A new rehabilitation center called ReSTART was officially opened in the United States to help young and adults to break an Internet and computer addiction, which can be as destructive as drugs or alcohol.
Located near Redmond, the headquarters of software giant Microsoft, the ReSTART center was opened on July. The center is the first ever residential treatment building in the US, and will focus treatments on Internet addiction.
According to ReSTART management, a 45-day program can cost a person some $14, 000 including the food and lodging. The center will help people to remove unhealthy and sometimes pathological computer use out of their systems.
They revealed symptoms of the said habit, which include pathological use of video games, obsession with texting, social networking, tweeting, and bidding in websites like eBay.
ReSTART executive director and therapist Hilarie Cash said that the center had been conducting rehabilitation procedures for years now, but in an outpatient basis. She added that the growing number of Internet addicts prompted them to establish the center.
Meanwhile, the American Psychiatric Association said that they do not recognize Internet addiction as a separate disorder and most insurance companies does not cover such addictions.
It was learned that Internet addiction was most common to Asian countries like South Korea, China, and Taiwan due to the popularity of the computer and other devices. In these countries, the addiction is recognized as a threat and a real harm to the mental health of the people, particularly the youth.
ReSTART sits on five acres of land in Fall City, some 30 miles east of high-tech city, Seattle. However, it has a limited number of patient-capacity, with only six people at a time.
The program, according to the management, uses “cold turkey” approach. The patients would then spend the 45 days inside the centers under occasional counseling and psychotherapy sessions.
They would also be asked to do household chores, daily exercise, and other work on the center grounds. But a fun treatment approach like biking, camping, and baking lessons are included in the program.
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