ZAP! You will stop surfing the Internet!

Interesting story on the BBC new site about China's first Internet addiction center. The clinic is getting an extra 200 beds next year to meet demand and new centres are due to open in other major cities like Shanghai and Guangzhou.

Dr Tao Ran, head of the clinic, said the scale of the problem in China was enormous: "Every day in China, more than 20 million youngsters go online to play games and hit the chat rooms, and that means that internet addiction among young
people is becoming a major issue here. "And it's only recently that the authorities have started to wake up to the seriousness of the problem with more articles in the papers highlighting the dangers of going online for too long," he said.

The clinic itself is part of a bigger addiction centre also
treating those hooked on alcohol or drugs. The internet addicts go on a two-week course involving medical treatment, psychological therapy, and daily workouts. The latter are a key part of the programme. Many of the men have spent every
waking moment in front of a computer screen and have never experienced regular exercise.