Yang Yongxin

Yang Yongxin (Chinese: 杨永信) is a highly controversial^[4] Chinese clinical psychiatrist who advocated and practiced electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) as a cure for Internet addiction in teenagers.^[5][6] Yang is currently deputy chief of the Fourth Hospital of Linyi (Linyi Mental Hospital), a hospital in Linyi, Shandong province. Yang runs the Internet Addiction Treatment Center, a boot camp at Linyi Mental Hospital specializing in treating teenage Internet addiction.

According to media reports, the families of teenaged patients sent to the hospital paid CNY 5,500 (US$805) per month for a treatment that employed psychiatric medication in addition to ECT, which Yang dubbed "xingnao" (Chinese: 醒脑, brain-waking) treatments.^[7] Yang treated nearly 3000 children with the therapy before the practice was banned by the Chinese Ministry of Health.^[7][8] Yang claimed that 96% of the patients treated by his electric therapy had shown improvement, a figure that was questioned by the Chinese media. After the ban, Yang has begun to use another therapeutic method he invented, known as "low-frequency pulse therapy", which is alleged by former patients to be more painful than ECT.^[9]

Early life

Yang was born in June 1962 in Linyi, Shandong province, China. graduated from Yishui Medical School, a vocational school in Yishui, Shandong, with a degree in Clinical Medicine in 1982. After graduation, he was assigned by the state to the Fourth Hospital of Linyi (also known as Linyi Mental Hospital), where he specializes in treating schizophrenia, depression, anxiety disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Yang was known for writing a series of columns on popular psychology for the local newspaper during his tenure at Linyi Mental Hospital, although his critics allege that the columns were paid-for advertisements for the hospital.

Internet addiction treatment

According to Yang Yongxin, he started to investigate Internet addiction in 1999, when his teenage son began to show "addictive behavior". Yang started practicing ECT as early as 2006. Initially, the Chinese media viewed his work with great enthusiasm, publishing a book called "Fighting the Internet Demon (Chinese: 战网魔, ISBN 978-7-5063-4349-7)" and producing a documentary film by the same name. Yang was awarded the "Top ten outstanding citizens for protecting the minors of Shandong" by the Shandong province government in 2007.

Yang caused widespread controversy in China when China's most viewed television channel, the state-run CCTV, aired a special coverage of Yang's treatment center in July 2008. The program, titled "Fighting the Internet Demon: Who Turned Our Geniuses into Beasts", reported positively on Yang's electroconvulsive therapy and sharply criticized the MMORPG World of Warcraft, then popular in China and blamed for many teenagers' purported "Internet addiction". The program initially caused an uproar in China's World of Warcraft community, a sentiment that later spread to most of China's Internet community. Yang's critics revealed some of Yang's most controversial practices, which led to the mainstream media abandoning their praises of Yang's treatment center. Nevertheless, Yang went on to win a State Council grant for excellence in medical science in February 2009.^[3]

In May 2009, China Youth Daily, a leading state-run newspaper in China, published a highly negative investigative report on Yang's practices, which received coverage on both the CCTV and other prominent Chinese media. The controversy eventually led to the Chinese Ministry of Health issuing a ban on Yang's use of electroconvulsive therapy. In August, CCTV aired its own investigative report, further questioning the ethics of Yang's treatment center. The report alleged that Yang had received CNY 81 million (US$12.73 million) from his treatment center.

Treatment program

In the controversial July 2008 CCTV coverage on Yang's treatment center, Yang claimed that patients with alleged Internet addiction suffered from so-called cognitive and personality disorders.^[10] Yang promoted electroconvulsive therapy as a means to remedy such disorders.^[11] According to an investigative report, Yang's patients ranged from 12^[12] to 30 years of age, most of whom were abducted by their parents or the "Special Operations", an informal branch of the treatment center that consisted of parents and more senior patients, who were rewarded for their participation in abducting new patients.^[1] The parents (even those of adult patients) would then sign a contract with the treatment center, in which the parents would place the patients into foster care by the treatment center.^[13] After they were admitted, Yang's patients were allegedly placed into a prison-like environment, where they were forced to give away all online accounts and passwords. Reports also show Yang managing his patients in a military style, where he encouraged the patients to act as his informant and threatened resisting patients with ECT, which was claimed by former patients to be used solely as a means of torturing patients.

In addition to electroconvulsive therapy, Yang used psychotropic drugs without the consent of patients or their parents, claiming that the drugs are "dietary supplements". The center also has mandatory sessions with psychiatric counselors, where patients were taught obedience to Yang, whom they were forced to call "Uncle Yang". Yang also warned the patients against asking their parents to take them home, another offense punishable by ECT.

