China bans shock treatment for Internet addiction

[OhioChick]

IDG News Service - China has banned the use of shock therapy to treat Internet addiction after its use at one hospital sparked nationwide controversy.

The hospital drew wide media coverage in recent months after Internet users claiming to have received the treatment wrote in blogs and forums about being tied down and subjected to shocks for 30 minutes at a time.

A statement on the Chinese health ministry's Web site said the practice had no medical foundation and forbid its clinical use. The order banned the practice nationwide but specifically mentioned the notorious hospital in eastern Shandong province.

Calls to the Shandong hospital went unanswered Wednesday morning, but a hospital spokeswoman last week said "sensationalized" media reports had already led it to cease the shock treatment. The shocks were meant to cause subjects to associate a negative result with Internet use, according to the hospital. Subjects were forced to admit to faults while receiving the shocks, some Internet user accounts said.

Government-funded treatment centers for Internet addiction have sprouted up around China in recent years, though the health ministry has not officially labeled it a diagnosable condition. Many children are tricked by parents into going to the centers, which often deliver a mix of military boot camp and therapy sessions.

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9135538/China_bans_shock_treatment_for_Internet_addiction

Shock treatment?? :wow:

[babylonsister]

1. Hahaha! What a subject line!

I guess if you're someone getting the treatments, it's not so funny.

Weird way to cure an 'addiction', whatever it is.

[derby378]

2. Electroshock therapy for excessive Internet use? I would SO be screwed...

Yes, I have obsessive surfing fits. For some reason, I'm sometimes numbed and soothed simultaneously by just drifting on the information superhighway. I think it has something to do with the fact that the Internet is a modern-day Library of Alexandria, the repository of a huge amount of collective human knowledge and experience. Or maybe it's just me unconsciously making up some sort of excuse to surf. I don't know. What I do know is that the Internet has proven itself of immense benefit to humankind.

Thanks to DARPA, CERN, FIDOnet, UseNet, and Al Gore for doing their part.

[LaurenG]

3. Well one of the side effects of ECT is memory loss

it could work by making people forget they liked the internet. :sarcasm:

barbaric...

[charlie]

4. TubGirl and Goatse aren't shocking enough?

If that don't cure their addiction, mere electricity won't make a difference.

[derby378]

5. Oh, no, you didn't

Someone on DU introduced me to those two. Afterwards, I needed a group hug, an exorcism, and a can of eyeball disinfectant.

[charlie]

6. And you remain a model of moderation to this day, right?

It works! A link leaving you not right for a week can cure anyone's click-o-holism :D

[Iggo]

7. What the heck is Goatse?

Should I Google it?

[charlie]

8. Easily Googled, but your psychic health is your own watch

It's not for anyone who has trouble getting warped images out of their minds.

[Iggo]

9. I shoulda put a winky face in my reply.

;)

I know only too well what that googling goatse equals spiritual and emotional death.

[OhioChick]

10. What is this? I'm too afraid to Google it...

:scared:

[Iggo]

12. It's NSFW and...

...has to do with the inner workings of the nether regions.

MMmmmffff!! I just threw up a little in my mouth....

[juno jones]

11. WARNING

Some of the internet doubles as ipecac.