A life reboot for internet gaming addicts
In China, there are rehab boot-camps for internet addiction. They treat it just like alcohol or drug dependency, it’s considered a clinical disorder that can, and should, be cured, even against the patient’s’ will. Teenagers are the most common sufferers of the affliction.
When their enthusiasm for virtual reality starts to have a negative effect on their studies, family lives and socialisation, the parents conduct an intervention. A ruse is devised to lure the addicts to a camp, invariably against their will. There they remain confined until their internet obsession is under control.
Related: Drug addicts seek cure in the remote steppes of Kyrgyzstan
RT Doc visited a camp to see how internet addicts are re-introduced to the real world. We spoke to the patients to hear their side of the story, as well as their parents. Because of China’s history of ‘one child’ policy, they’re willing to pay a hefty price to have their only offspring treated, they’re also required to attend classes themselves to relearn how to communicate with their escapist young.
Related: Chinese 'makers' - a new generation of inventors
An obsession with online gaming or net surfing though is just the tip of the iceberg. The problem is said to be rooted in an array of issues with self-esteem, school and family life. That is why a complex approach is needed to curing internet addiction, addressing its underlying causes. This film provides behind-the-scenes glimpse of an internet addiction rehab camp, offering an inside view of how the condition can be treated.
Photo gallery
-
26:49749825 November 2019 11:29
-
52:01273716 November 2018 16:20
-
48:09463119 September 2016 00:00
-
27:222578010 September 2018 00:00
-
27:282080724 July 2017 00:00
-
27:30175121 April 2020 18:13
-
24:29215723 January 2019 00:30
-
27:1974113 November 2020 20:00
-
25:53172404 January 2016 00:00
-
26:33323531 October 2016 00:00