Theater of the absurdChina orders hospitals to stop shock therapy for Internet addicts
Two hospitals in China use electro-shock treatment to “cure” Chinese youngsters of what the Chinese term “Internet addiction”; some 3,000 youth were forced to undergo the treatment (to add insult to injury: their families had to pay $805 a month for the privilege); the Chinese define Internet addiction as playing games and looking at pornography rather than working or studying — and getting angry when unable to get online
The term “human rights” is not the first one to leap to mind when the word “China” is mentioned. Here is one example: China is among the world leaders in executions. Unlike other countries, where execution date is set by a judge, execution dates in China are set based on the need for the doomed man’s (and woman’s) organs: In coordination with hospitals around the country, the date and time of execution are determined so that the executed individual’s organs can be harvested for transplantation in a patient.
At least on one other front — the Internet — China has made some progress: The other week China’s Health Ministry has ordered a hospital to stop using electric shock therapy to cure youths of Internet addiction, saying there was no scientific evidence it worked.
Linyi Mental Health Hospital in eastern Shandong province used the treatment as part of a four-month program that has so far treated nearly 3,000 youths, the China Youth Daily newspaper has reported, citing the doctor who runs it, Yang Yongxin (according to the ministry of health, neither Yang or his colleagues are qualified psychotherapists).
The ministry said in a statement posted on its Web site late Monday there is no domestic or international clinical evidence that electric shock therapy helps cure Internet addiction. Joe Fay writes that quite apart from the rather fluid definition of what constitutes “Internet addiction”, electro-shock treatment - or electro-convulsive therapy (ECT) - is usually seen as something of a last resort treatment for major, deep depression. In the West it is carried out in highly controlled circumstances, not least because it is linked to short term memory loss.
Chinese psychologists say symptoms of Internet addiction include being online more than six hours a day — playing games and looking at pornography rather than working or studying — and getting angry when unable to get online.
The hospital could not be reached for comment Tuesday, but spokesman Yang Shuyun told the Beijing News newspaper had stopped administering the shock therapy after seeing the ministry’s comments.
Shuyun said it was only part of the overall program to treat patients, which also included medicine and psychological counseling. Patients are charged 5,500 yuan ($805) a month.
Computer and Internet use has risen dramatically as China’s economy has boomed in recent years, and according to an estimate by China’s National People’s Congress about 10 percent of the country’s under-18 users are addicted to the Internet, although it is not recognized as a clinical condition.
Yang, by the way, will not be the only one looking to reassess his treatment offerings. Beijing’s’s Military General Hospital included mild shock treatment as part of its own net detox program when it launched last year.
