The National Health Service (NHS) has announced it will be opening a “gaming addiction” treatment centre in London which will fall under the National Centre of Behavioural Addiction.
The centre, part of the National Problem Gambling Clinic, was a response to calls from concerned parents and society about the amount of time children and teenagers specifically spent online playing video games. The service will target 13 – 25 year olds who consider themselves “addicted” to games.
Before now, teenagers who were deemed to be addicted to games would travel to private clinics abroad for treatment.
Despite the calls of praise, there has been some concern about the wording, specifically “addiction”. The result of the World Health Organisation investigation last year stopped short of calling their findings “addiction” but instead used the words “gaming disorder”. The NHS cite the WHO findings, as their source, but have refused to comment on how their interpretation could impact treatment, or how their treatment would work.
Recently the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport released a report on addictive technology making suggestions like the sale of loot boxes to children and gaming companies making clearer the potential of any effects of gaming. This clinic will be a part of the wider treatment services the NHS will offer.
With a crackdown on mental dependancy on gaming and with lawsuits against some other games (such as Fortnite), it may be that we see more stringent age verification over the coming years. Parents are encouraged to keep an eye on the games their children are playing and make sure the games are age-appropriate.
We’ve contacted the NHS for a statement and will update when there is more news.