After his use of electroconvulsive therapy was banned, Yang continues to practice using another therapeutic method he invented, known as "low-frequency pulse therapy", which is alleged by former patients to be more painful than electroconvulsive therapy.^[9]

Controversy

Unethical treatment controversy

Electroconvulsive therapy at Yang's treatment center was performed in "Room 13" (later renamed the "Behavioral Correction Therapy Room" after media scrutiny). Yang claimed that electroconvulsive therapy "is only painful for those with Internet addiction"^[14] and that the therapeutic machines used "lowered electric current". Investigative reports questioned whether Yang's use of ECT without anesthesia or muscle relaxants on minors, whose informed consent was not obtained, was in violation of the WHO guidelines on electroconvulsive therapy. Reports further accuse Yang of using the therapy as a means of torture. Although ECT had been regulated in some areas in China, Shandong province did not have regulations regarding the therapy.

In response, Yang's supporters claimed that ECT was not the primary form of treatment at the center and that psychiatric counselling was emphasized at the center. Yang stated that admitted patients were shocked only a few times during their treatment. Yang maintained that he was properly licensed in performing ECT, and that his treatment program was fully compliant with Chinese laws and regulations regarding clinical psychology.

Reports also state that Yang applied electric shock to patients' hands, a non-indicated usage that is said to produce more pain, as a punitive measure.

Safety of therapy

In 2009, China Youth Daily publicized the news of a patient who escaped from Yang's treatment center. The escaped patient jumped out from a second-floor window at the treatment center. The report alleged that Yang's electroconvulsive therapy triggered cardiac arrhythmia in the escaped patient, questioning the safety of Yang's therapy.

Legality of therapy

Some commentators called Yang's practice a violation to the basic human rights of the patients. Critics contend that Yang's abduction of his patients and use of electroconvulsive therapy may have violated Chinese laws on the protection of minors and may have constituted aggravated assault.^[15] Critics maintain that Yang's failure to obtain informed consent may also be in violation of the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights, which China has signed but not ratified.

The machine Yang practiced electroconvulsive therapy with is a DX-IIA ECT device, manufactured by a Shanghai pharmaceutical company from 1996 to 2000. The manufacturer warned of impaired cognition as a side effect. Chinese health regulation had stopped the device from being manufactured since 2000, and reports brought into question whether Yang acquired these devices illegally.

Clinical trial controversy

In 2006, Yang claimed to have invented a formula of Chinese traditional medicine that is effective in treating Internet addiction. Yang applied for a patent for his formula, although the Chinese State Intellectual Property Office has not responded to his application. Yang's patent application claims that he had conducted a clinical trial with 300 patients at his treatment center, and that all 300 patients were "completely cured of their addiction by the medication".^[16] The patients' informed consent was not sought, and minors as young as 14 years of age were involved in the clinical trial.

Diagnostic standard

Critics have raised questions about Yang Yongxin's diagnostic standard, claiming that Yang would admit anyone brought to his treatment center. Yang's published "diagnostic test" is criticized as remarkably lax, as almost any choices on the test will be diagnosed as Internet addiction. In July 2009, celebrity Chinese scholar and anti-pseudoscience crusader Fang Zhouzi published an essay that criticized the notion of Internet addiction and questioned the ethics of electroconvulsive therapy without anesthesia.^[5]

Government ban

In July 2009, the Chinese Ministry of Health issued an official ban on the use of electroconvulsive therapy in treating Internet addiction, citing a lack of evidence in its effectiveness. However, Yang's treatment center continued to operate after the ban by providing "low-frequency-pulse electronic acupuncture"^[17] instead of ECT; critics protested that Yang's new therapeutic methods were designed to torture the patients and called for an end to Yang's practice altogether.

Controversy reheats

In August 2016, a blog article "Yang Yongxin, a devil still at large" was posted on WeChat and Sina Weibo, and later made its way into Tencent News.^[18] By providing a description of Yang, his thearpy, and the government ban, the article re-ignited controversies around Yang Yongxin, leading to an interview of former patients by China Youth Daily.^[19] Justice Online, a news site ran by Supreme People's Procuratorate, also reported on deaths and injuries caused by shocks in Yang-style treatments.^[20] However, Linyi's local health commission considers Yang's method legit;^[21] in addition, Yang claimed "governmental support" for his center.^[17]

In October 2016, a proposed draft of Regulation on the Online Protection of Minors which refers to terms on controlling internet addiction was released for public commenting. In response, Justice Online called for a clear definition of "internet addiction" as well as respect for minors' rights.^[22]

See also

• Electroconvulsive therapy
• Internet addiction
• Involuntary commitment
• War of Internet Addiction

References

External links

• addiction shock therapy banned. Reported by Jane Chen | 2009-7-15
• Net addicts need help from school and home
• Chinese hospital gives internet addicts shock therapy
• Cure your Children’s Internet Addiction with Electric Shocks Aversion Therapy May 14th, 2009
• therapy for Internet addiction halted. Posted by Eric Mu, July 14
• China’s parents try shock tactics to cure net ‘addicts’
• China bans electro-shock therapy for Internet addicts
• Case study: Electric shock therapy in China for internet 'addiction'
• China bans electric shock therapy for internet addicts
• The Fourth Hospital of Linyi