Here’s a look at the country’s one and only inpatient Internet addiction center, where online addicts shell out $14,000 for a 10-day digital detox. And because insurance companies don’t recognize Internet addiction as an actual medical disorder, that cost is all-out-of-pocket. But, according to Dr. Kimberly Young, who runs the treatment facility in Pennsylvania, the condition is very real—and very dangerous. In an interview (ironically, via Skype) with a news station in Florida, she said, “I still understand it’s controversial. People say, ‘is it really an addiction? Is it not? What’s an addiction?’ Well, anything obviously can be an addiction when you talk about something so serious that it’s jeopardized relationships or careers.” According to Young, addiction goes beyond just spending a lot of time online on your favorite websites (like browsing the endless wit of slices on RELEVANTmagazine.com); love of the Internet only becomes a problem when it takes over someone’s life. “Really it’s not about, ‘Oh, I just use my iPhone too much. It’s really become a very pathological sense. It’s a compulsive disorder, something that you’re not able to control, and now it’s jeopardized something important in your life” …
