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United Kingdom Games

The UK's National Health System Just Opened A Treatment Center for Videogame Addiction (fortune.com) 73

Posted by EditorDavid from the too-much-of-a-good-thing dept.
An anonymous reader quotes Fortune: The battle against gaming addiction entered a new era this week when the U.K. public health system, the National Health Service (NHS), announced the opening of its first center specializing in 'Internet and Gaming Disorders....' Starting in November, the London-based center's psychiatrists and clinical psychologists will work with patients between ages 13 and 25 whose lives have been affected by "severe or complex behavioral issues associated with gaming, gambling and social media," the NHS said in a release... [T]he U.K. center is meant to fill a gap in mental health treatment that was previously occupied by private programs and more generalized NHS mental health services. "We are inundated. We have got sixty referrals already," says Dr. Henrietta Bowden-Jones of the addictions faculty at the Royal College of Psychiatrists, who serves as director of the National Centre for Internet and Gaming Addictions where the new clinic will be located....

Other European clinics have seen similarly desperate growth. The Yes We Can clinic on the outskirts of Eindhoven, Netherlands, for instance, treated 250 children for gaming addiction in 2018 and has so far treated 450 in 2019 -- including 50 from the U.K... Dr. Bowden-Jones says that she expects that a relatively small percentage of gamers will suffer the medically recognized disorder -- no more than 2% -- but that the issue is important to address because about 75% of young people in the U.K. engage in gaming.
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The UK's National Health System Just Opened A Treatment Center for Videogame Addiction More

The UK's National Health System Just Opened A Treatment Center for Videogame Addiction

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  • Addiction is only a problem if it gets in the way of life (or kills you, like cigarettes).

    If you are still able to take care of yourself, it's not an addiction, it's something you enjoy doing.

    • If you are still able to take care of yourself, it's not an addiction, it's something you enjoy doing.

      Tell that to people recovering from compulsive gambling.

      • So should the taxpayers spend money on hospitals for the gamblers to overcome their addictions?

        • So should the taxpayers spend money on hospitals for the gamblers to overcome their addictions?

          As a British taxpayer, I say absolutely yes. Next question?

          • This.

            And might I say for all of its faults the NHS really does a good job.

            Not only do I not need to worry about whether my insurance covers life saving procedures, not am I beholden to my employer for heath care but its also cheap.

            The UK taxpayer pays for the NHS less than half of what the US taxpayer pays for their system.

            I'm the first to citisise the NHS when they do something a bit daft... And this is one of those times, video game addiction isnt real, but I also have to give them credit f

        • Yes, tax-paying casinos especially. If they profit from gambling, they should fund rehabilitation as well.

        • So should the taxpayers spend money on hospitals for the gamblers to overcome their addictions?

          Yes. Treating the negatives effects of addiction takes normal workers and rehabilitates them back into the population and contributes to the economy and wellbeing of society, and that's before you even take into account the negative societal effects of addiction (aggression and violence to name 2 of them).

          Yes please take my tax money and make *my* life better by treating those people around me who could have a negative influence on my life.

      • Are you saying compulsive gamblers don't have their lives destructed by addiction?

      • What about 'em? I'm addicted to habanero chilis, but I still have to buy my own.

        People use "compulsive gambling" to park in the handicap zone and use those three wheel scooters in Walmart.

        • Can't you simply grow habanero chilis in your garden? Or build a hothouse if you're not in the correct climate?

          • Yeah, and I can also avoid gambling debts by maintaining a small reserve of cash.

            I am mystified how compulsive behavior became a "disability". If you're a compulsive gambler it's one thing, but if you're a compulsive serial killer it's different?

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by Cederic ( 9623 )

              It's entirely possible to be detained under the mental health act, and to be found unfit for trial.

              See also: Broadmoor.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by nomadic ( 141991 )

          "People use "compulsive gambling" to park in the handicap zone and use those three wheel scooters in Walmart."

          Name one person who's done this, ever.

          • Well, let's see, there's my uncle Billy. He thought hanging the fuzzy dice on his rear view mirror would get him in.

    • That's true enough. Anything can be an addiction. But that doesn't make it any less true that people can be addicted to gaming.

      I knew one guy. He wouldn't take care of himself. He wouldn't bathe. He wouldn't even get up to go to the bathroom. He'd use a bucket mid-game. As far as I'm aware, he has never recovered from his addiction/depression. And the only reason he can still play games is because he still lives with his mom and she supports him financially.

