China Bans Shock Treatment For Internet Addiction 113
angry tapir writes "China has banned the use of shock therapy to treat Internet addiction after its use at one hospital sparked nationwide controversy. The hospital drew wide media coverage in recent months after Internet users claiming to have received the treatment wrote in blogs and forums about being tied down and subjected to shocks for 30 minutes at a time."
Re:Chinese "Nationwide Controversy?" (Score:5, Informative)
I'll chalk this one up to western ignorance over how much the Chinese public actually knows, not blatant bias.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Chinese_milk_scandal#Chinese_public [wikipedia.org]
Quacks (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Doesn't hurt them? (Score:3, Informative)
First and foremost, there's two kinds of electro-shock therapy. One is simple aversion therapy, putting the person in front of the computer and when they try to open the browser a painful shock is given. That doesn't sound like what they are trying to accomplish here so I'll assume that it is the second kind, the kind which actually tries to change the way a person thinks and feels about memories.
Done correctly there's nothing inherently wrong with that kind of shock therapy, it's even made something of a minor resurgance in the US for treating PTSD and depression. The idea is that you shock the brain while it is remembering the dramatic memory, cuasing the brain to either fail to store the memory or to store the memory without the emotional content.
And the crazy thing is that it actually works pretty much as advertised. The problem is that there is no garauntee that the patient is thinking 100% about what you told them to think about; people's minds wander and if the person just happens to be thinking about something important to them, significant damage can be done to the persons memory. Obviously, the people being treated were not giving their informed consent for those procedures, nor does it seem to me that 30 minutes at a time (if accurate) is the correct way to administer the treatment.
Re:Quacks (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Reminds me of the scene from Ghostbusters.... (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Doesn't hurt them? (Score:5, Informative)
The most prevalent "shock therapy" currently in use in the US is electro-convulsive therapy (ECT). It is used to treat major depression that is not responsive to drugs. It has nothing to do with retrieving or "erasing" memories, only with zapping the brain in hopes that neurochemical imbalances will be alleviated during its recovery from the trauma (shock), and hopefully for some time after.
Re:Doesn't hurt them? (Score:1, Informative)
>>The idea is that you shock the brain while it is remembering the dramatic memory, cuasing the brain to either fail to store the >>memory or to store the memory without the emotional content.
What a load of crap. This is not how it's done. ECT (electro-convulsive therapy) is done while the patient is asleep. Nothing to do with shocking the brain during specific memories.
As an aside, amnesia is a common side effect of ECT. I should know, I've lost 9 months of memories from a few years back due to ECT. I do not recommend ECT to those who are suffering from depression as benefits seem to be short term and amnesia long term. At least they were in my case. A few good books by Pema Chodron were much more effective.
Re:Before anyone asks about Western shock therapy. (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Doesn't hurt them? (Score:3, Informative)
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2009-07/14/content_8426874.htm [chinadaily.com.cn]
According to the Guangdong-based Information Times, shocks were given if patients broke any of the center's 86 rules, which included prohibitions on eating chocolate, locking the bathroom door, taking pills before a meal, and sitting in Dr. Yang's chair without permission.