Priory opens specialist addiction unit for children

Children as young as 12 are being treated in a new specialist addiction unit set up to deal with those hooked on alcohol and drugs.

The Priory hospital, which is famous for its celebrity patients, set up the unit to meet what it says is mounting demand from worried parents. The unit, based at its acute psychiatric hospital in north London, will deal with drug and alcohol problems, eating disorders and behavioural issues such as an obsession with the internet or computer games.

"It is very specialist and in response to a need for this type of medical provision," explained Karen Croft, spokeswoman for the hospital. "The age of experimentation is dropping every year and children are experimenting with alcohol and drugs at a much younger age. Unfortunately they are more vulnerable. In children and adolescents the region of the brain that governs impulse and motivation is not fully formed so the addictive action of the drug may occur more rapidly and possibly with greater permanence. People who start using drugs or alcohol before the age of 15 are four times more likely to do themselves permanent harm than young adults who start after 21."

She said the group's Roehampton hospital often saw people with multiple impulse disorders for example alcoholics who are also bulimic.

A report earlier this year revealed that 8,600 under-16s had been treated for alcohol abuse in 2006, a 37 per increase in five years. Doctors complained there was no national provision for children addicted to drink and said it would be appropriate to have adolescent clinics.

While less common, another sign of changing society is the number of youngsters developing computer or gaming addictions, Ms Croft added.

Explaining the warning signs, she said: "Parents need to ask themselves some quite basic questions. Is it [the obsession] interfering with the child's life? Is their development normal in other aspects? Are computers interfering with their school work and family relationships? Do they have good peer relationships?"

The unit is headed by Dr Claire Casey, one of only six consultant psychiatrists in the country specialising in such treatment and the doctor who pioneered one of the first adolescent outreach teams in Britain. She said: "We think about the reasons why young people are addicted. They may have issues to do with family or school. With understanding, treatment and support, many adolescents can rebuild their lives and move to adulthood."

The clinic evaluates the emotional issues behind the addiction such as becoming a victim of bullying, poor self-esteem, sibling rivalry and family issues including divorce or bereavement.

As well as outpatient care, the unit will cater for up to 10 residential patients with extra beds available if the need increases.

Children are referred to the clinic by their GP and both private and NHS patients are accepted. They are put on a programme of individual and group therapy based on 12 steps to abstinence. Ms Croft said: "Patients tend to work a 35-hour week. In the evening they watch educational DVDs, read and do journal work."

China's new addicts

The Chinese government recently opened a clinic for internet addiction at the Beijing Military Region Central Hospital, insisting it is a social crisis.

Patients between 14 and 24 are brought in suffering from anxiety, depression and lack of sleep, often due to long hours on online video games and chat rooms. Treatment combines psychiatric therapy and counselling with military-style boot camp exercises. They are also treated with anti-depressants and strict, regular sleeping patterns. The clinic claims to have cured 70 per cent of its patients.

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