reSTART Internet Addiction Recovery

How reStart rescued my son

Just a year and a half ago, I felt frustrated, sad and powerless about not being able to rescue my son from the hole in which he lived, deeply isolated from his family and from society. For two years we tried different therapists and psychiatrists, all to no avail, and all of it due to the advanced degree of his addiction. It is sad to know that none of the therapists we recurred to for help were able to properly and effectively diagnose the real problem, and it is even more lamentable to know now that none of them was able to give my son the help he so needed at the time.

For two years he was under the influence of powerful medication to treat his depression, and he was even mistakenly diagnosed with bipolar disorder. It is hard to believe the number of therapists and psychiatrists that in this day and age are unaware of the existence of this type of addiction, and who are therefore ill equipped to diagnose, and properly treat addiction to gaming and Internet.

A year and a half ago my son used to stay in his bedroom for fear of the world. He slept all the time and was unable to get out of bed. He lacked motivation, had no friends, and did not share with his family. Every day, after a long day of work, I came home to find my son falling deeper and deeper into this void, with his gaze lost and expressionless, reflecting a great sadness. He spent the night trapped in video games, sharing his world only with his "virtual friends." One day I decided I had to do something and research more about what could possibly be happening to him, and it was then that after searching through the Internet, I came across restart. ReStart offers a complete program for people addicted to video games or to technology in general. It is remarkable to know that this is the only program in the United States offering this type of treatment. The program is locates en Fall City, in Washington State. The place is beautiful, isolated from the city, and located amidst a magnificent forest. The process for my son was fairly quick. After finding out about the program, I soon scheduled a phone interview with the program Directors: Cosette Rae and Hilarie Cash. They both recommended I enrolled my son to start the 45-day intensive program.

My son began the intensive program on January 2, 2012, and since then I must admit he has had a sustained recovery, beginning with the restructuring of his schedule, which consists on waking up early, engaging in his work out plan (Cross Fit), have a healthy breakfast, shower, do his domestic chores, such as doing his laundry and cleaning his bedroom, have a healthy lunch, attend his individual and group therapies, cook his dinner, read and sleep at a reasonable hour. Likewise, the program provides them with the tools to learn to go grocery shopping, eat healthy meals, exercise regularly, appreciate nature with field trips every two weeks, etc. Today I can say I am happy to have made the decision of taking my son to restart, because I can see he is happy, he has been able to resume his studies, and above all, I am now certain he's passing all his subjects, he's having an active lifestyle, has lost weight, has many friends, and feels loved and supported by this amazing group of professionals that make up restart.

This past Memorial Day weekend (May 25-27, 2013) I was able to spend time with my son and the other members of restart, including part of his professional team, Cosette Rae and Gary Simmons, and I can honestly admit that I am very thankful to this great team that works 24/7 with our children, performing a great, personal labor of love, rescuing our children and helping them to reinsert themselves back into society. I will always be very thankful to them and that's why I decided to write this humble, but very sincere testimony, which I want to share with all those mothers that are currently going through a desperate search for effective help for their children, the very same one I went through. My answer to you is that help does exist, and its name is reStart.

If anybody wishes to get in touch with me for further details, please contact me through my e-mail,

A very happy and thankful mother,

Helena Gamero
gamero1@slb.com