NHS to open its first internet addiction clinic in London

THE NHS is to open its first internet addiction clinic. The Centre for Internet Disorders will be run by the Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust, offering treatment and advice to families, according to reports.

It comes just days after the World Health Organization (WHO) classified video gaming as a medical disorder amid increasing evidence of young people suffering psychological distress and family breakdown through their addiction.

Henrietta Bowden-jones, a psychiatrist and the clinic’s founder, told The

Guardian: “Gaming disorder is finally getting the attention it deserves.

“The distress and harm it can cause is extreme and I feel a moral duty on behalf of the NHS to provide the evidence-based treatment these young people and their families need.”

She added: “Other countries have free services, for example there are some in Asia. We are really behind. I

am not sure how it took us so long. Maybe it’s because we had no champion and I will identify as that champion.”

Ms Bowden-jones insisted that she did not expect to see an epidemic of young players with an addiction to gaming, but simply hoped to help the small number who do struggle and wanted to try to prevent teenagers from dropping out of school.

She said funding had been secured for a weekly therapy group for gaming addicts and that she hoped the centre would be financed by the NHS, research grants and philanthropic sources.

Jeff van Reenen, addiction treatment programme manager at the Priory Hospital in Chelmsford, said: “Internet, social media and gaming addictive or dysfunctional behaviour has been rife for a long time and completely unaddressed other than by people like us.”

Some experts warned that the NHS should spent its limited budget treating more general addiction rather than focusing on one specific type that has received a lot of media attention.

They said only a minority of children would be affected by gaming addiction – those who have a naturally addictive personality or are vulnerable.

Gaming disorder is to 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 up to six per cent of young people could be affected.

Earlier this month, 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.