First US Internet Addiction Center Opens

Do you crave more time online and neglect family and friends? Then you might need to go to Heavensfield.

Fall City, WA isn’t that far from Redmond, where some of the country’s major computer-related action happens. But it wants to be a world away, almost literally, since Heavensfield there is the site of reStart, the home of the country’s first Internet and gaming addiction recovery clinic.

So, if you feel “guilty, ashamed, anxious, or depressed” as a result of your online activities and are “withdrawing from other pleasurable activities,” you might need their 45-day detox program. The only program is that the fees total over $17,000, including a $200 application fee. Internet addiction doesn’t come cheap, and your insurance probably won’t fund it.

The curriculum includes life skills exposure coaching, individual and group therapy, evening reflections, and a 12-Step program. According to reStart’s site:

“Group work focuses on the ‘Power Processes’ which fosters an understanding of what participants want out of life by examining choices, focusing attention, looking for answers, contributing and defining one’s own personal values and charting their life purpose. This very comprehensive life curriculum assists participants in improving their lives. Group work consists of journaling and self-discovery exercises meant to examine and vision a life filled with greater meaning and fulfillment.”