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China's Internet Addiction Clinic
An anonymous reader writes "China has decided that if you are spending too much time online, you must be an addict. They've just opened a clinic to treat these internet addicts. Scarier is the head gear they have one patient hooked up to, and the fact that they think that this is some sort of epidemic and will shortly be expanding and adding 200 more beds to their clinics. In my opinion, the internet is way better and safer than alcohol and drugs any day. " We also covered this story last july.
If you think that being online can be addictive then you're less likely to surf around and read things the government doesn't want you reading.
"There are more important things than stopping terrorism. Upholding the Constitution is one of them." - Ars Forumer.
Cool...do they have a website? how 'bout an RSS feed?
In my opinion, the internet is way better and safer than alcohol and drugs any day.
You couldn't be more wrong. Alcohol and drugs suppress your higher brain functions, as well as your desire to do anything but get more alcohol and drugs. Properly managed, you will continue to be a loyal servant of the state, since we produce the alcohol and tolerate the drugs.
Excessive use of the Internet, on the other hand, could lead to independent thought, social instability, and rebellion.
Please report to Minitrue immediately.
Stressed? Me? Of course not. Stress is what a rubber band feels before it breaks, silly.
Actually, gambling addiction is a really big problem in Chinese communities. So much so that gambling addicts who destroy their careers and families feature a lot in HK TV shows, much more so than drug addicts or even alcoholics. Strangely enough, at the same time, gambling is idolised - often in the same TV shows with the gambling addicts. I guess Chinese just love gambling. Now that I think about it, my family (which is Chinese) taught us kids how to gamble before we even started school :) I guess it's a good way to learn your numbers and basic maths...I strongly suspect gambling is a much bigger problem than internet addiction in China.
The main problem I suspect is the internet cafes. If the computer is at home, the parents can control its use (by force if necessary). However, with internet cafes it is out of the parent's control. Now that I think about it, it has the potential to be worse than gambling as gambling at least is constrained by money.