Help Is on the Way article: www.nytimes.com/2005/12/01/fashion/thursdaystyles/01addict.html?ex=11394...
Quote: --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There is at least one inpatient program, at Proctor Hospital in Peoria, Ill., which admits patients to recover from obsessive computer use.
Experts there said they see similar signs of withdrawal in those patients as in alcoholics or drug addicts, including profuse sweating, severe anxiety and paranoid symptoms. And the prevalence of other technologies - like BlackBerry wireless e-mail devices, sometimes called CrackBerries because they are considered so addictive; the Treo cellphone-organizer ; and text messaging - has created a more generalized technology addiction, said Rick Zehr, the vice president of addiction and behavioral services at Proctor Hospital.
The hospital's treatment program places all its clients together for group therapy and other recovery work, whether the addiction is to cocaine or the computer, Mr. Zehr said.
"I can't imagine it's going to go away," he said of technology and Internet addiction. "I can only imagine it's going to continue to become more and more prevalent."
There are family therapy programs for Internet addicts, and interventionists who specialize in confronting computer addicts. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You may also contact: Randee McGraw, Administrative Director
Pam Hillyard, Manager
Coleen Moore, Coordinator of Resource Development
Natalie Mason, Nursing Coordinator