Question
SEATTLE, Washington. About a year ago, Ben Alexander was spending nearly every waking moment playing the hugely popular online game World of Warcraft. As a result of his preoccupation with the game, the young man—who had always earned good grades in school and had aspirations of becoming a biologist—flunked out of college. Ben was addicted to a video game, and he was in desperate need of help.
"At first it was a couple of hours a day," said Ben, now 19, adding, "By midway through the first semester, I was playing 16 or 17 hours a day."
Ben first sought help from a program that treated people suffering from substance addiction, but it wasn't a good fit. He then completed a 10-week outdoors-based program, but he felt he still had little control over his habit. Finally, Ben began searching for a facility that specialized in the treatment of gaming addiction, and that's when he found the reSTART Internet Addiction Program at a newly opened center near Seattle, Washington. The program aims to treat pathological Internet use and is designed specifically for people who are obsessed with video games, texting, Facebook, eBay, Twitter, and other technology-based diversions.
While similar treatment facilities are common in other countries (where this type of addiction is taken very seriously), the Seattle facility is the first residential treatment center for Internet addiction in the United States. Patients live at the five-acre (two-hectare) center for the duration of the 45-day reSTART program.
"We've been doing this for years on an outpatient basis," said reSTART co-founder Hilarie Cash, who was introduced to Internet addiction in 1994, when she had a patient whose compulsion to play video games had led to the loss of his marriage and two jobs. "Up until now, we had no place to send them," Cash said of her patients who suffer from computer addiction.
Ben, the new center's first patient, spends his days attending counseling and psychotherapy sessions. When not in sessions, he stays busy doing household chores, working on the bucolic facility's grounds, going on jaunts, exercising, and even baking cookies, activities that are designed to help him sever his ties with the virtual world and learn skills that are more salutary in the real world.
According to psychotherapist and reSTART co-founder Cosette Dawna Rae, Internet addicts miss out on real conversations and real human development. Their hygiene, their home, and their relationships often deteriorate, she said, and they don't eat right, sleep properly, or get sufficient exercise.
Some potential effects associated with Internet addiction are extremely serious, ranging from job loss to car accidents for those who are continually texting while driving. Some people have died after playing video games for days without respite—these deaths generally stem from a blood clot associated with being sedentary for protracted periods of time.
Addiction warning signs include being preoccupied with thoughts of the Internet, using the Internet longer than intended, and spending increasing amounts of time online. Other warning signs include repeatedly making ineffectual efforts to restrict Internet use and jeopardizing relationships, school, or work in order to spend time online. Headaches, carpal tunnel syndrome, and changes in weight are also warning signs. Some people suffering from Internet addiction lie to conceal the extent of their Internet use. Some admit to using the Internet to escape problems or feelings of depression.
Experts have surmised that Internet addiction is actually a symptom of other conditions, and they say, therefore, that treatment should take a holistic approach.
Dr. Ronald Pies is a professor of psychiatry at SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, New York. "From what we know," he said, "many so-called 'Internet addicts' are folks who have severe depression, anxiety disorders, or social phobic symptoms that make it hard for them to live a full, balanced life and deal face-to-face with other people. It may be that unless we treat their underlying problems, some new form of addiction will pop up down the line."
Whether the reSTART program will prove efficacious in the long run remains to be seen. One foreseeable problem is that Internet technology is so pervasive that eschewing it can be nearly impossible in today's world.
For now, however, Ben feels that the program has helped him. "I don't think I'll go back to World of Warcraft anytime soon," he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
End of Article 1. Click Next to proceed.
Question 1
1 / 8
Take a look at the article called "Needing the 'Net." How would you characterize Ben Alexander before he became addicted to video gaming?
Studious and disciplined
Lonesome and nonsocial
Ambitious and unrealistic
Aimless and unpredictable
"At first it was a couple of hours a day," said Ben, now 19, adding, "By midway through the first semester, I was playing 16 or 17 hours a day."
Ben first sought help from a program that treated people suffering from substance addiction, but it wasn't a good fit. He then completed a 10-week outdoors-based program, but he felt he still had little control over his habit. Finally, Ben began searching for a facility that specialized in the treatment of gaming addiction, and that's when he found the reSTART Internet Addiction Program at a newly opened center near Seattle, Washington. The program aims to treat pathological Internet use and is designed specifically for people who are obsessed with video games, texting, Facebook, eBay, Twitter, and other technology-based diversions.
While similar treatment facilities are common in other countries (where this type of addiction is taken very seriously), the Seattle facility is the first residential treatment center for Internet addiction in the United States. Patients live at the five-acre (two-hectare) center for the duration of the 45-day reSTART program.
"We've been doing this for years on an outpatient basis," said reSTART co-founder Hilarie Cash, who was introduced to Internet addiction in 1994, when she had a patient whose compulsion to play video games had led to the loss of his marriage and two jobs. "Up until now, we had no place to send them," Cash said of her patients who suffer from computer addiction.
Ben, the new center's first patient, spends his days attending counseling and psychotherapy sessions. When not in sessions, he stays busy doing household chores, working on the bucolic facility's grounds, going on jaunts, exercising, and even baking cookies, activities that are designed to help him sever his ties with the virtual world and learn skills that are more salutary in the real world.
According to psychotherapist and reSTART co-founder Cosette Dawna Rae, Internet addicts miss out on real conversations and real human development. Their hygiene, their home, and their relationships often deteriorate, she said, and they don't eat right, sleep properly, or get sufficient exercise.
Some potential effects associated with Internet addiction are extremely serious, ranging from job loss to car accidents for those who are continually texting while driving. Some people have died after playing video games for days without respite—these deaths generally stem from a blood clot associated with being sedentary for protracted periods of time.
Addiction warning signs include being preoccupied with thoughts of the Internet, using the Internet longer than intended, and spending increasing amounts of time online. Other warning signs include repeatedly making ineffectual efforts to restrict Internet use and jeopardizing relationships, school, or work in order to spend time online. Headaches, carpal tunnel syndrome, and changes in weight are also warning signs. Some people suffering from Internet addiction lie to conceal the extent of their Internet use. Some admit to using the Internet to escape problems or feelings of depression.
Experts have surmised that Internet addiction is actually a symptom of other conditions, and they say, therefore, that treatment should take a holistic approach.
Dr. Ronald Pies is a professor of psychiatry at SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, New York. "From what we know," he said, "many so-called 'Internet addicts' are folks who have severe depression, anxiety disorders, or social phobic symptoms that make it hard for them to live a full, balanced life and deal face-to-face with other people. It may be that unless we treat their underlying problems, some new form of addiction will pop up down the line."
Whether the reSTART program will prove efficacious in the long run remains to be seen. One foreseeable problem is that Internet technology is so pervasive that eschewing it can be nearly impossible in today's world.
For now, however, Ben feels that the program has helped him. "I don't think I'll go back to World of Warcraft anytime soon," he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
End of Article 1. Click Next to proceed.
Question 1
1 / 8
Take a look at the article called "Needing the 'Net." How would you characterize Ben Alexander before he became addicted to video gaming?
Studious and disciplined
Lonesome and nonsocial
Ambitious and unrealistic
Aimless and unpredictable
Answers
GPT-4o mini
Before he became addicted to video gaming, Ben Alexander can be characterized as **studious and disciplined**. The article mentions that he had always earned good grades in school and had aspirations of becoming a biologist, indicating a strong commitment to his education and future goals.