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Can Internet Addiction Ruin Your Teenager's Life?

Joining Allen Cardoza and Melody Foxx on LA Talk Radio was Hilarie Cash to talk about the "reSTART Internet Addiction Recovery" program.

by AllenCardoza

Joining Allen Cardoza and Melody Foxx on LA Talk Radio was Hilarie Cash to talk about the "reSTART Internet Addiction Recovery" program.

A relentless desire to pursue an activity is an addiction if the purpose of the activity is to improve mood. An addiction can be defined as an activity that raises neurochemicals in the brain like dopamine and opiates. Although a person feels good, they also ignore the negative consequences that arise from the activity.

Often teenagers are susceptible to addictive behavior to hide from the struggles of maturing out of childhood. A teenager who is addicted to video games on the Internet, for example, finds moderation extremely difficult. An hour of fun often extends to many more hours as tolerance develops for the excitement of the game. Playing on the computer for long hours means that there is less time to sleep, to do homework, to make friends, and to be successful in academic work.

Amongst the topics discussed, Dr. Cash talked about ways to define healthy use of technology and how to use it appropriately. She talked about teaching parents how to set and hold effective and appropriate limits on computer use for their children.

Specifically oriented towards launching technologically dependent youth and adults back into the real world, the reSTART Internet Addiction Recovery is designed to assist participants with an Internet or computer behavioral addiction. The individually tailored program is created to break the cycle of dependency.

Participants are exposed to a variety of activities and everyday life skills that were previously avoided or underdeveloped as a result of excessive and prolonged computer use. The 45-day abstinence based recovery program exposes participants to a life they missed due to their obsession with video game play and Internet use.

At reSTART, they understand that Internet and gaming addiction often co-occurs with other mental health conditions. Their program is individually designed to address a wide variety of underlying issues which may contribute to excessive Internet use; for instance, family problems, divorce, childhood trauma, depression, anxiety, ADHD, and so on.

About the Author: Frank Cole