Posted on 07/02/2005 6:56:24 AM PDT by pissant
BEIJING: The 12 teenagers and young adults, some in ripped jeans and baggy T-shirts, sit in a circle, chewing gum and fidgeting as they shyly introduce themselves.
"I'm 12 years old," one boy says with a smile. "I love playing computer games. That's it."
Another boy, five years older with spiky hair, adds: "It's been good to sleep."
The youths are patients at China's first officially licensed clinic for internet addiction, a downside of the online frenzy that has accompanied the nation's breathtaking economic boom.
Their days begin at 6am on a machine that stimulates nerve impulses with 30V charges to pressure points. Other treatments include receiving a clear fluid through intravenous drips to "adjust the unbalanced status of brain secretions".
The youths usually stay 10 to 15 days, at $48 a day – a high price in a country where the average city dweller's weekly income is just $20.
"All the children here have left school because they are playing games or in chatrooms everyday," the clinic's director Dr Tao Ran said.
"They suffer from depression, nervousness, fear and unwillingness to interact with others, panic and agitation. They also have sleep disorders, the shakes and numbness in their hands."
According to government figures, China has the world's second-largest online population – 94 million – after the US. Authorities have regularly shut down thousands of internet cafes – many illegally operated – in crackdowns that also include huge fines for their operators.
Dr Tao's government-owned clinic occupies the top floor of a two-storey building on a quiet, tree-lined street on the sprawling campus of the Beijing Military Region Central Hospital.
A dozen nurses and 11 doctors care for the patients, mostly youths aged 14 to 24 who have lost sleep, weight and friends after countless hours in front of the computer, often playing video games with others online.
Some come voluntarily, while others are checked in by their parents. Many of the patients say they went online to escape day-to-day stress, especially pressure from parents to excel in school.
Some can't stop playing games, while the older ones are addicted to online chats with the opposite sex. Others pour all their efforts into designing violent games.
Dr Tao, a psychiatrist for 20 years who specialises in treating addiction, estimates that up to 2.5 million Chinese suffer from internet addiction, although others are sceptical.
He says the long-term effects of treatment are generally successful, but it's not easy to stop patients from again giving in to internet temptation.
Says a youth from Beijing: "It would be hard to give it up completely. I'll take it step by step."
One day at a time!
What on earth? Try just limiting yourself to time, and decrease that every day. Voila, you save a few hundred bucks a week.
I may be addicted. All of my friends middle names are @ and I'm dating a girl named .jpeg
Sometimes I wonder whether we influence some of the Chicom i/a's towards free speach and liberty. Watta say guys and gals in the PRC? Want to comment?
It sounds like an apt description of alot of freepers! ;o)
Hey, quit trying to use logic here!
BTW, Seahawks to the Super Bowl this year!
Logic is good, btw, seahawks miss the playoffs this year. The lost their only reciever who could actually be counted on to catch the ball, Jerry Rice, and Matt Hasselback isn't getting any better. Their draft was alright, but not great. Now the Steelers, they have potential.
Yes. .jpeg girlfriends are quiet, pretty, and don't get PMS. Perfect.
How could you possibly tell a chinese communist from a democrat. I think the commies like America a little better, but that's about it.
All right. What is our wager for the Seahawks getting farther than the crybaby, quiver lipped-coached Steelers this year?
Unngh. Blow below the belt. I'll put it at twenty dollars. I predict they go 7-9 and get third in their division.
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| 2005 Preseason | ||
| Date | Opponent | Time/Result |
| Aug. 12 | at New Orleans | 8:00 p.m. |
| Aug. 22 | Dallas | 8:00 p.m. |
| Aug. 27 | at Kansas City | 8:30 p.m. |
| Sept. 2 | Minnesota | 9:00 p.m. |
| 2005 Schedule | ||
| Date | Opponent | Time/Result |
| Sep 11 | @Jacksonville | 1:00pm |
| Sep 18 | Atlanta | 4:05pm |
| Sep 25 | Arizona | 4:05pm |
| Oct 2 | @Washington | 1:00pm |
| Oct 9 | @St. Louis | 1:00pm |
| Oct 16 | Houston | 8:30pm |
| Oct 23 | Dallas | 4:05pm |
| Week 8 | BYE | |
| Nov 6 | @Arizona | 4:05pm |
| Nov 13 | St. Louis | 4:15pm |
| Nov 20 | @San Francisco | 4:05pm |
| Nov 27 | N.Y. Giants | 4:15pm |
| Dec 5 | @Philadelphia | 9:00pm |
| Dec 11 | San Francisco | 4:05pm |
| Dec 18 | @Tennessee | 1:00pm |
| Dec 24 | Indianapolis | 4:15pm |
| Jan 1 | @Green Bay | 4:15pm |
$20 it is. We'll use Teeny as our witness.
To be clear, the bet shall be for whichever team makes it farther in the playoffs. If neither team makes it, then it will be who has a better record.
Ok, so further in playoffs, better record, better opponents record, if after that they are still tied, we'll just each give each other ten dollars
I think the tie breaker is who has better looking cheerleaders.
ROFL
Here's the source- http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04342/422703.stm
LOL. Better hope we don't need that tie breaker! See ya later.
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