Cyber Junkie
Escape the Gaming and Internet Trap
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
Recovering video game addict Kevin Roberts offers a step-by-step guide to recovery for those struggling with compulsive video gaming and Internet surfing.
Video gaming and Internet surfing are the top sources of entertainment for tens of millions of North Americans today. As these technologies continue to grow and flourish, so does the number of people becoming obsessively absorbed in the imagination and fantasy that they present. More and more people are isolating themselves, turning their backs on reality, ignoring family and friends, and losing their sleep and even their jobs due to excessive use of video games and the Internet--and they continue to do so despite harmful consequences to their mental, physical, and spiritual health, a telltale sign of addiction.
In this groundbreaking book, recovering video game addict Kevin Roberts uses extensive scientific and social research, complemented by his and others' personal stories, to give compulsive gamers and surfers--and their family and friends--a step-by-step guide for recovery. He outlines the ways that "cyber junkies" exhibit the classic signs of addiction and reveals how they can successfully recover by following a program similar to those used for other addictions. Readers learn to identify whether they have an addiction, find the right resources to get individualized help, and regain a rewarding life away from the screen by learning new thoughts and behaviors that free them from the cravings that rule their lives. Included is a guide for parents for working with their addicted children.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In Roberts's sober personal account of addiction, he reveals a modern society completely inundated with electronics. We are embroiled in stimuli from texting, chatting, social networking, casual gaming, and massive multi-user role playing games that allow us to trade real life for highly stimulating virtual realities. For the majority of users, these stimuli provide a brief, entertaining diversion from the quotidian. But for some, it results in destroyed careers and relationships, and ruined lives. A recovering "cyber junkie" himself, Roberts outlines the ways in which game addiction occurs and manifests, and provides step-by-step strategies for concerned family members and friends who want to help their addicted loved ones recover. While cyber addiction is a decidedly modern phenomenon, the steps to recovery will be familiar to anyone with an even passing knowledge of AA, and readers will be forgiven for mistaking his intervention advice as something taken from a substance abuse tale. Roberts's tale shines most when salaciously highlighting the myriad forms that cyber addiction takes, and when explaining the seductive allure of modern stimuli. Readers who can move past skepticism about cyber addiction will find Roberts's tale disturbing and enlightening.
