Gamer rehab sees obsessed Brits pay £5K for SAME therapy as sex addicts and heroin users
The dosh gets you a full-board room with an en-suite bathroom in a countryside hideaway where gaming is banned
BRIT video game addicts can pay £5,000 for a plush rehab retreat where they'll be treated alongside sex addicts and heroin users.
These countryside getaways include full-board that covers your living and food expenses, facilities like a gym at some centres, and the cost of treatment.
"We treat gaming addiction the same as we treat other process addictions like gambling and sex and love addiction," UKAT's founder Eytan Alexander told The Sun.
"We assess the severity of the addiction and ultimately focus treatment on why they would rather live in an unreal world, in complete social isolation rather than in the real world.
"Rehabilitation allows the patient to be treated for the why, rather than the what. To us at UKAT, the 'what' is irrelevant in our therapeutic treatment programme, we treat the reasons why they choose to do what they do."
Warning signs of video game addiction
Dr Durrani, Group Psychiatrist for UKAT, shares his tips for spotting young problem gamers...
- Time spent gaming, coupled with the following main physical and psychological symptoms, could indicate a problem:
- Being completely preoccupied about getting back to the game and displaying irritable, restless and even aggressive behaviour when not playing.
- Headaches, fatigue, and in severe cases, diminished personal hygiene and loss of appetite.
- Self-imposed isolation to ensure uninterrupted game play.
- The user will have lost their power of choice, in that playing games has completely taken over their life and they are obsessed.
How children and adults get hooked on video games is receiving more attention than ever after the World Health Organisation (WHO) added gaming disorder to its International Classification of Diseases last month.
Its inclusion required governments to add it to their public health systems as well, including the UK's NHS.
The WHO, which suggests that gaming addiction may affect up to six percent of the public, defines the disorder as:
"Impaired control over gaming, increasing priority given to gaming over other activities to the extent that gaming takes precedence over other interests and daily activities, and continuation or escalation of gaming despite the occurrence of negative consequences."
It adds: "For gaming disorder to be diagnosed, the behaviour pattern must be of sufficient severity to result in significant impairment in personal, family, social, educational, occupational or other important areas of functioning and would normally have been evident for at least 12 months."
And while the NHS is now opening a dedicated gaming addiction clinic in London for the public, private treatment centres have been operating for years, as long as you have the cash to sign up.
Inside the UKAT's rehabs you can hit the gym between group therapy sessions, take in a scenic stroll, or just curl up with a book in your room complete with en-suite bathroom.
But the one thing that's completely off-limits is gaming.
"At UKAT, we promote abstinence from any compulsive behaviour, including gaming," said Alexander.
"Those treated at our facilities would be encouraged not to game again during their recovery," he added.
The UKAT founder also shed light on his organisation's blanket approach to gaming obsession that sees addicts from all walks of life sharing their experiences with one another.
"Treatment is also all-inclusive in that we do not segregate our patients by addiction-type," explained Alexander.
"So during Group Therapy sessions, there could be a 19 year old gamer sat next to a 56 year old Heroin addict and a 45 year old sex addict.
"Addiction can happen to absolutely anyone from any background of any age. It doesn't discriminate, so neither do we."
A nine-year-old girl recently entered rehab for her addiction to massively popular online game Fortnite Battle Royale. The girl is said to have wet herself during a 10-hour-long binge on Fortnite — and even hit her dad in the face when he tried to take away her Xbox console.
Addiction experts also recently revealed to The Sun all the ways the game ropes in children, from providing the same dopamine hit as drugs to microtransactions that let you purchase virtual items with real cash.
- If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this article, please call the Samaritans on (free) 116123 or 020 7734 2800.
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