Inside A Korean Rehab Camp For Web Addiction

caffeinemessiah writes "The New York Times has a story about a Korean kids' camp for 'curing' Internet addiction. 'Seventeen hours a day online is fine,' said one such kid at the camp. From the article: 'Drill instructors drive young men through military-style obstacle courses, counselors lead group sessions, and there are even therapeutic workshops on pottery and drumming ... this year, the camp held its first two 12-day sessions, with 16 to 18 male participants each time. (South Korean researchers say an overwhelming majority of compulsive computer users are male.)'"

Comments

addiction

[timmarhy]

addiction is a driving force in humans, you never get rid of addiction you just replace it with something less destructive.... i mean lets face it these kids COULD be addicted to crack instead. i think computers are a pretty healthy outlet for such personalities.

Re:addiction

[The MAZZTer]

Healthy in comparison to cocaine, sure... but there are other things in life besides computers! Jobs, friends (and I mean as in real, social, face-to-face interaction, online friends can't count for that), school, exercise, and a whole lot more... if you're on the computer all the time you can't do any of these other things!

Well OK SOME of those things you can do but it's not the same as more traditional methods anyways, especially as far as social interaction is concerned. And don't even TRY to say you can eat properly and exercise without leaving your computer.

Re:addiction

[Dunbal]

As a physician I am well aware of the textbook definition of "addiction".

      However this is one of those terms that eventually will be modified, as it has turned into a "label" and fails to identify the psychological conditions that usually drive "addiction" and addictive behaviour - anxiety disorder, depression, and bipolar mood disorder. "Addiction" is a symptom, not a pathology. Not everyone who smokes crack or shoots heroin or goes online becomes an instant "addict". Like everything else in medicine, pathology usually requires several predisposing factors.

      My bending the term "addiction" to include common, every day acts (which happen to stimulate the same pathways in the brain) was an attempt to ridicule this "label". Just as we no longer say that patients are "retarded", soon the term "addict" will be used less frequently among health professionals.

Re:so? what else is there to do?

[Smordnys s'regrepsA]

You have a great point. People might actually listen, if you stop ranting for a second and say your views in a clear, concise manner.

That being said, I don't believe you deserve a negative score. I was forced to stop and think for a second.

Treat the symptom, ignore the disease

[Opportunist]

As usual with addictions.

Folks, people don't get addicted because it's funny. People don't shoot heroin into their veins because it's such a swell feeling. Neither do people spend 24/7 on the internet because it's their kick.

In either case people get addicted because it's an escape from something. And unless that something is solved, they will eventually end up where they are now. You have to replace that addiction with something sensible. Now, what does that bootcamp offer? Drill sergeants and getting a kick in the nuts? Yeah, that's something I wouldn't wanna escape from.

Now, internet addiction is probably more of a problem than heroin addiction. Especially when it becomes a widespread phenomenon amongst youths. Generally, it means that there's not something wrong with them but with the world around them. My money would be on insane pressure to perform.

But to change that, we'd probably have to change society. And ... well, it's easier to just stuff those kids into boot camps. No solution, but gives us that fuzzy warm feeling we're "doing something".