Now,a rehab clinic for gadget-addicted children in Britain

According to the report,youngsters will be weaned off their gadgets in a residential unit and will also be taught face-to-face social skills.

Dr Richard Graham,a psychiatrist who is leading the new addiction treatment,said rehab services need to “adapt quickly” to help young people affected by technology addiction — who he dubbed “screenagers” — rather than sticking with the same treatment models used for substance abuse.

“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,” he said.

“We have found that many of the existing services fail to recognise the complexity of these situations,borrowing from older models of addiction and substance misuse to very limited effect.”

Dr Graham hoped that the treatment called “Young Person Technology Addiction Service” would address the underlying causes of the addiction to transform screenagers back into teenagers.

He said that the treatment aimed at increasing off-screen social activities and improving the person’s confidence in face-to-face situations,the lack of which may have made them more susceptible to technology addiction.

It also encourages them to think about their relationship with their phone,computer games or social networking websites like Facebook and teaches them skills to help them to switch off.

Strategies to deal with online problems,like cyber bullying,may also be part of intensive in-patient care,group or individual therapy,Dr Graham said.

According to him,children play some computer games for the social contact,”it gives them a sense of connection so they end up playing all the time”.

“What we need are official guidelines now on what counts as healthy or unhealthy use of technology.”