What is Internet addiction and how to get rid of it in the US
Фото: Depositphotos
Due to the comprehensive computerization of society, more and more people are facing Internet-addiction. And, although she was not recognized as a mental disorder, in many countries there are a growing number of therapeutic centers that are ready to help get rid of attachment to social networks, video games or other activities on the Internet, which have become obsessive. Often, young people suffer from Internet addiction, and this does not pass for them without a trace: they lose their jobs, relationships, become scattered and they are given difficult communication outside the Internet.
On According to A variety of studies, Internet-dependent today are about 10% of users worldwide. Internet addiction is already taken into account in many countries around the world. For example, in Finland, young people with Internet addiction are granted a respite from the army. China in the 2008 year, said it was going to become a pioneer in the world on the official recognition of this dependence of the disease, and the first began to open clinics. However, in Chinese institutions use drill and electric shock; Mark the savage methods of treatment that led to the death of adolescent patients.
In 2009, the first hospital in the United States, dealing with the healing of “Internet addiction”, appeared.
Фото: Depositphotos
So, what types of Internet addiction are mainly distinguished:
1. Obsessive web surfing (information overload) - endless travels on the world wide web, searching for information.
2. The predilection for virtual communication and virtual acquaintances - large volumes of correspondence, constant participation in chat rooms, web forums, redundancy of acquaintances and friends on the web.
3. Game addiction is an obsessive craze for computer games over the network.
4. Obsessive financial need is a game of online gambling, unnecessary purchases in online stores or regular participation in online auctions.
5. Addiction to watching movies over the Internet.
6. Cybersexual addiction is an obsessive attraction to visiting porn sites.
How to deal with Internet addiction in the US
According to various estimates, the number of Internet addicts in the United States ranges from 1% to 13% among adults and 20% percent among adolescents. Every year the number of rehabilitation centers is growing, and the cost of therapy starts from 10 thousand dollars, says TJournal.
The most famous American rehabilitation center, reSTART, founded in 2009, is located in the small town of Redmond in the state of Washington. The program for treating Internet, video game, VR and gambling addiction is called reSTART Life (“Restart Life”). It is divided into two groups: for teenagers 13-18 years and for people up to 30 years. In addition, there are counseling for parents.
Most patients are men from 20 to 31, who share the same life scenario: they lost their jobs, destroyed family relationships, or wanted to commit suicide due to gaming or Internet addiction. Someone brought pornozavisimosti: 31-year-old participant in the program for about six months he lived in a car and masturbated to 10 once a day, and the rest of the time he wanted to return to the world World of Warcraft. In group classes, he admitted that he lost his virginity in 29 years with a stripper.
25-year-old Marshall Carpenter said that his life before the program revolved around three classes.
“I played video games 14-15 hours a day, and constantly worked in the background Netflix. Whenever it was interrupted, even for a short time, I played games on the phone or complained to my ex-girlfriends about loneliness,” said Marshall Carpenter, a participant in the reSTART Life program
The treatment program is organized as follows. The first 45 days the participants spend in a country house in the forest. This stage is considered to be the most difficult. Torn out from their virtual world, patients hardly get used to the new world around. The house does not have a computer and the Internet, the digital world in general hardly affects the place of rehabilitation.
The house has a library with specially selected books, you can only call by landline phone, wash clothes, clean up and prepare food (exceptionally healthy) you need to do it yourself. By nine in the morning, participants in the program make their beds and go for group therapy. Then they can play the piano, go to the gym, in the garden or walk in the woods. Only 6 people can live in the house at the same time.
The next stage - the participants move to the city and live in the same apartment, communicate with psychotherapists, continue to attend group classes, look for work and try not to use the Internet. The program lasts 6 months.
Over the 8 years of the project, more 150 men and all 6 women have been treated. The management of the center believes that women are more social and less vulnerable to online addiction.
The cost of the full course of the program is $ 25 thousand. Despite the high price, there is almost no free space in reSTART. The program for adolescents was launched in 2016 year, all places for the next therapy are already booked. This situation is typical for the adult program.
But if those who really need help turn to reSTART and similar institutions, a summer camp Camp grounded It offers just a couple of days a break from an oversupply of information
They do not conduct psychological consultations, do not discuss the work, any technologies are prohibited, and instead of the real names of the guests, they are asked to invent a pseudonym for themselves. All this makes it possible to rest from the usual digital life.
The camp audience is people from 19 to 67 years. In the absence of gadgets, they learn to shoot a bow, go hiking, swim, paint, do handicrafts, play musical instruments or meditate. In the evenings, camp residents gather around the campfire, sing and chat.
Usually they come to the camp for the weekend - it costs an average of $ 495. Also here are often festivals and special sets, in such cases the price is much lower. At first, the camp worked only in California, but later branches opened in North Carolina, Texas, New York and Washington.
Edition Lifehacker It proposes to consider 5 simple ways to overcome new addiction, without resorting to any sophisticated methods or to the help of a psychologist.
Router settings: Let's start with time management - almost every modern wireless router can be configured so that it is turned on / off at a specified time of day. Set yourself a framework: for example, if you work at home, then a router that distributes Internet access over a wireless network must be turned on in 9 or in 10 in the morning and turned off in 18: 00. At the same time cable connection of a TV or hard disk for torrents will work without problems; but you will not “hang out on the Web”, flipping through endlessly and the edges of the social networks page.
Mandatory offline denЬ: Once a week / once a week in 2 you should have a “day without internet”. On this day, you can read, sleep, clean the house, travel, meditate, eat, dance, walk - do anything but not turn on the Internet, do not check email, do not answer calls and messages, and not even try to “tweet” any then a random thought using a smartphone. Completely disconnect from all these gadgets and screens; Look around, stay in the stream of life, not in the stream of messages, statuses, emoticons and links.
Trips / trips / excursions: The road is a way not only to see new places and meet new people, but also to be an ordinary person for at least several hours / days, and not a “networked” character.
Reading paper books: At least 1 hours per day scroll to read books. Do not like fiction - read professional. Do not like books on business - read poetry. Choose a genre, author or subject to your liking - and read. Reading enriches you, makes you more interesting to others and more holistic - for yourself. In no case do not replace the Internet procrastination viewing serials: it's just "the lesser of two evils."
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