More Addiction "Cures"

[AtomicAnt]

Chinese Teen Beaten to Death in Internet Addiction Clinic
Wednesday, August 05, 2009
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His parents hoped their teenage son would be home in a month, cured of his addiction to the internet. They never thought that within 10 hours of taking him to an addiction clinic they would receive a telephone call notifying them that he was dead.

Deng Senshan, 16, was addicted to playing on the internet, like tens of millions of other young Chinese. He was the latest teenager to be sent by his parents to one of the clinics being set up across China to cure youngsters of their obsession with online gaming.

His parents took their son to the Guangxi Qihuang Survival Training Camp in southern China on Saturday.

Deng Fei, his father, told supervisors that his son was shy and introverted and they should avoid putting too much pressure on him during the first couple of days.

They agreed.

Instead, the boy was placed in solitary confinement shortly after his arrival and then beaten by his trainers who scolded him for running too slowly when he was ordered to go jogging.

He was pronounced dead in the early hours of Sunday morning.

"My son was very healthy and was not a criminal," his father said. "He just had an internet addiction when I left him at the camp. We can't believe our only son was beaten to death.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,537076,00.html

[Ursus]

Another story on this case, which gives some more disturbing details:

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Chinese youth beaten to death at net addiction bootcamp
Kill not cure

By Joe Fay
Posted in Telecoms, 4th August 2009 12:22 GMT

China's anti-internet addiction industry has claimed another victim, after supervisors at a rehabilitation camp allegedly beat a 16 year old inmate to death.

Deng Senshan had been sent to Guangxi Qihuang Survival Training Camp to "cure" him of his internet addiction, the AFP reports. His parents were paying $1000 for the treatment.

However, the youth ended up in solitary confinement shortly after arriving at the establishment, and was subsequently beaten to death by supervisors for "running too slowly", according to the news agency.

Local police confirmed they were investigating the death of a high school student, allegedly at the hands of his supervisors.

China is in the grip of acute paranoia over the threat of internet addiction to its youth. Efforts to cure the young of their affliction range from the bizarre to the brutal, by way of out and out quackery.

Last month the government banned the use of electric shock treatment to cure young people of their web lust.

The crackdown followed controversy over the techniques plied by Doctor "Uncle" Yang Yongxin in Shandong province, who had been pushing a combination of electro-shock courses to his young charges, alongside psychotropic drugs and boot camp type exercises, and charging their parents $805 a month, Reuters reports. ®


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[Ursus]

They shut the camp down.

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Chinese authorities close fatal net treatment camp, arrest 13
Authorities investigate 'intentional injuries'

By Joe Fay
Posted in Law, 10th August 2009 11:41 GMT

Chinese police have detained 13 people as part of their investigation into the death of a teenager at an internet addiction treatment camp.

According to official news agency Xinhua, the 13 are all connected with the Qihang Salvation Training Camp in Nanning.

The camp achieved notoriety last week following the death of Deng Senshan, a 15 year old who was being treated there for internet addiction.

Deng was reportedly beaten to death by supervisors at the camp for "running too slowly". He had already been subjected to solitary confinement.

Zhang Shuhui, vice head of the Jiangnan district of Nanning, said the 13 were being investigated for inflicting intentional injuries and for operating illegally.

He said the camp had been shut down and the 122 "trainees" returned to their parents.

Deng's parents had apparently been paying $1000 per month for his "treatment" at the camp.

As paranoia about supposed net addiction has grown in China, so has an industry of "cures", including boot camp style facilities.

In addition, quacks have been offering electro convulsive shock therapy to youngsters supposedly suffering from net addiction. The government has condemned ECT as a treatment for the supposed condition.

Whether it condemns the labour camp approach as a way of modifying perceived anti social behaviour remains to be seen. ®


© Copyright 1998–2009

[Ursus]

China halts memory-wiping electric shocks for net addicts
Buzz off and forget it

By Joe Fay
Posted in Bootnotes, 14th July 2009 12:21 GMT

The Chinese government has declared that electric shock treatment is not a suitable therapy for youths allegedly addicted to the internet.

China has been grappling with the scourge of internet addiction in recent years, with youths keeling over in internet cafes due to excessive gameplay, or killing each other over virtual world slights that have spilled into the real world and suchlike.

Perhaps inevitably, some of the solutions have appeared either harsh or bizarre to western sensibilities, not least the therapies dished out by one Doctor Yang Yongxin in Shandong province.

"Uncle Yang" as he's known has apparently been happily prescribing a combination of electro-shock courses alongside psychotropic drugs and boot camp type exercises to his young charges, and charging their parents $805 a month, Reuters reports.

But the country's Ministry of Health has come down hard on Yang, declaring that "Electroshock therapy for Internet addiction... has no foundation in clinical research or evidence and therefore is not appropriate for clinical application".

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.

Reuters doesn't note the details of Uncle Yang's treatment regime. However, it does note that, according to the ministry of health, neither Yang or his colleagues are qualified psychotherapists.

Yang won't 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 programme when it launched last year. ®


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