A four-year-old girl is being treated for iPad addiction in the UK.
A GIRL aged four is having psychiatric treatment after becoming Britain's youngest known iPad addict.
She is one of many child patients displaying compulsive behaviour after using the tablet device from an early age.
Doctors say she is so addicted to games on her parents’ iPad that she experiences withdrawal symptoms when it is taken away.
It comes days after a poll showed more than half of parents let their babies use a smartphone or tablet, with one in seven allowing it for four or more hours a day.
The girl, from the South East of England, has been hooked on the device from age three.
Her psychiatrist Dr Richard Graham, from Capio Nightingale Clinic in London, said there must be many more addicts of the same age. He commended her parents for seeking help quickly, saying that by age 11, the problem might have become so severe that she would have required in-patient care.
His clinic charges £16,000 a month for a ‘digital detox programme’ to wean patients off tablets and other devices. Some spend 36-hour stretches online and operate up to 20 Facebook profiles.
Dr Graham said: ‘Don’t leave your iPad around because if you do, and children see all the pretty colours, they will want to use it too. They can’t cope and become addicted, reacting with tantrums and uncontrollable behaviour when they are taken away.’
Internet Addiction Disorder is set to be recognised by the NHS in a manual for GPs.
Childcare author Tanith Carey said: ‘iPads, iPods and smartphones have become the new dummies for babies and toddlers.’
Doctors say she is so addicted to games on her parents’ iPad that she experiences withdrawal symptoms when it is taken away.
It comes days after a poll showed more than half of parents let their babies use a smartphone or tablet, with one in seven allowing it for four or more hours a day.
The girl, from the South East of England, has been hooked on the device from age three.
Her psychiatrist Dr Richard Graham, from Capio Nightingale Clinic in London, said there must be many more addicts of the same age. He commended her parents for seeking help quickly, saying that by age 11, the problem might have become so severe that she would have required in-patient care.
His clinic charges £16,000 a month for a ‘digital detox programme’ to wean patients off tablets and other devices. Some spend 36-hour stretches online and operate up to 20 Facebook profiles.
Dr Graham said: ‘Don’t leave your iPad around because if you do, and children see all the pretty colours, they will want to use it too. They can’t cope and become addicted, reacting with tantrums and uncontrollable behaviour when they are taken away.’
Internet Addiction Disorder is set to be recognised by the NHS in a manual for GPs.
Childcare author Tanith Carey said: ‘iPads, iPods and smartphones have become the new dummies for babies and toddlers.’
Data source: via Herald Sun (By Eleanbor Harding)
Is this real? Addiction is not something to joke about. I just saw my psychiatrist in Beverly, MA to help treat my addiction to drugs!
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