Checking into the Internet Addiction Treatment Center

BY SHOSH SHLAM AND HILLA MEDALIA

Compulsive Internet use has been categorized as a mental health issue in many countries, including the United States, but China was among the first to label “Internet addiction” a clinical disorder.

In this Op-Doc video, we show the inner workings of a rehabilitation center where Chinese teenagers are “deprogrammed.” The Internet Addiction Treatment Center, in Daxing, a suburb of Beijing, was established in 2004. It was one of the first of its kind—and there are now hundreds of treatment programs throughout China and South Korea. (The first inpatient Internet addiction program in the United States recently opened in Pennsylvania.)

Read the full story in the New York Times. 

Shosh Shlam and Hilla Medalia are the directors of the forthcoming documentary“Web Junkie,” which will have its premiere at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. Ms. Medalia’s most recent documentary, “Dancing in Jaffa,” will be released in 2014. Ms. Shlam’s previous films include “Last Journey into Silence,” “Be Fruitful and Multiply” and “Good Garbage.”

Screengrab via NYTimes/YouTube