Internet addiction camp

Internet addiction disorder has been of great public concern, especially in Asia.^[1][2] This has led to the formation of a growing number of internet addiction camps, most notably in China, where they are also known as "special training schools" (Chinese: 特训学校; pinyin: Tèxùn Xuéxiào).^[3] Many such clinics were unregistered,^[4] and subsequent reports of abuse has led to backlash.^[5] Korea also has a large number of treatment centers, and western countries have also established clinics along similar lines.^[6] A 2017 systematic review in the Psychology of Addictive Behaviors noted that correctional, "boot-camp" style programs are largely ineffective, while family based treatment appeared to be beneficial.^[7]

Internet addiction is commonly referred to as "electronic opium"^[8] or "electronic heroin" in China.^[9] A government entity in China became the first governmental body worldwide to recognize internet addiction when it established "Clinical Diagnostic Criteria for Internet Addiction" in 2008.^[10][11] China's Ministry of Health does not formally recognize Internet addiction as a medical condition.^[12]: 173

Internet addiction centers in China are private or semi-private.^[12]: 174 The first such treatment center was founded in 2005.^[12]: 174 In the absence of guidance from the Ministry of Health and a clear definition of Internet addiction, dubious treatment clinics have sprouted up in the country.^[13] As part of the treatment, some clinics and camps impose corporal punishment upon patients of Internet addiction and some conducted electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) against patients, the latter of which has caused wide public concern and controversy.^[13][14] Several forms of mistreatment have been well-documented by news reports.

One of the most commonly used treatments for Internet-addicted adolescents in China is inpatient care, either in a legal or illegal camp. It is reported that children were sent to these camps against their will. Some are seized and bound by staff of the camp, some are drugged by their parents, and some are tricked into treatment.^{[11][15][16][17]}

In many camps and clinics, corporal punishment is frequently used in the treatment of Internet addiction disorder. The types of corporal punishment practiced include, but are not limited to, kilometers-long hikes, intense squats, standing, starving, and confinement.^{[13][18][19][20]} After physical abuse caused the death of an adolescent at a treatment camp in 2009, the Chinese government officially prohibited the use physical violence in such places.^[21]

Among Internet addiction rehab centers that use corporal punishment in treatment, Yuzhang Academy in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, is the most notorious. In 2017, the academy was accused of using severe corporal punishment against students, the majority of which are Internet addicts. Former students claimed that the academy hit problematic students with iron rulers, "whip them with finger-thick steel cables", and lock students in small cells week long.^[22] Several suicidal cases emerged under the great pressure.^[23]

In November 2017, the academy stopped operating after extensive media exposure and police intervention.^[24]

In China, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is legally used for schizophrenia and mood disorders. Its use in treating adolescent Internet addicts has raised great public concern and stigmatized the legal use of ECT.^[25]

The most reported and controversial clinic treating Internet addiction disorder is perhaps the Linyi Psychiatric Hospital in Shandong Province.^[13] Its center for Internet addiction treatment was established in 2006 by Yang Yongxin.^[26] Various interviews of Yongxin Yang confirm that Yang has created a special therapy, xingnao ("brain-waking") therapy, to treat Internet addiction. As part of the therapy, electroconvulsive therapy is implemented with currents of 1–5 milliampere.^[27] As Yang put it, the electroconvulsive therapy only involves sending a small current through the brain and will not harm the recipient.^[28] As a psychiatric hospital, patients are deprived of personal liberty and are subject to electroconvulsive treatment at the will of hospital staffs.^[14] And before admission, parents have to sign contracts in which they deliver their guardianship of kids partially to the hospital and acknowledge that their kids will receive ECT.^[14] Frequently, ECT is employed as a punishment method upon patients who breaks any of the center's rules, including "eating chocolate, locking the bathroom door, taking pills before a meal and sitting on Yang's chair without permission".^[14] It is reported in a CCTV-12 segment that a DX-IIA electroconvulsive therapy machine is utilized to correct Internet addiction. The machine was, later on, revealed to be illegal, inapplicable to minor^[29][30] and can cause great pain and muscle spasm to recipients.^[13] Many former patients in the hospital later on stood out and reported that the ECT they received in the hospital was extremely painful, tore up their head,^[16] and even caused incontinence.^[26][31] An Interview of the Internet addiction treatment center in Linyi Psychiatric Hospital is accessible via the following link. Since neither the safety nor the effectiveness of the method was clear, the Chinese Ministry of Health banned electroconvulsive therapy in treating Internet addiction disorder in 2009.^[28][32]

In Yang's clinic, patients are forced to take psychiatric medication^[15] in addition to Jiewangyin, a type of medication invented by himself. Neither the effectiveness nor applicability of the medication has been assessed, however.

At clinics and rehab centers, at least 12 cases of physical abuse have been revealed by media in the recent years including seven deaths.^[33][34]

In 2009, a 15-year-old, Senshan Deng, was found dead eight hours after being sent to an Internet-addiction center in Nanning, Guangxi Province. It is reported that the teenager was beaten by his trainers during his stay in the center.^[11]

In 2009, another 14-year-old teenager, Liang Pu, was taken to hospital with water in the lungs and kidney failure after a similar attack in Sichuan Province.^[21]

In 2014, a 19-year-old, Lingling Guo, died in an Internet-addiction center with multiple injuries on head and neck in Zhengzhou, Henan Province.^[11]

In 2016, after escaping from an Internet addiction rehab center, a 16-year-old girl tied up and starved her mother to death as revenge for being sent to treatment in Heilongjiang Province.^[11]

In August 2017, an 18-year-old boy, Li Ao, was found dead with 20 external scars and bruises two days after his parents sent him to a military-style boot camp in Fuyang city, Anhui Province.^[35]

Starting in 2007,^[36] the South Korean government has opened more than 140 psychological counseling centers over the whole country to help teenagers get rid of their Internet addiction. Among them, the most notable is the "special training camp" which combines military training, physical training and psychological rehabilitation training. "Networms" aged 16 to 18, spend 12 days in a special life. They rode horses, practiced fight, made pottery, and even played drums. No Internet access during the camp, only one hour of mobile phone everyday and no game.^[37]

Equine therapy is a kind of behavior therapy in South Korea, which uses the relationship between horses and people to keep Internet addicts away from the computer and network, so as to help addicts quit Internet overuse. In addition to learn how to ride a horse, the Internet addiction teenagers also accept a variety of professional advisory services.^[37] But they think riding could give them the biggest help, because these young people has set up a kind of emotional connection, they would pat their horses, and then run to the snow. Several successful cases have been noted by news since the inception of equine therapy.^[37] It is also found that equine therapy is beneficial for quitting other mental health disorder including substance use disorder.^[38]

To provide therapeutic help to patients with emotional and behavioral disorders, the Korean equestrian association has offered two treatment centers, treating a total of 50 people daily as of 2013. The association plans to expand 30 more centers around the country by 2022 to meet to growing demand for Internet addiction treatment.^[39]