Quote: A London doctor has started a new rehab programme for young 'screenagers' who he feels are addicted to videogames, the internet and mobile phones.
Richard Graham is a London-based consultant psychiatrist and has opened the new centre to help teenagers whose lives are impaired by their addictions to screen-based entertainment tech.
The UK's first centre for games addiction opened in Weston-Super-Mare last year.
"Mental health services need to adapt quickly to the changing worlds young people inhabit and understand how seriously their lives can be impaired by unregulated time online, on-screen or in-game," said Graham, who is based at Capio Nightingale Hospital in London.
Police often intervene
Police are often called to settle feuds between parents and irate children, who respond badly when their consoles or computers or phones are turned off or confiscated.
Graham's new 'screenager' rehab service is the the first in UK to be dedicated to children as young as 12.
Graham says other services are outdated, "borrowing from older models of addiction and substance misuse to very limited effect".
TechRadar has requested an interview with the consultant psychiatrist to find out more about his own approach and how this differs to traditional approaches. |