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Chinese authorities ban electroshock treatment for Internet addicted children
After numerous discussions and loud condemnations from the world psychiatric community, Chinese authorities have finally banned the use of electroshock therapy to treat children with so-called Internet addiction. Yesterday, the Ministry of Health of the People's Republic of China issued a corresponding order, RIA Novosti reports with reference to Radio China International.We only know that wherever there is accessible Internet, there are children “lost” in the virtual space. The diagnosis of “Internet addiction” is increasingly being given to their young patients by psychiatrists around the world, although there is no scientific basis for it yet. The methods of “returning” to reality differ markedly from country to country. Somewhere they are trying to influence even in the most extreme cases by talking with psychotherapists or drug treatment. And somewhere they do not neglect methods associated with punitive psychiatry and the most frightening works of art.
A government commission became convinced that Chinese children were subjected to punitive procedures during an investigation into the activities of the “de-Internetization” clinic run by Dr. Yang Yongxing. The evidence collected by investigators confirms that electric shocks in this institution were used in case of violation of any of the 68 rules of the hospital. Thus, children received a shock of 200 milliamps if they locked themselves in the toilet, ate chocolate, took medications at the wrong time, or swung in the head doctor’s chair without permission. Another type of therapy at Dr. Yang's clinic was public self-criticism, as well as kneeling repentance to parents. It is especially worth noting that all these executions were paid for by the parents of the young patients themselves: the course of treatment cost 6 thousand yuan (about $878). Precisely because the treatment was voluntary and accessible, many parents simply did not believe their children when they talked about Dr. Yunxin’s methods.
The reality recovery specialist himself calls his method a “crusade against Internet addiction,” and electroshock treatment as “relaxation therapy” that helps young people calm down. Formally, he acted within the law. Internet addiction in China was officially recognized as a mental disorder on November 8, 2008. This concept is enshrined in the first document of its kind for China, “Standards for Diagnosing Internet Addiction,” which also includes exposure to electric shock for therapeutic purposes. After a scandal at an Internet addiction treatment clinic, the Chinese Ministry of Health issued a document stating that “the effectiveness of electroshock therapy in treatment has not been proven, and its use in clinics is unacceptable.”
This decision was approved by specialists from other countries. “In the global community of psychologists and psychiatrists, there is still no consensus on whether the love of spending time on the Internet is an addiction and pathology or not. Therefore, to put it mildly, it is surprising that such a harsh method of treatment was used in China to treat this new condition, especially in children,” Alexander Vaiskunsky, head of the laboratory of the psychology of intellectual activity and information technology at the Faculty of Psychology of Moscow State University, told Vremya Novostei. According to the psychologist, Internet addiction is most likely a continuation of other addictions and phobias that have long been known to science. For example, fear of communication, fear of crowds, voyeurism and sex addiction. That is, if a person is obsessed with the desire to watch pornographic films all day and night and against this background has completely lost interest in real relationships, the Internet is not an object of passion and affection, but just a convenient tool. And he should not be treated for computer addiction at all.