One double-click too many? An Illinois facility has become the first to offer in-patient treatment for Internet addiction. The cases have been serious — like one patient who wouldn't shower or eat for days, and play computer games until dawn, and another patient so addicted to Internet shopping had boxes shipped to her in the treatment center.
A therapist said:
It's very common for others not to believe that Internet addiction is real. In fact, the person who is addicted to his or her computer is going to have the same "high" as the drug addict who is about to go see their drug dealer. Both are escapes from the real world.
Though kicking cigarettes or booze might just be a question of staying clear of them, with Internet addiction, it's not so easy. The most challenging aspect of the recovery process is the wide availability of the Internet, whether it is on a computer or a cell phone — not to mention those who have to use it for work. "Cocaine and other illegal drugs are not at the library or a coffee shop. Computers are everywhere."
Interestingly, when it comes to girls and boys, there's a difference in addiction. To find out how, read more.
Women Internet addicts are mostly grappling with shopping or chat-room addictions. Men go for Internet gaming (think World of Warcraft) gambling, and the ever popular porno. The youngest patient the clinic has served was 13 years old. Authorities estimate that the problem is just in its infancy — and expect between 15 and 30 million people will be diagnosed in the future.
Have we gone overboard declaring everything to be an "addiction" — or is it possible that any commodity can be abused and require treatment?
Forzieri
Look! A cure for us sugar addicts!
JK,
1The internet is just an enabler of addiction. Porn, shopping, video games etc. Those addictions all existed before the internet.
2Mmm, that's how I feel about my computer, too.
3Addictions are much more about the underlying mental problems than they are about the substance abused--treatment needs to focus more on that than on individual substances (or the Internet). An addictive personality is an addictive personality, whether the person's abusing the Internet, crack, smack, or whatever.
Oh, and
hartsfull! You might have been kidding, but that's so true 
4I know Jude!
I do a little stuff (like priorities, hmm, what are those 
) and then I come back here for "oh just a minute", I say. 
5Yeah, it's always "just a minute," and then you get into a discussion on some post, or a friend starts a conversation with you on guestbook or PM, and before you know it, you're checking Sugar every five seconds...
Or you find other excuses. For instance, I'm currently Sugaring to pass the time while a lovely huge leg of lamb roasts in the oven. And you know how long it takes for something like that to cook.
6Oh! You're explaining me so well!
Do you have a recipe for that?
7Trader Joe's Boneless Burgundy Pepper Leg of Lamb.
Stick it in the oven for 325 degrees per every pound, plus a bit more (something about the internal temperature; I don't have a meat thermometer and don't care).
I like mine super rare, so that usually ends up being about an hour and a half.
All the TJ pre-spiced roasts are incredible!
8*I didn't explain that well.
325 degrees, 25 minutes per pound plus a little bit more is what I meant to say.
9Thanks!
10Seriously. It's starting to be like work is more of a break from sugar than the other way.
11So true, torg.
12I can quit anytime I want.
13twinkle...
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