      • Yeah, I've seen similar cases. Hopefully they can be helped.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Anonymous Coward

        Sure, but I think the point is, why treat gaming specifically? I've seen people equally unhealthily obsessed with things like Big Brother when you could watch it online 24/7.

        Basically, addition is a method by which the human mind distracts itself from broader, typically mental health, problems. It doesn't really matter if that's alcohol abuse, excessive gaming, self-harming, obsession with celebrities to the point of trying to be like them, or just plain old trolling on the internet. All these are things pe

      • It's possible that the gaming addiction is actually a symptom, not a problem that stands alone.

        The world is a very cruel, unpredictable, scary place with equally cruel, unpredictable, scary people. The gaming is a way to avoid those kinds of people, or at least be able to easily switch those people 'off'.

        I've seen a lot of very nasty shit in this world, and dealt with people who you think should only belong in a nightmare. I've almost been killed a couple times by them, so I can fully under

  • Even if you believe video games can be an addiction, how exactly would you âoecureâ a person??

    Is it like AA, where they could never touch a game again?

    Is it like Clockwork Orange, where you force them to play Candy Crush until they are remade?

    I donâ(TM)t even see a clear path for treatment, much less defined end goals.

    • I'm sorry, what?

      How 'bout sanitizing your input, eh? Try to write in plain text... Homey don't do unicode

      Any don't you don't "cure" an addiction. You treat it, forever. Mo money! Mo money!

      • Let me come in again:

        Anyway you don't "cure" an addiction... bla bla bla

      • Why should people have to avoid unicode? It's been the most common encoding on the web for a decade, and been around twice that long. Every browser supports it. I think slashdot is the only forum that doesn't handle it.

        • I think slashdot is the only forum that doesn't handle it.

          Yes, I still count my blessings. Nice to see just text without all that emoji gibberish

          • Or those silly currency symbols, mathematical notation or various standard physics symbols including SI prefixes. Can't see any reason a tech site might need those.

            • It has done very well for over 20 years, thank you. And I'm sure the admins enjoy the lighter workload for it. You know, better security, no attacks launched from the text box, small things. Unicode just attracts people you wouldn't want around here anyway.

              Now, if we can only get them to dump the javascript, we'd really be in heaven.

              • We've had problems with smart quotes, currency symbols and mathematical symbols for 20 years. Slashcode uses a whitelist on input and output, so the admin issue is trivial.

    • I donâ(TM)t even see a clear path for treatment, much less defined end goals.

      I've diagnosed you with and addiction to unicode, an illegal substance on Slashdot.

      Anyway, here's how you treat gaming addiction: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Treatment [psychguides.com]

      Many experts recommend cognitive behavioral therapy as the ideal treatment for video game addiction. The therapy allows the addict to shift their thoughts, replacing those that lead to compulsive gaming with healthier thinking patterns. As its name implies, cognitive behavioral therapy allows a person to modify their thoughts, feelings and ultimately behavior for the better.

      Therapists consider addiction a belief or way of thinking that leads to irrational, often unhealthy behaviors. They start treatment by identifying and focusing on the thoughts that start the chain of addiction and help the addict begin their transition from there.

      Cognitive behavioral therapy techniques include setting goals and then learning to overcome the thinking that sparks compulsive gaming.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      The point is that these people are "addicted" because they get more pleasure out of gaming constantly than they do the rest of their sorry existence.

      Thus, the solution, or the "cure" as it were is to make the rest of their existence less sorry. Typically, they'll be depressed or similar, and resolving that may be as simple as getting them to go out with friends more, getting some exercise, or to eat and sleep more healthily.

      I'm not sure why they need to specifically call out gaming though, this is really ju

  • Thanks to this sort of thing, my 79 year old father who's paid his taxes since he started working at the age of 16, never stopped working his entire life and never claimed a single penny off the social, cannot get his knee's and hip looked at. Alright VG addiction is still an addiction and needs treatment but there are far more serious and deserving cases out there.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by dpille ( 547949 )
      You need to be more explicit for the US readers and say that national health care is the worst thing ever conceived, since of course that's what about half of us will think of immediately, based merely on the headline.

    • Get the lotteries and casinos to pay for gambling addiction treatment.

