A RECOVERING gaming addict lost his distinctive Welsh lilt – because he spent up to 21 hours a day chatting with foreign players on his console.

Jamie Callis, from Barry, Wales, spent most of his waking moments gaming with people from America and Canada, which he says has caused him to lose his accent.

The 21-year-old said he would sleep for an hour only to wake up and go straight back to gaming.

He told ITV: “I’d spend up until four in the morning speaking to Americans and Canadians online and there is a possibility that it has affected my accent.”

The University of South Wales student said he grew up with games like Halo, Call of Duty and Runescape, but began to slip into his own virtual reality.

Mr Callis said that he spiralled into depression after trying to go cold turkey from gaming.

He said: “It was difficult, I had no friends, I wasn’t close with my family.

“It was kind of isolation of me dealing with my issues with this counsellor in college. I couldn’t speak to my family.”

After losing his accent because of the time he spent gaming, he began to seek counselling.

He urged others who use games “like escapism to basically ignore the real world” to do the same.

The student added: “When you're doing that you don't really associate it as being a problem - you see it as a tool that's helping.

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In reality it's something that's having a really negative effect on their lives so they should be going to a GP or psychologist.”

Gaming addiction was classified as a mental health disorder by the World Heath Organisation (WHO).

In June, doctors revealed plans for the first NHS-funded clinic for internet bosses but NHS foundation bosses in Central and North West London did not say the number of patients who were signed up.