London hospital to treat Internet-addicted teens

Teenagers who cannot tear themselves away from the Internet, computer games or their mobile phone can get help from a new addiction service, a spokeswoman said Thursday.

A private London hospital has launched Britain's first dedicated technology addiction service for what it dubbed "screenagers", after parents complained their children were flying into a rage when told to turn off their computer.

Help will be offered through intensive in-patient, day care or group therapy to children as young as 12, although it is aimed at 15 to 17-year-olds, amid increasing concern about the amount of time they spend in front of a screen.

"I've been contacted by parents who see their children going into a rage when they're told to turn off their computer," Richard Graham, lead consultant at Capio Nightingale Hospital, told the London Evening Standard.

"Some end up having to call the police."

He said children played some computer games for the social contact, adding: "It gives them a sense of connection so they end up playing all the time."

Teens will be encouraged to switch off technology and interact with people face-to-face rather than online, a hospital spokeswoman said, and also helped with any problems caused by their habits, including cyber-bullying.

She cited research showing that adults who spent too much time online suffered physically and mentally, while young people became agitated and had difficulty concentrating, and ultimately could become depressed.

"Mental health services need to adapt quickly to the changing worlds that young people inhabit, and understand just how seriously their lives can be impaired by unregulated time online, on-screen or in-game," Graham said.

In a statement, he said he hoped the service "will address the underlying causes of this addiction to transform screenagers back into teenagers".

A psychiatrist talks to a patient who is addicted to the Internet at a hospital in Rome in 2009. British teenagers who cannot tear themselves away from the Internet, computer games or their mobile phone can get help from a new addiction service in London, a spokeswoman has said.

Social networking teenagers 'more likely to become addicted to drink and drugs'

Teenagers that use internet social networking sites like Facebook are more likely to end up addicted to drink and drugs, according to researchers.

Scientists at the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (Casa) at Columbia University, surveyed more than 1,000 children aged between 12 and 17 via an online poll and another 1,000 by telephone.

Peer pressure? 40 per cent of all teenagers had seen images of people getting drunk on social networks

They found those who spent any time on social networks each day were five times as likely to smoke than those who didn't visit them. They were also three times more likely to drink alcohol and had double the chance of smoking cannabis.

The nationally-representative survey suggested peer pressure was playing a large role, with 40 per cent of all teenagers seeing pictures of friends getting drunk on sites like Facebook and MySpace.

Half of the youngsters who said they had seen pictures of people being drunk, passed out, or using drugs first saw such images when they were just 13 or even younger.

Those who saw these images were more than twice as likely to be able to get alcohol in less than a day and much likelier to have friends and classmates who abuse illegal and prescription drugs.

Joseph Califano, Jr is CASA Columbia's Founder and Chairman and former U.S. Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare.

He said: 'The relationship of social networking site images of kids drunk, passed out, or using drugs and of suggestive teen programming to increased teen risk of substance abuse offers grotesque confirmation of the adage that a picture is worth a thousand words.

'The time has come for those who operate and profit from social networking sites like Facebook to deploy their technological expertise to curb such images and to deny use of their sites to children and teens who post pictures of themselves and their friends drunk, passed out or using drugs.'

Continuing to provide the electronic vehicle for transmitting such images constitutes electronic child abuse.'

He said parents are often in the dark when it comes to the risks. He said an accompanying survey of nearly 500 parents found 86 per cent did not think social networking sites would increases the risks of drinking alcohol.

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Дата добавления: 2015-11-14