THE MANAGER of Limerick’s Saoirse Addiction Treatment Centre (SATC) Alan Galvin has warned Ireland has become a society where immediate gratification is everywhere, creating a place for addiction to thrive.

“The evolution of gaming and even the evolution of things like Netflix and Amazon Prime, everything is on demand, everything is there.” Mr Galvin made the comments regarding a new HSE-approved pilot programme for the treatment of people addicted to gaming or gambling he is heading up in Limerick.

The free service is located on Old Clare Street in Limerick and is based on cognitive behavioural therapy. The gambling and gaming pilot is currently being offered to those aged from 14 years and up and is limited to Limerick.

Mr Galvin explained: “We do an initial screening stroke assessment and clients that are accepted on the programme are offered a structured intervention based on CBT, cognitive behavioural therapy.”
He said they have clients who are now abstinent from gambling. “They’ve stopped and they’re building their lives in recovery now.”

Mr Galvin believes there is a behavioural link between gaming and gambling. Despite this, he emphasised the organisation is not anti gaming and stressed the importance of moderation.
“The whole essence of gambling is built on risk, taking the risk and getting the reward or the perceived reward. Gaming certainly fosters that type of thinking and behaviour and then a lot of the games have credits.” He added that parents are funding their child’s gaming, not fully aware of the nature of the activity that they might be engaged in.

When someone’s gaming excessively, it can affect their sleep, school or work, their relationships and family dynamic. Mr Galvin said gamers can experience feelings of guilt, shame or frustration and their addiction can also have physical and mental health impacts.

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The centre’s counsellor works with the young person around gaming and identifying behaviours while the project worker works with the parents around setting healthy boundaries and being aware of their child’s screen time.

The common age of clients seeking help for a gaming addiction is between 15 and 16 years old. “Their parents have come in because they felt it reached the point where they sort of, if you like, it had become a contentious issue at home, and they were seeking advice and guidance in terms of how to work with the child around the whole essence of the gaming.” Mr Galvin said parents have concerns for their child and often say they seem withdrawn or may not be engaging socially.

The Association use diaries to track how long the client games for. Mr Galvin said one hour can morph into ten hours pretty quickly. As most clients with a gaming addiction are under 18, their parents are very engaged with the treatment process. “Things that parents do sometimes unwittingly, you know, buying the credit for games, there’s nothing wrong with that but again, it’s about everything in moderation.”

Mr Galvin cited how parents may complete a Revolut transfer as their child wants credit but they aren’t aware what the credit is being used for. He added that there is an adjustment period for clients and their families as awareness increases around their screen time and the impact on behaviour for example. They generally don’t realise that as a family they were spending between 10 to 15 hours or more per week on phones or on media.

Regarding the nature of gambling nowadays, Mr Galvin feels access to gambling portals, emails and free bets are all being used to entice gamblers. “There’s sort of an insidious nature about that. It’s all on demand and it travels with you.”

He said feedback for the programme has been excellent to date. Mr Galvin hopes an evaluation will be carried out following the pilot. “We do hope as a result of the evaluation if it’s warranted, that it would continue.”