Written by our own Kevin Roberts!
Cyber Junkie: Escape the Gaming and Internet Trap can be found on www.amazon.comQuotes From Amazon:
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
In Roberts's sober personal account of addiction, he reveals a modern society completely inundated with electronics. We are embroiled in stimuli from texting, chatting, social networking, casual gaming, and massive multi-user role playing games that allow us to trade real life for highly stimulating virtual realities. For the majority of users, these stimuli provide a brief, entertaining diversion from the quotidian. But for some, it results in destroyed careers and relationships, and ruined lives. A recovering "cyber junkie" himself, Roberts outlines the ways in which game addiction occurs and manifests, and provides step-by-step strategies for concerned family members and friends who want to help their addicted loved ones recover. While cyber addiction is a decidedly modern phenomenon, the steps to recovery will be familiar to anyone with an even passing knowledge of AA, and readers will be forgiven for mistaking his intervention advice as something taken from a substance abuse tale. Roberts's tale shines most when salaciously highlighting the myriad forms that cyber addiction takes, and when explaining the seductive allure of modern stimuli. Readers who can move past skepticism about cyber addiction will find Roberts's tale disturbing and enlightening. (Sept.) (c)
Copyright A(c) Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Product Description
Video gaming and Internet surfing are the top sources of entertainment for tens of millions of North Americans today. As these technologies continue to grow and flourish, so does the number of people becoming obsessively absorbed in the imagination and fantasy that they present. More and more people are isolating themselves, turning their backs on reality, ignoring family and friends, and losing sleep and even their jobs due to excessive use of video games and the InternetaEU"and they continue to do so despite harmful consequences to their mental, physical, and spiritual health, a telltale sign of addiction.
In this groundbreaking book, recovering video game addict Kevin Roberts uses extensive scientific and social research, complemented by his and others' personal stories, to give compulsive gamers and surfersaEU"and their family and friendsaEU"a step-by-step guide for recovery. He outlines the ways that 'cyber junkies' exhibit the classic signs of addiction and reveals how they can successfully recover by following a program similar to those used for other addictions. Readers learn to identify whether they have an addiction, find the right resources to get individualized help, and regain a rewarding life away from the screen by learning new thoughts and behaviors that free them from the cravings that rule their lives. Included is a guide for parents for working with their addicted children.
Kevin Roberts is a recovering video game addict who runs support groups to help others struggling with cyber addiction get their lives back on track. He is a nationally recognized expert on video gaming addiction and a regular conference speaker. Roberts has a background in education and is the developer of a sixteen-module curriculum designed to give those with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), often a driving factor of video game and internet addiction, the skills they need to succeed. Cyber Junkie is his first book.
Liz Woolley
"Kevin Roberts was born in Detroit, Michigan, attended 12 years of Catholic school, and graduated from the University of Michigan. He taught high school and middle school social studies and foreign languages for four years. For the last 13 years, he has been an ADHD Coach, helping ADHD individuals succeed in school and life. He conducts support groups for teens and adults who struggle with cyber addiction. Roberts is a nationally-recognized expert in cyber addictions and also lectures widely on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). He speaks French, Spanish, and German."
"There is little difference in people, but that little difference makes a big difference. The little difference is attitude. The big difference is whether it is positive or negative." --W. Clement Stone
I just read this book. Kevin is VERY talented and since he left gaming, he has reached many of his goals in life, including writing this book. This book is published by Hazelden Foundation, a nationally known nonprofit organization founded in 1949, that helps people reclaim their lives from the disease of addiction.
This book treats excessive gaming as a TRUE ADDICTION, which we all know that it is. This is the first book I have read where several professionals (PH.d holders) AND the Hazelden Foundation attest to this fact. (See back cover of the book).
Liz Woolley
Thanks for the info! Looks like it has a lot of good reviews already.
The only winning move is not to play.