Inside the kids-only rehab that treats video games like cocaine
There is a reason video games are on my mind. This clinic is for those aged 13-25 only, and people come from all over the world for its specialist treatment in mental health problems including screen addiction and other behavioural issues that the medical community is unsure of how to classify – let alone treat. Many of the people attending say they are addicted to their smartphones, social media, or video games.
For the first time this year, the World Health Organisation has accepted that they might be right. In June, it formally accepted Gaming Disorder into the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) – a kind of encyclopedia of stuff that can go wrong in humans. The treatment programme at this clinic arguably goes further: it places video games on an equal footing with drugs, alcohol, and gambling, demanding that those who complete its 10-week programme abstain from all of them for the...
