As the Internet grows in popularity, psychiatrists at National Taiwan University Hospital yesterday warned about Internet addiction, saying that at least 15 percent of local Internet users are addicted.
Those who spend an average of 30 to 40 hours per week online have been characterized as "addicts" by the psychiatrists.
"Most of the Internet addicts [in Taiwan] are male high school or college students who have poor interpersonal relationships and low self-esteem," said Shang Chih-yung (商志雍), a hospital psychiatrist.
"About 34 percent of Internet addicts usually suffer from anxiety, while about half of them are also addicted to alcohol or drugs," said Tsai Wen-che (
Shang also suggested that parents should not reject the Internet simply because they are unfamiliar with it.
"Surfing the Internet has become a part of modern life," Shang said. "Parents should learn how to surf online in order to understand their children and to better understand modern life."
According to Nippy Huang (
According to a survey conducted by the ToSun Foundation (向陽公益基金會) last year, more than half of Taiwan's high school students have been to Internet cafes. About 400,000 students visit Internet cafes at least once a week and spend an average of eight-and-a-half hours there.
Among these young people, about 120,000 are considered to be addicted to online games.
The first of 10 new high-capacity trains purchased from South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem arrived at the Port of Taipei yesterday to meet the demands of an expanding metro network, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. The train completed a three-day, 1,200km voyage from the Port of Masan in South Korea, the company said. Costing NT$590 million (US$18.79 million) each, the new six-carriage trains feature a redesigned interior based on "human-centric" transportation concepts, TRTC said. The design utilizes continuous longitudinal seating to widen the aisles and optimize passenger flow, while also upgrading passenger information displays and driving control systems for a more comfortable
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
Taiwan’s two cases of hantavirus so far this year are on par with previous years’ case numbers, and the government is coordinating rat extermination work, so there should not be any outbreaks, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said today in an interview with the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper). An increase in rat sightings in Taipei and New Taipei City has raised concerns about the spread of hantavirus, as rats can carry the disease. In January, a man in his 70s who lived in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) tested positive posthumously for hantavirus, Taiwan’s
RSS