I have IAD, and you might too...

After watching the documentary in class about the internet rehab center in china, I decided to look into rehab centers in the U.S. and how they plan to put an end to internet addiction. I found a program called reSTART, which is a 45 day program designed to "take serious suffers of IAD (Internet Addiction Disorder) and bring balance to their lives", joining this program will cost you $14,500 (at first this shocked me, but then I looked into how much other rehab centers cost and this price does seem reasonable). Internet Addiction Disorder refers to the obvious new phenomenon of people who can't resist using the internet or feel that their excessive use of the internet interferes with their daily lives. It is not currently included in the Disgnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), but many argue that addictions to the web and to internet based video games do indeed exist. To qualify for admittance to reSTART you are required to display 5 of it's 12 symptoms for IAD, which are as follows:

• Increasing amounts of time spent on computer and internet activities

• Failed attempts to control behavior

• Heightened sense of euphoria while involved in computer and internet activities

• Craving more time on the computer and internet

• Neglecting friends and family

• Feeling restless when not engaged in the activity

• Being dishonest with others

• Computer use interfering with job/school performance

• Feeling guilty, ashamed, anxious, or depressed as a result of behavior

• Changes in sleep patterns

• Physical changes such as weight gain or loss, backaches, headaches, carpal tunnel syndrome

• Withdrawing from other pleasurable activities

I won't tell you which symptoms I display, but according to this, I can self diagnose myself with IAD, and if you answered yes to 5 or more symptoms, you have it to! Now, aside from airing my dirty laundry about my medical conditions, I'd like to discuss the rehab program itself. Say you pay the $14,500, fly to seattle, and come back "healed", you now have another problem on your hands! In this day in age pretty much everything is going to be done online, we've all heard those threats before, and there is probably some truth to them. So, in a world where everyone is turning to the internet what are these newly "healed" people supposed to do, pretend like the internet doesn't exist?? How will they manage going online JUST to check there e-mail, or JUST to pay a bill? The reality right now is that the interet is pretty much unavoidable, at some point or later you will essentially have to go online to connect yourself with the rest of the world. What do you think, is internet rehab a waste of money in a world that exists half on the internet?