New addicts hooked on their 'likes'

THE number of social media users seeking addiction help for their online habit has soared and singer Lily Allen has admitted she is among them.

- By Matthew Davis

Experts report seeing more and more patients who spend hours daily glued to screens.

Star Lily, 40, who says she spends up to five hours daily on Twitter, has compared ditching social media to "withdrawing from drugs".

UKAT London Clinic said it has treated patients who have lost their jobs and ruined their relationships because of their fixation on likes and shares.

A GP has also revealed cases of young people so dependent on their phones that they have flunked their education.

UKAT says the number of its website visitors who search for "social media addiction" is up 19% in the past six months when there were also five cases of potential patients typing "I'm addicted to social media".