Experts’ crisis fear over online addicts hooked to net for days
Warning as patient numbers on the rise
The teenager told his parents the purchases cost £10 each before racking up the bill.
His parents had no idea he had spent the huge amount until the statement arrived.
The family sought advice from a counsellor who specialises in internet addiction.
Experts have warned Scotland is facing a potential crisis, with extreme cases of people hooked onl ine for 48 hours at a time.
Therapists say the number of patients citing addictions to gaming, gambling, social media, shopping and pornography has doubled.
They warned of a “rabid” industry fuelled by online gaming while relationships experts said sites l ike Facebook, Twitter and onl ine sleaze were having a damaging effect.
Specialist addiction therapist Tony Marini, who works at Castle Craig Hospital in Peeblesshire, said: “Over the past five years we have seen at least a 50 per cent increase in people with internet-related issues.
“A lot of people’s parents put them in front of iPads or smartphones at a very early age.
“Addiction is often related to gaming, which can be fun – but when you cross over a line into a preoccupation and compulsive behaviour, it’s a problem.
“I’ve been in contact with one man whose 14-year- old son asked for money to pay for add-ons for online games.
“The boy said they cost around £10 and his dad gave him his credit card details – and when he got the bill it was £5000.
“We have a patient addicted to internet use who was gaming for 48 hours and another for up to 36 hours. People stop eating properly and some have buckets so they can do the toilet. I’m aware of a man who had his own business but spent 20 hours a day online. He developed an amphetamine problem in order to sustain his internet use. “I encountered a schoolgirl, aged 12, who didn’t want to socialise. Her parents found she’d been on her laptop for eight hours at a time. “In the last three years we’ve had just under 100 people with internet and online gaming-related issues. It’s up by 50 per cent on the period before. The upward trend is clear.” The World Health Organisation last month classified gaming disorder as a mental health issue. It’ s feared firms behind games such as Fortnite recruit experts who know how to keep users online longer. Therapist Chloe Goddard McLoughlin, of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, said: “I’ve seen people unable to leave the house. They stop washing and are unaware of the time.”
Data from the Office for National Statistics shows 99 per cent of 16 to 34-year- olds have used the internet this year while 90 per cent of all UK adults used it in the past three months.
Stuart Valentine, boss of charity Relationships Scotland, said: “We’ve seen a significant increase in the numbers attending counselling whose relationships are suffering because of internet addiction.”
Dr Jo Twist, chief executive of Ukie, the trade body for the UK’s interactive and games entertainment industry, said: “There is no conclusive evidence linking games to addiction but it’s right we encourage families and carers to understand how they can play games safely and let them know about tools that can stop in-game payments and restrict playing time.
“We promote this whenever we can including via askaboutgames.com that contains parents’ guides.” The Scottish Government said: “Mental health and addiction services exist across Scotland to provide specialist assessment and treatment for a wide variety of addictions.
“This could include problems due to gaming or the internet.”
We have a patient who was internet gaming for 48 hours