For a gamer, hours of isolation playing MMORPG’s are often a huge source of virtual confidence and anonymity, protecting them from a world in which they’ve frequently experienced trauma. The cunning and decisiveness in gaming frequently translates into their real worlds where families no longer know truth from deception. Their anxiety is consuming, and informs them that the game of life is already over before they’ve lifted themselves from their terminals. With the advent of smart phones, have emerged a seemingly functional gamer who is now able to game in more secrecy as their access to their online worlds have increased: on the tube, in a bus, on a toilet break.

Giving up this world is hard, and frequently gamers will attempt to ‘game’ their way through treatment by being pseudo-compliant. 12 week treatment is a must in order to allow gamers the opportunity to present their real issues.

We rely heavily on collateral about the Problem Gambler in order to accelerate the initial evaluation process and to ascertain such factors as the extent of the gambling problem, the repercussions of the excessive gambling habits on the person’s life (financial, emotional, social, psychological, existential and familial), the presence of other mental disorders and addictions, the risk of suicide, and so forth. Depending on the complexity of the diagnosis / addiction, the treatment period we would aim for would be 12 weeks.