Addicted to the Internet? Have no fear, rehabilitation is here.
Do you find yourself spending countless hours playing World of Warcraft, checking Twitter, or reading the latest life-changing stories on Buzzfeed? Has your addiction to the World Wide Web taken over your life, leaving you with little time for anything else except drinking coffee and using the bathroom? If you think you may have an addiction to the Internet, help is now available.
The Behavioral Health Services at Bradford Regional Medical Center in Bradford, Penn., will begin offering a 10-day inpatient treatment program for individuals whom they determine have Internet addiction starting Sept. 9, Fox News reported.
Three of the ten days involve 72 hours of complete digital isolation, with no Internet or computer access whatsoever. After the ‘digital detox,’ a team of behavioral health experts then evaluate the patients.
According to one of the psychologists involved with the programs, the digital detox can be extremely difficult for certain patients, causing them to become physically violent, chew disposable cups, or suffer heavy withdrawals.
“[Internet addiction] is a problem in this country that can be more pervasive than alcoholism,” Dr. Kimberly Young, the psychologist who founded the non-profit program, told Fox News. “The Internet is free, legal and fat free.”
Class sizes are small, with only four patients per new class. The program is not covered under health insurance, leaving patients to face a hefty $14,000 out-of-pocket cost to enroll in the treatment program.
According to Fox News, the American Psychiatric Association released its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5 and listed “Gaming Disorder” as an illness requiring further research before being listed as a disorder.
Dr. Allen Frances, chairman of the DSM-IV and a professor at Duke University wrote the disorder “wasn’t ready for primetime.”
Additionally, he wondered where to draw the line at addictions.
“If we can be addicted to gambling and the Internet, why not also include addictions to shopping, exercise, sex, work, golf, sunbathing, model railroading, you name it? All passionate interests are at risk for redefinition as mental disorders,” he wrote in an op-ed for The Huffington Post.
