LEYDEN — The Planning Board has approved an application for a special permit — subject to 14 conditions — for a retreat center for young adults with compulsive internet and video game use.
“Every time we got together, the list of conditions grew,” said Planning Board Chair Robert Snedeker.
Odyssey Behavioral Healthcare, a national behavioral health care organization, first went before the board in July to discuss its plan to buy and convert Angels’ Rest Retreat Center at 63 North County Road into the specialized treatment facility. “The Greenfield Center,” as it will be named, in honor of Dr. David Greenfield, will serve young adults, mostly men ages 18 to 25, who experience compulsive internet use, specifically compulsive internet gaming.
According to Odyssey Vice President of Development Bill Parsons, the center’s mission is “to provide the tools and coping skills needed to interact with the internet and technology in a healthier and more balanced way.”
The board discussed its own conditions and requirements, and reviewed letters with proposed conditions from town residents before coming to a final decision Oct. 9. The Planning Board will conduct an annual review of the center to ensure the facility continues to meet its requirements for the special permit.
“We’re asking you to be a good neighbor,” said Planning Board member Arthur Baker.
Fellow board member David Curtis noted that this center could bring Leyden national attention.
“We hope once you get to know us, you’ll be proud of us and we’ll be proud to be a part of this town,” Parsons said.
The Planning Board voted 4-to-1, with Robert Snow opposed, and approved the application for the retreat center with more than a dozen conditions. Based on zoning regulations, the board will require the center to operate with no more than 16 participants, while it had originally applied for up to 30. Participants may live at the center for 45 to 90 days, and employees will be on the grounds 24 hours a day.
Multiple residents inquired about the supervision of patients, and their ability to leave the property, and requested increasing the facility’s security. In light of their concerns, Greenfield, who is the founder of The Center for Internet and Technology Addiction and would be medical director at The Greenfield Center, said staff will plan to add cameras to the area’s perimeter, and implement an alert system for the doors.
The facility is limited in part by its septic system, which is designed for 20 full-time residents. It has the capacity to account for several staff members at the same time.
While the original application included purchasing the home of Angels’ Rest owner Jennifer Paris at 155 Mid County Road for off-site counseling and therapeutic services, Odyssey representatives requested the address be removed from its application during a final public hearing Oct. 3. The retreat center will now search for space to lease elsewhere, possibly in the city of Greenfield.
While internet and gaming addiction has been officially recognized by the World Health Organization, it is still only provisionally approved by the American Psychiatric Association. Therefore, the Boston Public Health Commission requires the facility to operate as a retreat center, meaning any medical treatment must be conducted off grounds, which is why two separate sites are necessary.
Following the approval, Greenfield said there is a lot of work to do to bring the center up to code and meet the board’s conditions, but he hopes to have the retreat center open sometime after the new year, launching with just five participants.
The retreat center had been contested and questioned by Leyden residents throughout the entire application process. Now that the application has been approved and filed, as of Wednesday, there is a 20-day period for an appeal to be filed with the town clerk.
On May 25, the World Health Organization officially voted to adopt the latest edition of its International Classification of Diseases to include an entry on “gaming disorder” as a behavioral addiction. Gaming disorder is defined as “a pattern of gaming behavior (‘digital-gaming’ or ‘video-gaming’) characterized by impaired control over gaming, increasing priority given to gaming over other activities … and continuation or escalation of gaming despite the occurrence of negative consequences.”
According to Greenfield, internet and video game use tends to spur increases in dopamine activity in the brain, triggering feelings of pleasure, reward and compulsion. Additionally, people tend to suffer from time distortion and lose time while looking at screens. This combination of time distortion and increased dopamine activity prove to be a dangerous combination, he said.
Academic difficulty is the main reason young adults and their parents call Greenfield for advice and treatment, he said. They are struggling with behavioral and process addiction, which differs from substance addiction.
While he has worked with thousands of patients struggling with internet and gaming addiction, Greenfield said he has never seen a patient act violently in response to this type of program. In past public hearings, he noted that the most likely medication a client would take is for attention deficit disorder (ADD) or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Greenfield addressed how applicants will be selected to participate in the program, assuring residents that people with serious mental health issues or histories of substance abuse, violent behavior or criminal activity will not be allowed.
Interested parties will submit an inquiry form. A pre-enrollment survey will gather further details around their social, academic, work, legal and health history, as well their internet or video game use, he explained. These surveys will be reviewed by Greenfield and an executive director for the facility. A final stage of review will make financial arrangements.
Zack DeLuca can be reached at zdeluca@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 264.