Maria Virginia Sy

Australian clinic tackles screen addiction as social media ban looms

Article (news)

Reuters Wires

At his home in Perth, a 14-year-old boy sits absorbed in the vivid world of Clash Royale, playing the video game on his phone. The boy, who started gaming when he was 12, now spends hours a day on his favourite games which include Roblox, Fortnite, and Clash Royale. The games go hand in hand with social media platforms like YouTube, Twitch, Kick and TikTok that will be banned on Wednesday (December 10) for Australian children under 16. &quot;I&#x27;m gonna miss watching YouTube because accounts are gonna be deleted...I’m gonna miss like leaks about games, like new games coming out, or new things for games that I play, like updates, new weapons, new items, new avatars. Gonna miss phone calls. Gonna miss talking to my friends, calling them,” he told Reuters. When the child started to display signs of anger and aggression, could not complete his meals and didn&#x27;t get regular sleep, his mother contacted Fiona Stanley Hospital&#x27;s Gaming Disorder Clinic. He has been attending the clinic for two weeks. &quot;Even in the first day, it was getting him to admit that we&#x27;ve got a bit of a problem, and that was probably the beginning,&quot; she said. She added that it was a gentle intervention, not a &quot;cold turkey&quot; approach, but a path towards awareness of how much time he was spending on the devices. With his last day of school for the year falling on Wednesday, the looming social media ban coinciding with the school holiday break will be a new experience for the child without the platforms he has come to rely on. The Gaming Disorder Clinic is the first of its kind in an Australian public hospital, offering treatment for gaming and screen addiction. Having just been awarded 2026 Australian of the Year for Western Australia, Dr. Daniela Vecchio, the head of the Gaming Disorder Clinic at Fiona Stanley Hospital, said she started the clinic after witnessing a growing number of young people presenting to the hospital with screen disorders. &quot;They had become very much reclusive. Some of them had assaulted their parents when limits were imposed, children who were refusing to go to school, we had the families asking for help, devastated families. Families were struggling,&quot; she told Reuters from her office at Fiona Stanley. Vecchio said the government-imposed social media ban was an important step but needed to be paired with other measures such as addressing harmful content and the addictive design of games and social media platforms, including notifications, infinite scrolling and algorithms. With a mix of outpatient and community visits, inpatient, phone and telehealth consultations, the multi-displinary team would like to treat more patients in the community and in schools. Vecchio also wants the government to set up a screening program to better understand how many children may be affected. The clinic has treated over 350 patients since it began as a pilot in 2022, with their youngest patient being five years old. Vecchio and her team were preparing for a possible uptick in cases ahead when the ban comes into force. &quot;We will actively monitor any surge in requests for help,&quot; she said, with the team working over the Christmas break to help those facing challenges arising from the new ban. In a meeting room of the hospital where patients come for a weekly board game meeting, away from their screens, former patient of the clinic, Gabriel, said accessing treatment helped him see that he didn&#x27;t need to be dependent on video games. The now 29-year-old said he believed the social media ban was a small step in the right direction but would not make impactful change to teenagers&#x27; lives. Instead, external help, including from the clinic, has given him the tools to find real solutions to the problems in his life, he said, such as socialising. &quot;I sort of observed in myself that I didn&#x27;t really need to hide behind the screen anymore for comfort,&quot; Gabriel said. (Production: Stefica Bikesh)

The Gaming Disorder Clinic is the first of its kind in an Australian public hospital, offering treatment for gaming and screen addiction.

The Gaming Disorder Clinic is the first of its kind in an Australian public hospital, offering treatment for gaming and screen addiction.

Australian clinic tackles screen addiction as social media ban looms

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Australian clinic tackles screen addiction as social media ban looms

Reuters

Published Dec 09, 2025 01:19 PM PHT

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Australia

social media bans

16 years and below

screen addiction

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