UK Video Gaming 'Addicts' to be Saved!

Need something to spend all that spare cash on? How about getting treatment for an unproven addiction? Yes, the UK now has its own clinic to treat 'video gaming addiction'.

The Daily Telegraph reports that the Broadway Lodge, "a residential rehabilitation unit in Weston-super-Mare" that "treats around 400 addicts a year for a range of issues including, drink, drugs and gambling" has "adapted its traditional Minnesota Method Twelve-Step programme, which slowly weans addicts off a particular vice, for gamers."

This means that you no longer have to travel to Amsterdam's Smith & Jones clinic in order to get weaned off the WoW.

Bear in mind, however, that according to Keith Bakker who runs the Amsterdam clinic, "These kids come in showing some kind of symptoms that are similar to other addictions and chemical dependencies.

"But the more we work with these kids the less I believe we can call this addiction. What many of these kids need is their parents and their school teachers - this is a social problem." He told that to the BBC a year ago, by the way.

Peter Smith, a counsellor at Broadway Lodge, disagrees, telling the Telegraph, ''It's not unusual for people to get so obsessed with online gaming that they forget to eat and drift towards an anorexic and undernourished state".

Interesting clinical phrase that "not unusual". That means "usual" then? So, apparently it's usual for people to get so obsessed with an online game that they become anorexic and undernourished state.

We'll keep a weather eye on this one.

^{See also MCV}