Gaming Addiction Classified as a Disorder
The number of electronic devices that can be used for gaming is on the rise. Most houses these days have multiple mobile phones, tablets, laptops, gaming consoles, and computers, which all can be used for gaming.
Children are more interested in spending time behind a screen than doing any other activity and will happily spend hours and hours on gaming without stopping, or taking a break, if given the chance.
According to Han, S. (2012) “The advance in mobile technologies and the proliferation of Smartphones have increased the opportunity to game and thus made video game addiction one of the fastest growing types of addiction. Video game addiction has profound influence on our children’s behavioral and psychological development”
In 2018, the World Health Organization classified gaming as a disorder , stating that : “ Gaming disorder is defined in the 11th Revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) as a pattern of gaming behaviour (“digital-gaming ”or “ video-gaming” ) characterized by impaired control over gaming, increasing priority given to gaming over other activities to the extent that gaming takes precedence over other interests and daily activities, and continuation or escalation of gaming despite the occurrence of negative consequences”.
However, people should be alert to the amount of time they spend on gaming, as well as to any changes in their physical or psychological health and social functioning that could be attributed to their pattern of gaming behavior, as not all gamers are classified as addicts.
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