Australian experts want computer addicts to be allowed to claim their treatment on Medicare.

Psychiatrists and psychologists receiving calls for help from distressed families believe addiction to the internet and computer games will soon be listed as a mental disorder.

School children and young adults are becoming so dangerously hooked on computer games that they are being offered live-in treatment at psychiatric facilities.

A teenage girl in Xianyang, Shaanxi province, cut off the cable of her parents' computer because she felt neglected.

The girl said her parents were addicted to an online game called "Happy Farm", and were always on the computer whenever they were home.

The girl's parents, who said they had no clue they were ignoring their daughter, have vowed to stop playing the game.

A mother who bought a Scrabble game for her eight-year-old son's computer console to improve his vocabulary has told of her disgust after it produced a string of swearwords.