China Stops Clinic Treating Internet Addiction With Electroshock

Via WSJ's China Journal Blog -

Chinese authorities have put to a stop one clinic’s extreme effort to wean youngsters away from the Internet — a practice that highlights the skepticism surrounding China’s approach to Internet addiction, as well as the existence of the condition itself.

The Ministry of Health ordered that the clinic in Shandong province stop using electroshock as a form of punishment, according to Chinese media. Electroshock therapy was administered as a punishment for violating any number of the center’s rules. But the government said the treatment hasn’t been proven safe, while outsiders questioned whether the practice was effective in getting young people away from their compulsion to spend significant time online.

In what might be an indication of the clinic’s effectiveness, its practices came to light when former patients went online to complain. They described restrictive living conditions — including being allowed to talk only about their addiction and being forced to kneel in front of their parents in obedience — that scarcely squared with the clinic’s way out, which for them merely meant declaring they had overcome their addiction.

China claims the world’s largest online population, and a visit to an Internet cafe in most mainland cities would show what a major share of young people like do to with their free time. That’s given rise to fears that many in China suffer from Internet addiction. While not officially recognized as a malady by China’s medical establishment, the issue has drawn concerns from both the public and some officials, which have sanctioned treatment facilities and issued guidelines on how to deal with Internet addiction.

But sizable chunk of China’s online population is skeptical of the claims. Their doubts are reflected within the professional community, where the concept of Internet addiction has gained traction but still faces doubters who point to a lack of hard data.