Off Topic: Detox Clinic Opening for Video Game Addicts!
An addiction center is opening
Europe's first detox clinic for game addicts, offering in-house
treatment for people who can't leave their joysticks alone.
Video games may look innocent, but they can be as addictive as gambling
or drugs _ and just as hard to kick, says Keith Bakker, director of
Amsterdam-based Smith & Jones Addiction Consultants.
Bakker already has treated 20 video game addicts, aged 13 to 30, since
January. Some show withdrawal symptoms, such as shaking and sweating,
when they look at a computer.
His
detox program begins in July. It will run four to eight weeks,
including discussions with therapists and efforts to build patients'
interests in alternative activities.
"We have kids who don't know how to communicate with people face-to-
face because they've spent the last three years talking to somebody in
Korea through a computer," Bakker said. "Their social network has
completely disappeared."
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