Slashdot Mirror
First American Internet Addiction Treatment Center
An anonymous reader writes "Taking their lead from China, two Americans have opened the first US-based Internet Addiction treatment center in Fall City, Wash. — ironically close to Redmond (Microsoft's hometown). The center, called reStart: Internet Addiction Recovery Program, is a 45-day treatment center where, for a steep set of fees, people can be cured of their addiction to the Web. After paying the $200 application fee, addicts are charged $14,500 for the 45 days, an additional $800 for a screening, and more for extra services, like kayaking ($1,575)."
No wonder they cure Internet addiction, after paying 15 grand, you couldn't even afford dial up.
who prays for Satan? Who in 18 centuries has had the humanity to pray for the 1 sinner that needed it most? ~Mark Twain
it very well sounds like the goal here isn't so much to actually "treat" people so much as to make large sums of money by catering to those of us who have access to lots of cash.
Sigs are too short to say anything truly profound so read the above post instead.
People will now have to pay monthly fee for not being connected to the Internet as well?
Ezekiel 23:20
Can I sign up online?
I must give a nod to this highly creative solution to net addiction: charge the victim so much money they can afford neither a computer nor a net connection! The elegance of the solution is awe-inspiring.
Proud member of the Weirdo-American community.
Two friends -- Cosette Rae, a clinical social worker, and author Hilarie Cash
Now, these people could be people devastated by personal loss due to too much World of Warcraft by a loved one... or they could be two people who are fearmongerers desperately trying to leech cash out of rich Microsoft yuppie parents who can't figure out how to pull the plug on their kid's computerboxstation360.
All I'm saying is the article doesn't mention anything about them, and given the lack of PhD or even MD behind the names... I'll say nothing to see here, move along.
I'm surprised it's not just a room full of prostitutes and an all you can eat plan for a week.
It's odd how they've conveniently changed the meaning of "addiction". The definition used to be that for something to be addictive, it had to have physical withdrawal symptoms, like alcohol, caffiene, niccotine, heroin, etc. What used to be separately termed "habituation" is now termed "addiction".
However, as I learned when quitting cigarettes, the habituation can be as bad as the addiction. Two years after I stopped, and didn't even WANT a cigarette, I still slapped the shirt pocket that used to hold the cigarettes when I left work. Do anything for thirty years and you'll miss it, even if "it" is being hit on the head with a stick.
Free Martian Whores!
Of course. http://www.netaddictionrecovery.com/
Don't be silly.
Yep. http://twitter.com/GetYourLifeBack
Yep. http://www.netaddictionrecovery.com/social-network/facebook.html
They're probably still working on it...
-- Don't Tase me, bro!
it's called my back yard. The director? My wife. Both are very effective.
"There's a sucker born every minute."
Sorry, but anyone who pays over $15k to "cure" themselves of addiction to the internet is an idiot. I can cure it for you faster, easier, and cheaper - in fact, you'll MAKE money.
Cancel.
Your.
Internet.
There. I saved you over $15k.
Sorry for the lack of sympathy but there are people out there with real addictions who need help. "Internet addiction" is a complete joke.
And, for anyone who is about to point out people who have an obsessive need to be online, don't confuse OCD behaviour with addiction. The two are different. One may lead to the other but they are not the same. People aren't addicted to the internet. Sorry.
How much does a fatal beating go for? Are the prices competitive, or should I import one from china?
I had for a very extended period of time an addiction to an online game. I was very antisocial and i basically lived to play. Talking to Cosette helped me learn how to look at my addiction from another perspective. She got me to try to stop and i did. Now I am a much happier person and I have made an incredible amount of progress in my life. I have so many more friends, and I find that things come more easily to me, and I find joy in more things. Putting my life into one thing was horrible for me and now I have learned to apply myself, and I have broken my addiction. Thanks alot --Conner
Guide to the perfect testimonial:
Step 1: Use generalized words when talking about time. For example, instead of saying "for two years," use the term "very extended period of time."
Step 2: Mention that you now have a new perspective due to talking with --insert name here--. Don't go into detail about what your perspective is now or what it was then.
Step 3: Instead of detailing what steps you took to stop, just say - "she got me to try to stop and i did."
