China to classify internet addiction as an official disorder



China has become the first country to classify internet addiction as a clinical disorder as growing numbers of people spend hours online every day.



Doctors in Beijing have released a diagnostic definition of the addiction amid increasing concern over psychological problems said to result from overuse of the internet.



According to the definition, based on a study of more than 1,300 problematic users, symptoms of the addiction include yearning to get back online, mental or physical distress, irritation and difficulty concentrating or sleeping.

China could become the first country in the world to officially recognise internet addiction as a clinical disease, as growing numbers of people spend hours of their time in chatrooms, blogging or playing online games

It classifies addicts as those who spend at least six hours online a day and have displayed at least one symptom on the last three months.



Tao Ran, who set up China's first internet addiction clinic at the Military General Hospital in Beijing, told China Daily: 'Eighty per cent of addicts can be cured with treatment, which usually lasts about three months.'



Dr Tao wants the country to designate hospital psychiatric units specifically to treat such cases.

Beijing’s Health Ministry is expected to adopt a new manual on internet addiction next year, which will recognise the condition as similar to compulsive gambling or alcoholism.



According to Chinese estimates, about 10 per cent of young users - or four million people - suffer from addiction and of those about 70 per cent are male.



The condition is often a symptom of deeper psychological problems, according to Dr Tao, and all child addicts have behavioural problems, which are then made worse by their addiction.



China has an online population of 253 million people - the world's largest - which is growing rapidly as computer use rises with economic levels.

Dr Tao said he compared his data with that of experts in the United States, where internet addiction is not recognised as a disease.



Research by the internet media company InterActiveCorp revealed that 42 per cent of Chinese youngsters polled felt addicted to the internet, compared with just 18 per cent in the US.



Polls by the China Network Information Centre showed that nearly half of China’s online population were aged between 18 and 30.



Dr Tao's clinic treats patients who may also suffer from depression, fear and an unwillingness to interact with others.



Many have sleep disorders, stop communicating with family or friends, and spend their days glued to a computer screen, in chat rooms or playing violent games.

During the therapy, Mr Tao, who built his career on treating heroin addicts, is said to offer addicts counselling, military discipline, hypnosis and mild electro-shock therapy to help them reform.

Unlike drugs, the internet does not create dependency, and Dr Tao places his success rate of curing patients at about 70 per cent.



He told The Times: 'The increase now is not as rapid as it was a few years ago. However, this was the first such clinic in China when it opened in 2005. Now there are several hundred across the country.'





























