NHS Trust hopes to open the first UK internet addiction centre

The World Health Organisation has said that gaming addiction is now officially considered to be a mental health condition. Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust wants to open The Centre for Internet Disorders to offer treatment to young people for internet addiction, taking internet gaming as a starting point. This is the first such centre of its kind. Questions over funding are yet to be finalised but it is likely to come from the NHS amongst other options.

Psychiatrist Henrietta Bowden-Jones, the clinic’s founder, said: “Gaming disorder is finally getting the attention it deserves. The distress and harm it can cause is extreme and I feel a moral duty on behalf of the NHS to provide the evidence based treatment these young people and their families need. We are unlikely to witness an epidemic of young players with an addiction to gaming but for the ones who do struggle, the Centre for Internet Disorders will be a life-changer.”