Doctors in China warn of mental and physical health problems among the
country's youth due to Internet addiction.

BEIJING, CHINA REUTERS -
They can't sleep, can't concentrate and are wracked by bouts of
anxiety or depression.

China's increasing number of Internet addicts need help, and fast.
The world's most populous country also has the world's largest Internet
population with users reaching a 298 million at the end of 2008 -- an increase
of nearly 42 percent from the previous year, according to the China Internet
Network Information Centre.

And problems caused by Internet indulgence are also on the rise,
especially among the young, who comprise the majority of Chinese netizens.

Many Chinese youth are only children and the expectations of parents
are a heavy burden. Internet cafes offer a refuge to these teenagers and some
find it hard to leave.

About an hour's drive from Beijing lies China's largest Internet
addiction treatment centre.

Founded in 2004, the Beijing Taoran Internet Addiction Treatment Centre
has recently had to move 60 patients to a new facility as its old buildings
can no longer house the patients arriving from all over China.

Cheng Jiawei has spent two and a half months at the centre.
Her final exercise before finishing the treatment is to arrange toy
figurines in a sandpit.

Doctors say this seemingly childish game provides valuable insight into
the patient's mind.

Many patients create violent battle scenes when they first arrive, but
by the time they are cured, they assemble more peaceful and orderly scenes.

Cheng's final arrangement consists of houses, pigs and funny-looking
people.

Her family sent her to the centre after Cheng started spending about 15
hours on Internet every day after she failed to get into a school or find a
job.
"When I played video games, I believed that I was one character
in the games. I made 'friends' playing video games that I couldn't make in
real life," Cheng said.

The treatment which consists of therapy and medical treatment, does
not come cheap. Each patient pays about 1500 USD a month and if the results
are not satisfying, they extend their stay to a second or even a third month.

Cheng's cure cost her family 3,700 USD. But according to the centre,
some patients have stayed up to five months while many have returned for a
second round of treatment.

A large number of Internet addicts are also referred to psychiatric
hospitals where they are treated for various conditions including Obsessive
Compulsive Disorder and autism.

Doctor Chen Kehan's job is to talk to each patient and find out why the
Internet has become such an important part of their lives.

Chen says compared to the past, patients now are less sociable and
therefore difficult to help, with some having lost almost all "social
functions" outside of the virtual world.
"In the past year, there have been a lot more people calling or
writing for information about our centre. The condition of patients we take in
has become more serious than the previous years," she said.
The centre is the brainchild of Tao Ran, a former doctor at the Beijing
Military Hospital. After spending three years in Canada studying addictions,
Tao returned to Beijing hoping to change attitudes in his home country, where
Internet addiction is not considered a formal mental health disorder.
"There are more than 200 organisations offering treatment for
internet addiction in China now. If it weren't for the fast increase in the
number of these hospitals, we would have many more people coming here for
help," he said.

Tao said his experience has taught him inadequate education in
parenting and too much non-constructive criticism directed towards children
are the main reasons that encourage teenagers to seek escape and happiness
online.
The involvement of parents in the rehabilitation process is crucial.

All of the parents are required to sit in a classroom to be
"scolded" by therapists. Sometimes their children are invited to
attend and share their feelings.
Tao said parents who were unwilling to participate saw little change in
their children even after undergoing treatment.