China has outlawed the use of electric shock therapy to treat internet addiction, after a scandal at a hospital in the Northern province of Shandong.

July 15, 2009 Abuse, Addiction, ECT, Hospital, Human rights, News, Psychiatry No Comments

By Malcolm Moore in Shanghai
Published: 3:56PM BST 15 Jul 2009

Internet addiction has become a growing problem in China, where officials believe as many as four million people spend more than six hours a day online.

Several clinics have sprung up, offering parents the chance to “cure” their children of the uncontrollable urge to blog or play online games.

Tao Ran, from the Beijing Military General Hospital, runs a camp which gives addicts a mixture of counselling, military discipline and hypnosis.

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