WEBVTT - Do We Need Treatment Centers For Internet Addiction?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works. A brain

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<v Speaker 1>stuff is Christian Seger. In South Korea, public health officials

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<v Speaker 1>have identified internet addiction as a full blown national epidemic.

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<v Speaker 1>An estimated one in ten Korean teenagers is believed to

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<v Speaker 1>be in the grips of an online addiction, mostly gaming,

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<v Speaker 1>but also pornography and social media, and the Korean government

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<v Speaker 1>spends millions of dollars to help kids get clean at

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<v Speaker 1>hundreds of residential rehab centers. The problem maybe even worse

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<v Speaker 1>in China, where state agencies estimate that twenty four million

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<v Speaker 1>youth are hooked on the Internet, sometimes spending three days

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<v Speaker 1>straight encrowded cyber cafes on gaming vendors. China was the

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<v Speaker 1>first to recognize internet addiction as a clinical disorder in

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<v Speaker 1>two thousand eight, and has tried to curb the problem

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<v Speaker 1>through military style boot camps that some critics equate to prisons.

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<v Speaker 1>Controversial tactics have led to several deaths, most recently an

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<v Speaker 1>eighteen year old who is allegedly beaten to death within

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<v Speaker 1>forty eight hours of checking in to a Chinese rehab facility. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>outside of Asia, internet addiction is still met with some

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<v Speaker 1>skepticism by the public and the psychiatric community. Citing the

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<v Speaker 1>latest research on internet addiction in Western countries, the American

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<v Speaker 1>Psychiatric Association says that point three to one percent of

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<v Speaker 1>the general population might qualify for a potential acute diagnosis

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<v Speaker 1>of Internet gaming disorder. As of right now, there's only

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<v Speaker 1>one residential treatment center in the United States exclusively for

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<v Speaker 1>technology addictions. Opened in two thousand nine. Restart offers long

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<v Speaker 1>term treatment programs for both adults and adolescents aged thirteen

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<v Speaker 1>to seven teen, and it's designed to detox residents from

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<v Speaker 1>their online addictions in transition back into healthier lives. The

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<v Speaker 1>decision to enter a program like Restart is almost always

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<v Speaker 1>made by parents who fear for the health and safety

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<v Speaker 1>of an adolescent or adult child who is living his

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<v Speaker 1>entire life online and yes, his is an accurate pronoun.

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<v Speaker 1>In eight years, only seven women have passed through the program.

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<v Speaker 1>Residential treatment for technology addiction is modeled after residential rehab

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<v Speaker 1>programs for substance addictions like alcohol or drugs. For those

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<v Speaker 1>that stay, Restart seems to work. According to a Restart

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<v Speaker 1>Parents survey from only eight point three percent of parents

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<v Speaker 1>said that their family member was able to control their

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<v Speaker 1>technology use before entering Restart. When asked the same question

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<v Speaker 1>up to two years post treatment, sixty one percent of

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<v Speaker 1>parents said their family member was extremely, moderately or slightly

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<v Speaker 1>able to control their Internet and digital media use. That

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<v Speaker 1>leaves around thirty percent who relapsed. Unlike alcoholism or drug addiction,

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<v Speaker 1>where former addicts avoid any and all contact with their

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<v Speaker 1>addictive substance, former Internet addicts need to use computers and

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<v Speaker 1>smartphones in order to function in the modern world, and

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<v Speaker 1>that can be very difficult, but it's doable. Since Internet

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<v Speaker 1>or other technology addictions aren't recognized as clinical disorders, they're

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<v Speaker 1>not covered by insurance, and programs like Restart are not cheap.

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<v Speaker 1>A forty five day intensive stay runs about twenty five

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<v Speaker 1>thousand dollars or five hundred and fifty dollars a day.

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<v Speaker 1>Even if technology addiction was recognized by the American Psychiatric Association,

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<v Speaker 1>it's unlikely that treatment centers would even accept insurance. Today's

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<v Speaker 1>episode was written by Dave Ruce, produced by Dylan Fagan,

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<v Speaker 1>and For more on this and other topics, please visit

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<v Speaker 1>us at how stuff Works dot com.