Internet Addiction: ReStart May 5, 2010

Internet addiction is becoming a major problem and it’s less and less surprising when reports focusing on this issue are being published. Lately, New York Times came up with the analysis of a recent study:

Researchers at the University of Maryland who asked 200 students to give up all media for one full day found that after 24 hours many showed signs of withdrawal, craving and anxiety along with an inability to function well without their media and social links.

Susan Moeller, the study’s project director and a journalism professor at the university, said many students wrote about how they hated losing their media connections, which some equated to going without friends and family.

I did some research and browsed the website of Microsoft’s  Internet Addiction Recovery Program. Here you can find the symptoms, and if you think you should give it a try, keep in mind that 1) the waiting list is long, 2) it costs a lot to attend the  28, 45 or 90 day-long programs ($14 500!).

The mission of this innovative program is to help adults, addicted to video games and the internet, detach from their high-tech distractions, find balance, and reconnect to the real world.  It is structured to include individual and group therapy, life-skills coaching, cooperative living, physical and nutritional education, mindfulness training, work and home-maintenance skill-building, 12-step meetings, and weekly, off-site, high-adventure expeditions.  The facility is located on a beautiful, 5-acre parcel of land in western Washington.