Help me, I'm addicted to games!

News from CVG

July will witness the launch of a detox programme in Amsterdam that aims to help gamers hopelessly addicted to videogames to kick the habit, it's being reported.

The programme is being headed up by Amsterdam-based Smith & Jones Addiction Consultants, whose director Keith Bakker has been working with the videogame addicted since the beginning of the year. He reckons that videogames can prove as addictive as narcotics or gambling.

"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 commented. "Their social network has completely disappeared."

In case you're concerned that you may be suffering videogame addiction, apparently the signs to watch out for include spending hours gaming - duh - poor social life and neglecting normal day-to-day activities.

The detox programme will be a course that runs four to eight weeks, during which time 'patients' will, among other stuff, undergo sessions with therapists and be encouraged to participate in activities of a more social nature.