      As to your 79 years old father, I'm sorry he feels that way and I'm not a doctor, but I think you have an overly optimistic view of what medical technology can do for him (even if he has an unlimited budget at his disposal).

    • I have family with bad hips in the states. It took months to see a specialist. a) there just aren't that many of them, we've been gutting education for 40 years so fewer doctors and b) even after seeing the specialist they didn't want to do surgery. Just PT.

      Most folks say "I can't get X looked at" and it's hip/knee they mean the specialist/surgeon. Understand that Surgery is the _last_ resort. Especially at 79 where healing isn't as good as it used to be (the sweet spot for hip & knee surgery is 50-

      • Also, gaming addiction treatment is probably going to be a lot easier to do than hip and knee replacement surgery.

        Just get a cheap place in the middle of nowhere. Bus your patients there. Make sure that your patients don't have access to their phone, television, computer, or computer games. Get your patients occupied with gardening, or other chores. Get a doctor to sign off on it. That's it. You're done.

        That sure sounds a lot easier than trying to anesthetize a frail 79-year-old man without killing him and

    • Don't worry.

      This horror story is coming from the UK, not the US.

      In the US, we make sure no one gets the help they need (except for the very rich).

      • And the illegals who just get treatment and skip out on the bill. It's okay though! Screwing over the hospital is perfectly acceptable as long as you're a member of the Democrat Protected Class: lawbreakers.

        • Re:There go my taxes again (Score:5, Insightful)

          by stephanruby ( 542433 ) on Sunday October 13, 2019 @03:32PM (#59303840)

          Yes, that's right. Emergency Rooms provide free million dollar knee and hip replacement surgery to illegals. Or hospitals will provide free gaming addiction treatment to illegals. That's the fantasy world Fox News has created for you

          Do yourself a favor. If you ever run into a nurse, or someone who actually works at a hospital, ask them how illegals/indigents are treated at hospitals compared to fully paying insured patients.

          • Comment removed based on user account deletion

            • On top of that, I seriously hope that illegals, child molestors, bankers and others are all treated equal in a hospital.

              In the US, they're not. Don't get me wrong. Emergency Rooms have a duty of care to take care of sick people, but as soon as those people are stable, if they can't pay, they get thrown out of the hospital even if they're still in bad shape.

              In some cases, it's even worse than that.
              https://www.cbsnews.com/news/i... [cbsnews.com]

              That will cause people going to the doctor too late. That will mean more expensive treatment.

              I agree completely.

          • Why not just explain it? Not everyone interacts with medical staff on a daily basis and there may be plenty of people (like myself, for instance) who genuinely don't know because they don't have much experience with the medical world.

        • And the illegals who just get treatment and skip out on the bill.

          Does it make you feel better believing it's all crack addicts and illegals?

          I'm white, male, never used illegal drugs in my entire life, and can't afford health insurance because my entire income goes to cost-of-living expenses. Yes, I've had to go to an ER and skip out on the bill. It sucks, and when they know you can't pay they'll only do enough "treatment" to get you out of there without dying. If you need a specialist or prescription drugs, well that's just too bad.

          You might be truly surprised to find

  • Are they taking overseas applicants? Oh, and forget the game and social aspect -- I've been an "addict" since '77. Just ask my DA. (I also had a 300 baud modem that I *built*.) I could sit in the comfort of my dorm room and submit jobs and view the output, and even print them out across the street when necessary. No punching cards or anything! (... although very stinky green bar paper. I think that was a unofficial science experiment.)

    Depends I think if you're after:
    * the adrenaline -- Kill Shoot S

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Cederic ( 9623 )

      I think you've missed the whole escapism element that makes gaming attractive to many.

  • Mine is getting so bad I hardly have time to play video games anymore.

    Kidding aside. I would say that porn addiction is more prevalent than video games, and likely more damaging to a person sense of self.

  • As a cure they will recommend a sex change operation.
  • in it's latest game [youtube.com].

    Given that we've turned video games into Casinos for Kids [penny-arcade.com] I think this is appropriate now.

  • huh (Score:2)

    by nomadic ( 141991 )

    A friend's former partner had a heart attack while playing his favorite game (he worked in a job where he treated heart attack victims so knew what it was), and made sure to save before he called 911. Yeah, video game addiction is real.

  • I wonder if they cooperated with the creators of Fortnite on the timing of this. There are a lot of people going cold turkey right now that could probably benefit from a more controlled weening program.

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