Internet addiction camp
Residential facilities for internet addiction, often controversial.
An internet addiction camp is a live-in program designed to treat internet addiction disorder. Growing public worry about this condition, especially across Asia, has fueled a rise in these camps, with many appearing in China. A 2017 review in Psychology of Addictive Behaviors found that harsh, boot-camp approaches are mostly ineffective, whereas treatments involving families seem to help.
China
In China, internet addiction is often called “electronic opium” or “electronic heroin.” In 2008, a government body became the first in the world to recognize it as a condition by issuing “Clinical Diagnostic Criteria for Internet Addiction,” though the Ministry of Health does not officially classify it as a medical disorder. Treatment centers are private or semi-private, with the first opening in 2005. They go by names like “special training schools,” “moral education schools,” mental health clinics, martial art schools, or education consultation firms. While originally meant to treat internet addiction, these camps have been repurposed to address a broad set of issues, including truancy, sexuality, zaolian, mental illness, or any behavior guardians find disobedient or disappointing. The camps also reportedly take in legal adults, sent by parents or spouses for reasons such as marital disagreement or infidelity. Without oversight from the Ministry of Health or a clear definition of internet addiction, questionable clinics have multiplied. Investigations and news reports have documented widespread abuse, including corporal punishment and psychological coercion. Some facilities use physical punishment, and others have administered electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) to patients, sparking public outcry. A common treatment for adolescents labeled internet-addicted is inpatient care in either legal or illegal camps. Reports indicate children and teenagers are often sent against their will: some are seized and tied up by staff, some are drugged by their parents, and others are tricked into going, sometimes by people posing as law enforcement officers.
South Korea
Starting in 2007, the South Korean government opened more than 140 psychological counseling centers nationwide to help teenagers overcome internet addiction. Among them, the most notable is the “special training camp,” which combines military training, physical training, and psychological rehabilitation. “Networms” aged 16 to 18 spend 12 days in a special life, riding horses, practicing fight, making pottery, and playing drums, with no internet access and only one hour of mobile phone daily. Equine therapy uses the relationship between horses and people to keep addicts away from computers and networks. Teenagers also receive various professional advisory services, but riding is considered the biggest help, as they form emotional connections with their horses. Several successful cases have been noted since the inception of equine therapy, which is also found beneficial for quitting other mental health disorders including substance use disorder. The Korean equestrian association has offered two treatment centers, treating a total of 50 people daily as of 2013, and plans to expand 30 more centers around the country by 2022 to meet growing demand.
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