It is not surprising that the treatment of Internet addiction has become part of the income of psychologists and psychiatrists , as there are more and more people with an unhealthy craving for the World Wide Web. Both men and women, both young (to a greater extent) and adult citizens, suffer from Internet addiction, and their number is only growing every year. The inability to independently get rid of Internet addiction leads those who did not know about such negative consequences of the online life of users to medical institutions, where they are treated for mental disorders that have become a manifestation of Internet addiction, and not from Internet addiction, since the diagnosis of Internet addiction is world practice does not yet exist.

For the first time the term ” Internet addiction ” was used by the American psychiatrist Ivan Goldberg in 1994. Goldberg did not put into this concept a medical meaning, as if it were a question of addiction to drugs or alcohol, but such behavior, which is accompanied by a low level of self-control, stress and threatens to displace normal life. The term stuck, although it was originally introduced by a psychiatrist in the form of joke.

However, if the international community has not yet fully realized the scale of the disaster, in some countries Internet addiction is officially recognized as a disease and its treatment is sometimes very radical. For example, in China, where the first clinic for the treatment of Internet addiction appeared back in 2005, patients are prescribed electroshock – a device that applies a voltage of thirty volts to the body.

When contacting a clinic, Chinese specialists first diagnose whether a person has addiction. Further, drug treatment, acupuncture and physical activity are prescribed. In such clinics, a strict routine is established for patients: for 10-15 days (this is how long the treatment lasts on average), a person gets up at six in the morning, goes in for sports , sings songs of praise, drinks antidepressants and receives electric shocks. Also in China there are special barracks-type camps for adolescents under 18 years old. Their parents bring them there for up to six months. All this time, adolescents addicted to the Internet are on the territory of the centers, study construction training and, like adults, are treated with electric discharges.

Such a treatment for Internet addiction does not find understanding in the world, and even some local doctors are against the use of electric shock, especially when it comes to treating children: “ Such methods are too cruel and, on the contrary, cause deep psychological trauma to children , nevertheless, they are used everywhere. There are many internet addiction treatment clinics in China today. Most of them are practically not controlled by anyone and are not professional , ”says Tao Hongkai, a famous Chinese psychologist from Beijing .

In Finland, a dependence on the Internet are posniskhoditelney even provide a respite from military conscription: ” For teenagers, day and night playing online games, and have instead of real friends only page in facebook Service can be a great shock in the army “, – says one from the military leaders of Finland, Jirki Kivela .

The world’s first support center for Internet addicts was the center created by the most famous and respected researcher in this field – Kimberly Young, professor of psychology at the University of Pittsburgh ( Bratford ), the author of the book “Caught on the Net” translated into many languages. She created in 1995, the Center ( Center for the On-Line Addiction – Netaddiction.com) advises not only ordinary people but also to corporations, educational institutions and psychiatric hospitals.

In Russia, the treatment of Internet addiction is also carried out, but the list of clinics involved in the rehabilitation of such patients is limited to Moscow and St. Petersburg. The point is that only a few are treated. Because the majority of addicts either do not consider themselves as such, or try to fight their addiction on their own. This is what Konstantin Blokhin, a psychiatrist at the Mental Health clinic, says about this: “Even though I have not been working in the clinic for very long, I don’t remember a single appeal from people dependent on the Internet . The doctor also explains that with such a diagnosis, the same methods are used as in the treatment of drug addiction – psychotherapy, active physical exercise and reflexology.

“ Today, Russian centers use two methods of treating computer addiction: psychotherapy and psychopharmacotherapy . If the first involves treatment without medication, then the second is taking psychotropic drugs (antidepressants and anti-anxiety drugs) and using droppers, ”says Dmitry Fedotov, psychiatrist at the SPO Center clinic.

If in your city there are no specialized medical institutions dealing with the treatment of Internet addiction (although in most cases a qualified psychologist will help) or you simply think that you can throw off the shackles of Internet slavery on your own, you need to know where to start. Advice on methods of getting rid of Internet addiction will be useful for preventing this unhealthy addiction.