<p>Choi (not his real name) is among hundreds of thousands officially considered to be Internet addicts in South Korea, one of the world’s most wired nations.<br /><br />Now the 16-year-old student is undergoing therapy at the “Save Brain Clinic”, which opened in early May and styles itself as the country’s first specialist clinic for such addicts.<br />“Internet addiction is not mere delinquency,” said Lee Jaewon, who heads the clinic at Gongju National Hospital, a psychiatric institution 120 km south of Seoul.<br /><br />“It is a serious issue and parents need to feel less embarrassed and bring children to hospitals for treatment before it’s too late.”<br /><br />The clinic offers a five-week treatment programme including group sessions, art therapy, medicine and processes known as neurofeedback and transcranial magnetic stimulation.<br />Neurofeedback uses real-time displays to illustrate brain activity, measured through scalp sensors, with the aim of controlling central nervous system activity.<br /><br />Transcranial magnetic stimulation uses magnetic fields to stimulate nerve cells in the brain and is more commonly employed to treat depression.<br /><br />Before treatment starts, the hospital provides a diagnosis through a survey, a brain image scan and psychological tests.<br /><br />“Both tests and treatment programmes are scientific and to a certain extent proven effective,” Lee said.<br /><br />The test and treatment fee is $585 with government insurance coverage.<br /><br />Many parents have made inquiries. But only three people, including Choi, began the five-week course, which intends to focus on adolescents but is also open to adults.<br /><br />Lee said parents have difficulty admitting their children have problems and feel embarrassed to bring them to a mental hospital.<br /><br />Although Internet addiction is not accepted as a mental disorder, he said, the problem is already deep-rooted in South Korean society.<br /><br />“Playing online games is fun, thrilling and comforting at the same time,” said Choi, clad in a hospital gown. “All I think about is how to play without being interrupted.”<br /><br />His addiction began around age nine. Once, he said, he punched a hole in the window of his parents’ room to retrieve a computer monitor which they had locked away.<br /><br />He had also stolen money to play at Internet cafes for hours, snacking on instant cup noodles.<br /><br />Early last year, Lee said, a 31-year old man was brought to the hospital by his parents after playing games in an Internet cafe for 780 hours excluding short breaks.<br /><br />Fatal games<br /><br />There have also been several fatal incidents. Last year a mother was arrested for killing her three-year-old son while she was tired from Internet game-playing.<br /><br />A 15-year-old boy committed suicide after killing his mother for scolding him over excessive playing of computer games.<br /><br />In an especially tragic case, a 41-year-old man was sentenced to two years in prison after he and his wife left their baby daughter to die at home of malnutrition while they were in Internet cafes.<br /><br />They were raising a “virtual child” in an online game.<br /><br />Figures from the family ministry estimate there are two million Internet addicts in a nation of 48.6 million. Among them, 877,000 are aged between nine and 19.<br /><br />Despite strong opposition from the computer games industry, parliament passed a bill forcing online game companies to block users aged under 16 from playing between midnight and 6.00 am.<br /><br />It goes into force this November.<br /><br />While the government ponders policies to prevent Internet addiction, Lee said his clinic will focus on treatment as early as possible.<br /><br />“It will be too late if we only start treatment after Internet addiction has been acknowledged as a mental disease,” he said.</p>
<p>Choi (not his real name) is among hundreds of thousands officially considered to be Internet addicts in South Korea, one of the world’s most wired nations.<br /><br />Now the 16-year-old student is undergoing therapy at the “Save Brain Clinic”, which opened in early May and styles itself as the country’s first specialist clinic for such addicts.<br />“Internet addiction is not mere delinquency,” said Lee Jaewon, who heads the clinic at Gongju National Hospital, a psychiatric institution 120 km south of Seoul.<br /><br />“It is a serious issue and parents need to feel less embarrassed and bring children to hospitals for treatment before it’s too late.”<br /><br />The clinic offers a five-week treatment programme including group sessions, art therapy, medicine and processes known as neurofeedback and transcranial magnetic stimulation.<br />Neurofeedback uses real-time displays to illustrate brain activity, measured through scalp sensors, with the aim of controlling central nervous system activity.<br /><br />Transcranial magnetic stimulation uses magnetic fields to stimulate nerve cells in the brain and is more commonly employed to treat depression.<br /><br />Before treatment starts, the hospital provides a diagnosis through a survey, a brain image scan and psychological tests.<br /><br />“Both tests and treatment programmes are scientific and to a certain extent proven effective,” Lee said.<br /><br />The test and treatment fee is $585 with government insurance coverage.<br /><br />Many parents have made inquiries. But only three people, including Choi, began the five-week course, which intends to focus on adolescents but is also open to adults.<br /><br />Lee said parents have difficulty admitting their children have problems and feel embarrassed to bring them to a mental hospital.<br /><br />Although Internet addiction is not accepted as a mental disorder, he said, the problem is already deep-rooted in South Korean society.<br /><br />“Playing online games is fun, thrilling and comforting at the same time,” said Choi, clad in a hospital gown. “All I think about is how to play without being interrupted.”<br /><br />His addiction began around age nine. Once, he said, he punched a hole in the window of his parents’ room to retrieve a computer monitor which they had locked away.<br /><br />He had also stolen money to play at Internet cafes for hours, snacking on instant cup noodles.<br /><br />Early last year, Lee said, a 31-year old man was brought to the hospital by his parents after playing games in an Internet cafe for 780 hours excluding short breaks.<br /><br />Fatal games<br /><br />There have also been several fatal incidents. Last year a mother was arrested for killing her three-year-old son while she was tired from Internet game-playing.<br /><br />A 15-year-old boy committed suicide after killing his mother for scolding him over excessive playing of computer games.<br /><br />In an especially tragic case, a 41-year-old man was sentenced to two years in prison after he and his wife left their baby daughter to die at home of malnutrition while they were in Internet cafes.<br /><br />They were raising a “virtual child” in an online game.<br /><br />Figures from the family ministry estimate there are two million Internet addicts in a nation of 48.6 million. Among them, 877,000 are aged between nine and 19.<br /><br />Despite strong opposition from the computer games industry, parliament passed a bill forcing online game companies to block users aged under 16 from playing between midnight and 6.00 am.<br /><br />It goes into force this November.<br /><br />While the government ponders policies to prevent Internet addiction, Lee said his clinic will focus on treatment as early as possible.<br /><br />“It will be too late if we only start treatment after Internet addiction has been acknowledged as a mental disease,” he said.</p>