Interview with Cosette Rae of reSTART

by Annette Gonzalez, Game Informer Magazine

April 07, 2010

Back in July a detox center opened its doors to adults suffering from video game addiction in order help them overcome dependence on gaming, find a healthy balance, and reconnect with the world. The reSTART: Internet Addiction Recovery Program is the first of its kind in the United States. Co-founders Cosette Dawna Rae, MSW, and Hilarie Cash, PhD, had worked with adults in the past who exhibited signs of gaming addiction that were unresponsive to outpatient treatment. With no other resources available they decided to create a 45-day residential stay program tailored toward technology addiction that could offer the services they need.

The reSTART program has received nearly 100 applicants from all over the world – mostly male – since the program’s inception, with the majority of gaming addictions cited as related to World of Warcraft and first-person shooters on Xbox Live. Services are offered just 13 miles from Microsoft’s headquarters in Washington. Patients under the age of 18 are seen on an outpatient basis, while adults 18 and older can participate in the residential program. Now that reSTART has been open for several months, we reached out to Rae to discuss the current state of the program, video game addiction, the process of gaming rehab, and more.

Read the full interview at Gameinformer.com

A Simulated Life

by Ellen Mauro

March 26, 2010

Kramer Solinsky wakes up to a pretty cool world every morning.

One of the first things he does when he hops out of bed is pick out his weapon.

His favourite is the traditional sword and shield. Sometimes, when he’s feeling a little unconventional, he’ll go for a giant spear instead.

His attire is a tad medieval. He often opts for head-to-toe body armour because it offers the most protection – just in case.

A quick thrust of his sword and another one bites the dust.

“It’s a good feeling when you kill one,” he says.

But all Solinsky is killing is time.

According to Dr. David Greenfield, author of Virtual Addiction and director of the Centre for Internet and Technology Addiction at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Solinsky has a classic case of web addiction.

He lives for hours a day as a sword-wielding, dungeon-roaming, monster-vanquishing rock star, taking time away from family, skipping out on friends and losing marks on school work to live in his world of monsters and villains, dungeons and heroes – the fake, online world that he wakes up in and goes to sleep with.

“I would rather be playing online than anything else,” he says. “I’m not addicted or anything though.”

Read the full article at Centeretown News