Gaming addiction can be treated on the NHS after it is declared a medical disorder
CHILDREN hooked on addictive video games such as Fortnite can be treated on the NHS as of Monday when video gaming addiction is classified as a medical disorder by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Governments will be told to incorporate “gaming disorder” into their health systems amid increasing evidence of young people suffering psychological distress and family breakdown through their addiction.
This week The Daily Telegraph revealed that a 15-year-old gaming addict in London was admitted to hospital and took a year off school after losing the confidence to go outside.
The disorder will be added to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11), which means those diagnosed can be treated by the NHS. Dr Vladimir Poznyak, of the WHO, said 1 to 6 per cent of young people could be affected. He added the organisation had considered social media addiction but found insufficient evidence to classify it as a disorder.
This week The Telegraph launched its Duty of Care campaign to regulate social media and online gaming firms.
SOCIAL MEDIA companies must be regulated to stop them damaging young people’s mental health, say the Royal College of Psychiatrists.
Self-regulation by the industry is not working and children are being exposed to harmful online environments, Dr Louise Theodosiou, a member of the Child and Adolescent Faculty at the College, told The Daily Telegraph.
It comes after this newspaper launched its Duty of Care campaign, calling on ministers to make social media and online gaming companies subject to a statutory duty to protect children from harm such as addiction, bullying and grooming when using their services.
Ministers are considering new measures to rein in the worst excesses of online tech companies amid fears a generation of young people is being harmed by unregulated use of social media and online gaming platforms.
“Self-regulation has failed and legislation needs to be introduced,” said Dr Theodosiou.
“We do want there to be restrictions on content. Where there are age restrictions on opening an account or viewing content, we absolutely want that guidance to be followed.”
She said that in the same way that young children would not be allowed to play unsupervised in the real world, they should not be allowed unfettered access to the internet.
She also called for more identity checks on sites such as Facebook to ensure that users were old enough, and for sites to act immediately when damaging or abusive content, such as a link on Twitter to a pro-anorexia site, was reported.
Teenage girls in particular were suffering the effects of negative online environments, including seeing content which promoted anorexia, she said.
Dr Theodosiou called for more research on how social media affects the adolescent brain. She said: “We need more research to understand the effects, like we understand the impact of alcohol on a developing brain.
“We want investment in research into what areas are most harmful.
“We know depression and eating disorders are increasing and children are reporting online bullying, but we need to understand how those factors fit together.”
To do this research, social media companies should surrender information on who is using their services, Dr Theodosiou added.
“We don’t have that clarity on who is using the internet and what impact it’s having on them”, she said. “We need more transparency. We need to have more of an understanding of who is online and what age they are.
“We know technology can be a positive part of people’s lives. We know if you are depressed it can be positive to access online support and counselling. We believe in technology, but we want it to be in a positive way.”