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Chinese clinic treats teen internet addicts with hypnosis, shock therapy

engadget.com — Normally we don't really like covering this whole theory of "internet addiction," mainly because it makes us nervous about the 12+ hours we spend online each and every day, but a recent look by the Washington Post at one of those clinics for PC-lovin' teens is interesting enough to warrant a mention.

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  • FullMetalMonkey, on 10/12/2007, -1/+16Hello, I'm fullmetalmonkey, and I have an Internet Addiction. It has almost destroyed my senses, and I hope to cure it through Electro-Shock Therapy.
    • iam413x, on 10/12/2007, -10/+4I also spend a lot of time on digg, but I don't think I'm addicted to the internet. The internet is a community. People can be addicted to online gambling or something like that, but being addicted to the internet is the wrong way to look at it.
    • hiPpymIck, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2helpful article...
      http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/index.php?term=pto-19980301-000048&page=1
    • lordmetroid, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1mmm, electro-stimulation... No wait... My pervert self is getting the wrong associations. Would be awesome though!

      Just another example of state's evil doing!
    • Humptydank, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4
      Yes, treating internet addiction like that is insane in itself, but I just wanted to weigh in and remind people that so called "electro shock" therapy is still used in civilized, progressive mental health practices. Electro-convulsive therapy is controversial, but it can be very effective in treating serious cases of clinical depression and bipolar disorder where medication has failed. About 100,000 people in the US are treated with ECT every year (how many of those, however, are Internet addicts, I can't tell you). Wikipedia article here, for the curious:

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electroconvulsive_therapy

      Even though the point of this article was something else, we shouldn't treat "electro shock therapy" as shorthand for barbarism.

    • mark101, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"mild electro shock therapy"? WTF is mild? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xE2aREJLshY&eurl= http://www.ect.org/electroconvulsive-therapy-causes-permanent-amnesia-and-cognitive-deficits/
    • dissident, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I've said it before, and I'll say it again, being an internet junkie is just as valid a way to live your life as any other activity. One doesn't have to go out clubbing or drinking to somehow have a life.... just because a popular majority say that doesn't make it true. Not everybody is an extrovert who loves to socialize and gossip all the time.
    • mark101, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@Humptydank so purposefully induced brain damage isn't barbarism?

      This does not go with the famous
      " Never to do deliberate harm to anyone for anyone else's interest" that regular doctors follow.
      You also forget that in psychiatry (the only medical profession) can jail(hospitalize) their prisoners(patients) and force people to have it done or may not tell the patient the dangers and the brain damage/memory loss (full disclosure) before the series of ECT/EST.
      Baseball bat to the head would be more honest.
    • xgunterx, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Now you go pass the real version of the Big Firewall.
    • Humptydank, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1
      @mark101:

      You're being intentionally outrageous and incredibly overly simplistic. ECT is a treatment of last resort for people who are at extreme risk because of their conditions. 2007 ECT is very different from whatever black-and-white bride-of-frankenstein images you seem to have floating around in your head. Granted, it is not pleasant to watch, and it can, just like medications, have different effects on different people, some of them long-term. But to say that doctors, who have devoted their lives to treating people, are like jailers, and to say that the mentally ill, some of whom could be dangers to themselves or others, are like prisoners is disgusting and ignorant.

    • mark101, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@Humptydank
      Whats outrageous is the power psychiatrists have over mental patients.
      Sorry Hump ECT/EST is the same or worse today, than when it was invented. Prove to me how it is better. Do some research that isn't spoon fed to you.
      http://www.idiom.com/~drjohn/ectseize.html
      They have paralyzing drug-agents today, but they also use more power in the shock.
      What images do you have in your head? The patient is paralyzed and looks peaceful as their brain is damaged by electricity
      Who calibrates the machines? How many shocks do you get?
      If someone is locked in a room , thats a jail.
      I'm sorry that (stating the fact) patients are prisoners is "disgusting and ignorant" to you Humpty. "Danger to themselves and others" is called freedom to "normal" people.
  • RichPowers, on 10/12/2007, -0/+23The article says one kid checked in because he spent 5 hours a *week* online...overkill?

    PS: How come people can watch TV for 2, 3 hours a day and be considered "normal"? But if you spend that much time a day surfing the net, playing WoW, or posting on Digg/forums, then people say you have issues? :P
    • Gir53457, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4It also said he did it to get away from his parents.
    • Agret, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9Nobody spends 2-3 hours a day playing WoW, you'd never get anywhere with that. You pay for it by the month, at least use it!!!
    • thiviari, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Yeah, this is what gets me too. My friend spends more time watching TV per day than I spend online recreationally, but I'm the addict.
    • Xenafor, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3"How come people can watch TV for 2, 3 hours a day and be considered "normal"? But if you spend that much time a day surfing the net, playing WoW, or posting on Digg/forums, then people say you have issues? :P"

