The NHS is now ready to accept referrals for youngsters addicted to video games.

The new service for gaming-addicted youngsters aged 13 to 25, where professionals will be able to hold consultations via Skype, is part of the Centre for Internet and Gaming Disorders.

It follows the announcement in June that children with gambling addiction would be able to access specialist services, as well as the creation of 14 new adult NHS gambling clinics across the UK. The Northern Gambling Service clinic in Leeds is the first outside of London and opened last month

NHS chief executive, Simon Stevens, said: "Health needs are constantly changing which is why the NHS must never stand still - this new service is a response to an emerging problem, part of the increasing pressures that children and young people are exposed to these days.

"However, the NHS should not be left to pick up the pieces - gambling and internet firms have a responsibility to their users as well as their shareholders and should do their utmost to prevent rather than cash in on obsessive or harmful behaviour."


Gaming disorder is defined as a pattern of gaming behaviour characterised by 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.

A gaming disorder is defined by the World Health Organisation as a pattern of persistent or recurrent gaming behaviour so severe that it takes "precedence over other life interests" including relationships, social life and studying.

Dr Henrietta Bowden-Jones, director of the Centre for Internet and Gaming Disorders and the Royal College of Psychiatrists' spokeswoman on behavioural addictions, said: "Gaming disorder is a mental health condition which can have a hugely debilitating effect on people's lives, both for patients and their families who can be left feeling utterly helpless in the wake of their loved one's addiction.

"Gaming disorder is not a mental illness to be taken lightly: we are talking about instances where someone may spend up to 12 hours a day playing computer games and can end up becoming socially isolated and lose their job as a result."

Gaming and internet addiction, particularly for young people, has become a global issue with some countries introducing fairly draconian measures to try to combat it.

South Korea has banned children under 16 from accessing online games between midnight and 6am, while in Japan players are alerted if they spend more than a certain amount of time each month playing games.

In China, internet giant Tencent has also limited the hours that children can play its most popular games.