, and environmental dimensions and is characterized by one of the following: the continued use of a substance despite its detrimental effects, impaired control over the use of a drug (compulsive behavior), and preoccupation with a drug's use for non-therapeutic purposes (i.e. craving the drug).[1] Addiction is often accompanied by the presence of deviant behaviors (for instance stealing money and forging prescriptions) that are used to obtain a drug.[citation needed]

Tolerance to a drug and physical dependence are not defining characteristics of addiction, although they typically accompany addiction to certain drugs. Tolerance is a pharmacologic phenomenon where the dose of a medication needs to be continually increased in order to maintain its desired effects.[2] For instance, individuals with severe chronic pain taking opiate medications (like morphine) will need to continually increase the dose in order to maintain the drug's analgesic (pain-relieving) effects. Physical dependence is also a pharmacologic property and means that if a certain drug is abruptly discontinued, an individual will experience certain characteristic withdrawal signs and symptoms.[2] Many drugs used for therapeutic purposes produce withdrawal symptoms when abruptly stopped, for instance oral steroids, certain antidepressants, benzodiazepines, and opiates.

However, common usage of the term addiction has spread to include psychological dependence. In this context, the term is used in drug addiction and substance abuse problems, but also refers to behaviors that are not generally recognized by the medical community as problems of addiction, such as compulsive overeating.

The term addiction is also sometimes applied to compulsions that are not substance-related, such as problem gambling and computer addiction. In these kinds of common usages, the term addiction is used to describe a recurring compulsion by an individual to engage in some specific activity, despite harmful consequences, as deemed by the user themself to their individual health, mental state, or social life


Does this describe YOU???

I too am an addict of everything I enjoy in life.

 

[SpasticGramps]

I think the word addiction is way overused and this is just another example.Its so easy to call bizarre behavior an addiction and stick you in a 12 step program.People that over eat are not addicted to food the notion is preposterous.

Well, it's not your fault these days. You have some disease or it was your parents fault or someone called you names or one other of the thousand excuses we make up for our dysfunctional behavior.