Facebook, twitter, blog, facebook, email, online game, then blog, how long have you stayed online? If you have stared at your computer screen and clutched your mouse for over 6.13 hours a day (not including work time), you are, I am sorry, a person of mental disorder according to the latest official definition in China [1].
China will be the first country to define internet addiction as a type of mental disorder. The national Ministry of Health has accepted a manual by Chinese psychologists which categorizes obsession with internet as a mental disease, and it is expected to turn into a guideline for all the hospitals in China very soon.
Symptoms of net addiction, as the manual introduces, include impulsive use of internet, irritation and unreasonable distress when offline, and the failure to concentrate.
According to the leading expert Dr. Tao in the country’s first addiction treatment center, of the young group that takes the majority of 253 million netizens in China, about 10% have been inflicted by the addiction, most of them male. His research on 3000 patients shows they might have strong psychological dependence on internet, which undermine their normal social activities and daily life. It is pointed out that [2] online games which now totally take up over 4800 million users in China, such as World of Warcraft, are a great problem that they weaken users’ ability to distinguish virtual world from the real.
Also, internet may contribute to crime rate. 76% of juvenile offenses in the capital city of Beijing are related to the Internet, said Dr Tao.
It is not the first time, however, for the Chinese government to regulate the booming online industry. It has ordered an “anti-obsession” system compulsorily installed on public computers to limit game players’ time online.
Netizen reaction
A great number of internet users are thrilled at their first glance of the definition, recalling their overnighters online.
Is such a categorization ridiculous? Someone think it not at all. An opinion published 4 days ago on New Beijing Daily justifies the regulation [3].
这些年上了网瘾毁了孩子的报道可是铺天盖地不胜枚举。而且，关乎
成瘾医学的研究与防范是科学，不仅网瘾被纳入精神病范畴，工作成瘾、购物成
瘾、饮食成瘾、性成瘾、烟酒成瘾等都被看作是成瘾疾病。所以，网游成瘾纳入
精神病管理不是人格歧视，而是科学界定。
And the writer states why it should be taken as a disease:
确立网瘾属于精神疾病，就可以在专业医学的指导下进行药物、心理双管齐
下的戒断治疗，根除心魔，涤荡蛰伏于意识深处的网游诱惑。精神病学的实践证明，网络成瘾是可以治疗的，一般治疗时间为3个月左右，80%
的患者都可以通过治疗摆脱瘾病。
In bullog.cn, blogger Xiaoyao 逍-遥 cited the opinion above with a title [4]:
奇文 网瘾=精神病
Netizen “Cold” replied:
我们都是精神病
Baiyongbing 白咏冰3 said:
同性恋也需要治疗、上网时间长也需要治疗、吃得多要治疗、吃得少也要治疗……
And Li qingchen 李清晨 opposed the new categorization because the label might be a lifetime trauma to the kids:
孩子一旦进入这个地方，等于给他打上了一个标签，因此而造成的心理影响也是无法估量的。