News

Wednesday, 24 March 2010 03:39

A London hospital is now providing treatment for technology addicts, which includes those addicted to online gambling on home computers and advanced mobile phones.

The treatment offered is currently for private patients attending London's Capio Nightingale Hospital and is available for young people that are spending large amounts of their time each day in front of computers playing online games, gambling at online casinos or using the social network websites. The condition is evident when patients suffer symptoms of chronic agitation and irritability when deprived of their addiction, according to the founder of the treatment, Dr Richard Graham.

The treatment program is 28 days long when done intensively, according to Dr Graham, although it is not specifically designed to wean anybody entirely off using this form of technology. He said that it is not realistic to engage in a total abstinence programme.

Dr Graham's main motivation for the creation of this treatment came about from his concern over the compulsive as well as addictive quality of many computer games, the social media and high tech mobile phones.

Mark Griffiths, who is Professor of gambling studies at Nottingham's Trent University said that the actual number of people genuinely addicted to technology is still fairly low, although it could rise especially with online gaming. Unlike with standalone gaming which usually has a finite end, some online games never stop.

Online gambling clinics are already springing up across areas of South East Asia, in places where excessive time is spent living in virtual worlds which are the cause of many real life problems. To give a recent example, a couple in South Korea actually allowed their baby to starve while playing the role-playing game called Prius Online for blocks of anywhere up to 12 solid hours.

The altered behaviour of people who become addicts can be seen as desperate and extreme according to Dr Graham, who's treatment is set out in three stages. The first stage begins with psychotherapy that is designed to address issues patients have with normal human relationships. The second stage is to work with the relationship they have with technology, encouraging them to back away from it and eventually switch it off. In the last stage they are then encouraged to become involved in physical exercise along with activities with their family and friends.

Visitors to the website run by the hospital can take a simple test that will gauge the level of their technology addiction by answering questions concerning their online habits.