New Recovery Program for Net Addicts

August 21, 2009

In the sea of press releases that I read every day, very few settle into my grey matter. But, today, there was a flash of something happening—though it's a bit early to tell what. The first piece that passed my desk was notice of the first inpatient treatment program for Internet addiction. Just opened outside of Seattle, the reSTART Internet Addiction Recovery Program will help people unplug from the wired world for 45 days for $15,000 (check out their site).

There is nothing particularly new about specialty addiction treatment programs—a quick search of the OPEN MINDS archives and you will find treatment programs for addictions to sex, gambling, shopping, and host of other activities. But, only a few minutes later I was watching a YouTube video from Sony's viral on-line marketing campaign for ending social media addiction. (I was also signing up to learn more about the Social Media Addicts Association.) Trend or data point in the addiction treatment world? Too early to tell.