ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Addictive Disorders
Evolution of specialist treatment of gaming disorder and internet addiction in Japan
Provisionally accepted
- Kurihama medical and addiction Center (NHO), Yokosuka, Japan
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Despite a relatively short history in the field of disorders, treatment evidence for gaming disorder (GD) and internet addiction (IA) has been gathered. Notwithstanding, in many countries, an understanding of treatment service delivery is lacking. In this study, we have investigated how treatment services at specialist facilities have evolved in Japan, historically and up to the current time, focusing on service delivery and treatment challenges at these facilities.We firstly identified facilities providing specialist treatment for GD and IA using mailed questionnaire surveys, with the assistance of mental health and welfare centers, in 2016, 2018, 2020 and 2023. In order to elucidate how treatment was delivered, together with the related treatment difficulties,
Keywords: Gaming disorder, Internet addiction, Treatment facility, treatment program, Treatment goal, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Japan
Received: 15 Feb 2025; Accepted: 06 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Kitayuguchi, Matsuzaki, Nishimura, Mihara and Higuchi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Susumu Higuchi, h-susumu@db3.so-net.ne.jp
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