November 18, 2007
Boot Camp Treatment for Web Obsession
An article in today's New York Times describes a boot camp in South Korea to treat compulsive Internet use. While South Korea claims to be the most wired nation on earth, mental health professionals have observed that "legions of obsessed users find that they cannot tear themselves away from their computer screens." According the the article, "up to 30 percent of South Koreans under 18, or about 2.4 million people, are at risk for Internet addiction," according to a recent three-year government-financed survey conducted by Hanyang University in Seoul. Up to a quarter million people are demonstrating rising levels of tolerance, withdrawl symptoms and craving.
A network of Internet-addiction counseling centers and treatment programs at almost 100 hospitals have been created to address this problem. Recently an Internet Rescue camp has been started where students spend their time exercising and doing group activities to wean them from the Internet. Korean researchers have also developed a checklist for diagnosing the addiction and determining its severity, the K-Scale. (The K is for Korea.)