14 DAY TRIAL // In one way or the other, all the persons that read this article are addicted to the computer or the Internet. Even if we don't want to admit it, even if we have a perfectly good explanation for why we're reading this, the connection between the Internet surfer and the computer linking him to the virtual space displays, nevertheless, the same features characteristic to a drug addiction as well.
And even if most people refuse to admit that they feel vulnerable without their computer, but will manage to get over it without too much trouble, there is a category of users that already can't cope to be separated from their PC. For them, the first clinic treating computer addiction has been recently opened in Beijing.
Up until now we've used quite a critical tone each time China announced yet another wave of restrictions and bans on violent games that could have a negative impact on the children and young people coming across this type of programs. However, considering the fact that China represents the second country in the world from the point of view of the number of Internet users, 94 millions of them to be exact, the protection measures adopted by the Chinese government or by all the organizations we've criticized so far don't seem to far fetched anymore.
Quite obviously, the Chinese are not the only ones to suffer from computer addiction. This is not the only place where depressions, excessive aggressiveness, frustrations or isolation from the community have been identified, all of them caused by the close connection between the user and his computer and especially by the severing of this "umbilical cord" between the two.
However, considering the fact that such a big number of users could be affected at any moment by negative influences, China could be, to a certain extent, congratulated over its care for Internet surfers. However, this country should understand that the Internet hasn't been created solely as a business and educational environment and should accept its entertainment-related side as well, thus stopping the persecutions against the countries' internet caf?s, started on the grounds that they represent places of promiscuity.
Quite obviously, the cases treated in the internet addicts' clinic are very serious and the occurrence of other cases of the same type must be avoided at all costs. However, they are exceptions, from the seriousness point of view, and should be treated accordingly. And as for just how severe these cases are, treating under aged patients with electric shocks is quite the same as exposing them to violent computer games.