Step 4: Claim that you are happier
Step 5: Claim you now have bajillions of friends!
Step 6: ?????
Step 7: Profit!
Obligatory xkcd
"I bless every day that I continue to live, for every day is pure profit."
They should have a service like this for religious people. Religious nutcase addicts are far more dangerous than some dude that plays warcraft all day or something.
I have so many more friends, and I find that things come more easily to me
Obviously, she broke his WoW addiction by getting him addicted to Facebook!
So the program is ideal. Screw $1,500 of kayaking - think $15,000 of "exotic roleplaying." Man, this spa thing could be a winner - 45 days at a hotel-like spa with outside activities? Set it up right and Blue Cross will even pay for it.
I am so there! Sorry, boss, I need 45 days off to cure my internet addiction - I'll be kayaking, deep-sea fishing, and TFing hookers. No prob, I hate to do it, but it's the only way to reconnect with reality. Oh, and you are paying, don't make me invoke the "Americans with disabilities" law.
ad . dic . tion, n.: The state or practice of engaging in an activity that does not earn money for one's boss. See antonymns at "well-adjusted" and "slave."
Naw, irony would be if they offered classes online.
We're all pretty much guessing here, so I will present my best educated guess. IANAPsychologist, I only took Psych classes to get chicks...
First of all, just because someone spends a lot of time doing one thing, that does not make them an addict. To be addicted to something, you have to feel drawn to it against your will, it must be an overwhelming urge. You know the old saying "I can quit any time I want, just not today"... that's addiction! If the very idea of stopping is a stressful thought, it's addiction. If you play WoW 16 hours a day because you enjoy it, and have nothing better to do, it's just a perfectly normal hobby. Have fun and please don't grief me!
If a person is truly addicted to something, drugs/sex/internet/anything, to a degree where it can be considered harmful, chances are the obsessive behaviour is a way to escape some stressful element in their life. Addiction is a symptom, a coping mechanism. You don't treat the symptom, you treat the cause.
A few years ago, one would have said I was addicted to WoW. I played it 16 hours a day, did almost nothing else. I wasn't addicted to a game, I was burnt out from a soulless job, broke and depressed out of my skull; the game was a way to shunt that negativity aside and keep from going batshit insane. It provided the cheap on-demand gratification I needed to stay out of the dumps, and by that definition it was successful. It floated me through a few rough months and gave me time to deal with my issues.
In light of that, I believe these so-called internet addiction camps can only cause more harm. To charge that amount of money, for what equates to six weeks of adult summer camp, is to prey on the weak. It does not address the underlying problem at all. An "internet addict" would be better served by a psychologist/therapist, and for that kind of money you could see your therapist twice weekly for a whole year, which is extreme overkill. You'll probably be cured after a dozen sessions or so, but "cure" isn't the right word, I prefer "empowered", because the change has to come from within. A therapist helps you map out the path, but you have to take that step toward self-respect and self-control.
-Billco, Fnarg.com
I don't mind religious people. I know a few people who are devout Christians. I also know a few people who're really into Islam. The funny thing is that they get along pretty well. And why not? I mean, both believe in one god with probably slightly different hairdo (we'll never know, after all neither may draw pictures of him) and they call him by different names.
They're no problem. Enjoy and live and do whatever your favorite pastime may be. Mine is hacking virtual beings, yours is worshipping one, no harm in either. I also don't mind if you run around telling everyone how cool your imaginary friend is.
It stops being cool when people go around beating up people or worse in the name of their imaginary friend, because they claim he doesn't like what they're doing. It's kinda odd to see laws being passed based on the ideas of your imaginary friend. I mean, just because Harvey here thinks it's cool to force everyone to eat carrots on Sundays, I can't go around cramming orange vegetables down everyone's throat and, when (rightfully) arrested, claim it was Harvey's idea and thus should be law.
Freedom of speech, fine. Freedom to force your views onto me to limit mine, not fine.
He didn't talk about religious people. They're ok. If that's what you need to enjoy your life, more power to you. Enjoy it. He was talking about religious nutjobs. Which is, at least by my standards, anyone who deems it right to force the behaviour which is "right" according to his religion on other who couldn't care less what some God or Goddess or Spirit or whatever wants.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.