      Having "issues" is doing things or having afflictions that the majority of the people in our society don't. The majority of us on Digg spend more than just a few hours on the computer a day, so we don't think it's strange whatsoever, but the huge population of America sitting on their couches in front of the TV for hours would love to think otherwise, and make -us- the ones with the problems. Parents can't just -let- their children be considered nerds, can they? No, it'd be far better for kids to be watching TV; the less brain activity the better.
  • lejohn, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0I'm shock ! The article does not go into the details of "military-style discipline", which only means that the counselors will open a can of whoop ass on you Internet-addicts, Shaolin style!
  • azote, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0I think we all need this ..! ... oh NO baby wait ...i'm just pretending .... don't shutdown! DARN#$ F$@# WINDOWS...
  • kylej608, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0engadget sucks they never give enough details..
  • jcaino, on 10/12/2007, -0/+312 hours?

    i work 10 hour shifts, of which im on the computer the entire time....not to mention the computer time at home - about 2 or 3 hours each before and after work

    i spend too much time on this damn thing
  • wiredDeath, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0This comment pretty much sums it up:

    "holy sweet medication... why don't they send these kids to a real surf camp, or a skate park, or go build houses for the poor... get some sunshine and exercise for the love of humanity. Follow up with a workshop about talking to girls. Problem solved."
  • hilbertspaceboy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Oh nos! I'm think I'm addicted to Web 2.0 and the Internets!
  • Wolfboy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2"Link Directly to the Source: Save people time by linking directly to the original news story."
    (was hidden under 1 layer of blog spam)
    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/21/AR2007022102094.html
  • Stevethegreat, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1People will always fear the new and call it a disease .....
    • JockTroll, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0New != Pile of *****.

      Although shock therapy is too much of a hassle. If a kid spends too much time in front of the stupid PC/console, grab the ***** by the ears and drag him away. Let him holler. Let him flail his arms. If he becomes verbally abusive, slap him. If he doesn't get the lesson, trash/sell the computer. Simple as that.

      Better for the little crap-eater to get a serious pummeling than for him to become a weakling nerdo.
  • ThreeKevins, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0It's times like this when I thank my lucky stars that I wasn't born in China. I would have been committed long ago being that I watch TV while I surf the net... I'm a sick, sick person!
  • DeFex, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Why don't they just kill them and sell their organs Like they do if you double park, jaywalk or spit in public
  • IareKEVLAR, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I'll tell you how to fix teen internet addictions in 6 letters. goatse
    • Decimit, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1It will at least teach them to be very careful before clicking on links they are not sure of. It was an education I will never forget. Maybe that shock stuff will help.
    • scjones, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0@iarekevlar You sir are a genius, I myself was deterred from the net for a solid week after seeing that poor poor man's cavity. I need to lie down now.
  • ChicksWithDiggs, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I guess it's mostly people that got talked into getting treatment as the chinese society doesn't like people that act differently from everybody else. Either wives that want their husband to make more money instead of hanging around on the internet all day or parents that want their kid to learn all day so they can get a good career.

    Addiction is when you can't be without something but I don't think there is anything wrong with enjoying to be on the internet all day.
  • yourbandsux, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1 Every week I only spend 2 hours online
  • Slipknotic, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1My dad bitches at me because im on the computer too much.
    He goes to work, comes home and watches t.v till he goes to sleep.
    The computer is much more mentally stimulating than t.v.
  • stephenodotcom, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0First article I read today on Digg. I'm so very proud.

    Regards,

    Addict.
  • slickrick69, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0if I'm an addict, stick me in the clinic Britney was in so I can check myself out an hour alter
  • MrFlesh, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I like how everything is being turned into an addiction accept T.V. Gee it couldn't be because with TV you can only absorb an narrow focused set of ideas that are chosen for you with no input yourself other than switching to another channel owned by the same company.
  • Humptydank, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1
    @mark101:

    Let's deal with the concerns you have individually, and set aside ECT for a moment and just let me ask you about this power that psychiatrists have over patients or, more accurately, the power that the courts have over patients through the psychiatrists. I don't disagree that it exists or that it has the potential to be misused. Or even that there have been examples of misuse in the past and present. But cases of misuse are swamped by the cases in which it's essential, and are not a reason to throw out what is a necessary and caring system on the whole. So, tell me:

    What would you do if you had a son, daughter, brother, sister, or spouse, who had fallen off their medications, and were in such a severe depressive or psychotic episode that they had made multiple suicide attempts? Or a six-foot, two hundred-pound 19-year-old who had tried to harm a child or was having violent outbursts? Would you respect their "freedom" and put them out on the street, then wait for them to turn up dead or arrested, and then step in to try to get them care? Would you put them in prison? Or would you try to deal with it yourself, something that you're unlikely to be qualified or even physically capable of doing?

    We have these mechanisms in place as more humane options for individuals and families who are dealing with truly dangerous mental illness in their midst. I do understand that giving doctors the right to restrict people to hospitals seems arbitrary, but it's better than forcing families to have to deal with it themselves and coming home to a loved one with slit wrists, or pushing someone out on the street for safety of other family members and then wondering if they're okay or whether they'll do something to someone else. Instead, they can go through a process to have that person required to stay in an institution and follow its treatment regimen or not be allowed to leave. By the time things have gotten this bad it's essential for everyone and, as rough as it may seem, it's a big step up from two of the other high-likelihood outcomes: jail or death.

    Do we agree that at least this part of the system is essential? If not, tell me what the alternative is. If so, then we can move on to ECT.

  •  

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