By Brad
Up until now, treating people for so-called Internet addiction was mainly left to China and South Korea. But now a new treatment program called “reStart” is being offered right here in America, in the town of Fall City, Washington.
How much will it cost to cure yourself of your overwhelming addiction to Facebook and World of Warcraft? Try $14,500 for a 45-day stay — and that’s after the initial $200 filing fee, and the $800 screening.
By Brad
A new study from the group LogMeIn finds that 85% of small business workers say they prefer to stay connected while on vacation. This prompts Om Malik of GigaOm to wonder whether vacations of the future will be all about staying away from the Internet.
That’s certainly a better solution for Internet addiction than shock therapy—just ask China.
By Brad
Just how seriously does China take Internet addiction? So seriously that they’ve been using shock therapy on teenagers in attempts to break excessive online habits. Egads.
Thankfully, as China Daily recently reported, this absurd practice of scrambling adolescent brains has been brought to an end:
The Ministry of Health has ordered a halt to a controversial electroshock treatment intended to help treat Internet addiction in teenagers, the Beijing News reported on Tuesday.
The Ministry said the therapy, which was administered by a clinic in Linyi, Shandong province, has not been proven to be safe.
Kong Lingzhong, editor of a domestic Internet addiction-themed portal told the Beijing News that there was still fierce debate over whether electroshock therapy was appropriate for young internet addicts.
“We have no clue whether this freaky treatment has side-effects,” Kong said.
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