Gaming Disorder

It’s officially announced that digital games are addictive and the people who are addicted to it need help. The World Health Organization its latest edition of International Classification of Diseases concluded that people whose jobs, education, family or social lives have been highly effective by video games meet the criteria for the new form of addiction called “Gaming Disorder”.
People have been on the confusion that people who love to play games, just like they love watching TV or working out then how can it be an addiction? Well this question is under the debate of psychiatrist. The American Psychiatrist Association has proposed a set of diagnostic criteria though they are not yet fully embraced. The following are the detailed diagnostic:
-Obsession with Internet games
-Withdrawal symptoms while not playing games.
-Tolerance for gaming for the purpose of spending more and more time playing to be satisfied.
-To the very least one attempt to stop or cut back on playing games.
-Least Interest in other activities in surroundings.
-Gaming to escape or relieve anxiety or guilt.
-Effect on personal relationships either loss or risk.
A recent study shows that gaming addiction is probably a worldwide phenomenon, albeit an uncommon one. The analysis of close to 19,000 internet users from the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom and Germany found that among those who played games, just less than 1 in 3 reported at least one symptom of internet gaming disorder. But very few - between 0.3% and 1.0% of the general population - might qualify for a diagnosis of internet gaming disorder, according to the 2017 report in the American Journal of Psychiatry.

By: Shruti Anand
Content: https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2018/06/24/who-says-video-game-addiction-is-a-disease-american-psychiatrists-are-not-so-sure/