A resident treatment center for internet addiction  

Wow that is crazy! Internet addiction as a disorder? What will they think of next?

A video game/ T.V. series I followed for a long time (and still do to some extent) called Project .hack took this very phenomena and used it as a basis for much of what happens in their video game plots, so its not as if this sort of thing is all that new. But all that aside, the idea of internet usage becoming an addiction is terribly logical when you consider that it's very design implies a way for you to "access and share information from anywhere on the planet," without having to actually BE there. Its a very obvious way to "escape" from reality at the click of the mouse, in this case though the WoW universe. And when you consider the number of depressed people in the world who as one man put it "despise the mediocrity of living," having the potential to "level up" and create a whole other life that everyone knows about must seem like heaven-on-earth.

To be honest this is not at all surprising. The internet is becoming more and more pronounced, there is not one day that goes by that I am not on the internet to check email or mycourses, which I feel the need to check frequently. So to hear that some people are addicted to playing games or have an uncontrollable urge to be on the internet is not surprising. People are always fascinated with new technology, I know some people who watch up to 10 TV shows per week, who is to say that they don't need help either?
I would not at all be surprised if more of these clinics started popping up all over the country.