Clinic starts treating game addiction in the UK

By Adam Englebright | November 4, 2009

Hmmm. We’ve heard tell about game addiction clinics (or even camps) opening far and wide, but I bring news of the first opening in my home country, England. The clinic – Broadway Lodge (they haven’t updated the website with details of the treatment) in sunny Western-super-Mare is already established, and treats conventional addictions (alcohol, drugs, etc.) but has widened it’s remit to include “the internet” and videogames. If you look at the video posted above, from hard-hitting regional news show ITV Westcountry (hey, it’s better than FOX), you’ll see a better-than-average mainstream media videogaming story. It’s clear that the presenter doesn’t understand what he’s talking about with regards to videogames, but at least they were even-handed and talked to people who responded cogently (on both sides), and were even-handed rather then letting it degenerate into yet another Keith Vaz-style anti-games piece, so good on them. I think this can only be a good thing. So long as people don’t get the wrong idea, and realise that this is for exceptions, rather than the majority, I think that the clinic could provide a valuble service.