Clinic for internet addicts opens in US

**debbystewart** · #1 09-05-2009, 02:00 PM

It's about time. A lot of us are internet addicts. Not sure that I would want to go to rehab yet!
The price is also very expensive. $14,000 for 45 days???

If you have to take a quick break from reading this article to check your Blackberry, send a text or reboot your Xbox 360 before you reach the end of this paragraph, then the good news is that help is at hand.

reSTART has been opened outside Seattle, the rain-soaked north-western town where high-tech companies are as common as cattle are in Texas. It claims to be America's first residential detox centre for internet addicts.

For a little over $14,000, up to six people at a time can spend 45 days sweating out their insatiable urge to be umbilically connected to cyberspace. Think cold turkey as experienced by heroin junkies, and you get the general idea.

Residents are given counselling and psychotherapy, as well as encouraged to bond as a group in activities such as household chores, walks in the grounds and exercising.

You can read the full article at Clinic for internet addicts opens in US | World news | guardian.co.uk

**Michelle** · #2 09-05-2009, 04:12 PM

14k for 45 days! WOW! When people hear how much I am on the internet-their mouths drop. But, in my defense, I work online the majority of the time. Now, I see people who sit on Facebook and Myspace for hours at a time and I just don't get it. I guess we all have our own addictions...lol

**AG1976** · #3 09-05-2009, 06:54 PM

I work online too, but I love the Internet in general. I couldn't imagine spending $14,000 for a 45-day program...that is really steep!

I'm generally fine unless I'm away from my computer for six hours or more...then I get a real urge to go online!

**Michelle** · #4 09-06-2009, 11:59 AM

Ya know, now that this was brought up-I started taking a good look at my family's internet usage...ouch.

I guess the internet is more than just for work for me and my husband. My kids-forget about it-I know they are addicted. One daughter is a gamer and while away from the internet-she thinks out loud about how she can't wait to get home to check her scores. My oldest can't keep from checking her Facebook/Myspace for more than a few minutes-that she checks them from her phone now. If my husband is away from eBay while his listings are ending-uh oh! And me, I need to check online deals and print out coupons before I even think about going shopping.

So I guess we are in a way addicted, but not crazy. I would never pay 14k for rehab for it. Besides, the internet is a must these days for everything. School, paying bills, researching, work...

**esper_d** · #5 09-06-2009, 11:59 PM

I'm an internet addict! I agree the price is steep, but can really help many. I wonder what this clinic does. I can't imagine living without my email, favorite sites, wah sites, forums, etc etc. I agree, it's an addiction, though. That clinic sounds kind of neat. I'd try it, if it were free or they paid me.

**wordygirl** · #6 09-07-2009, 12:09 AM

I am probably addicted, too but this would be like being addicted to food. You have to have food, so you can't totally abstain from it like heroin. I work online, too so I wouldn't be able to abstain from it, either. Hm. I guess it could be worse...?