Netributor.com

Login
Email or Username

Password

Remember Me
Name:*

Email or Username:*

Password:*

Confirm Password:*

Email:*

Confirm email Address:*

Fields marked with an asterisk (*) are required.

Skip to content

08 Jul

Video Gaming Added to WHO’s List of Addictions

In Our Blog

Written by Stephanie Faris

If you can’t seem to put that controller down, you aren’t alone. In fact, 72 percent of American households play video games, according to a study published in the journal Pediatrics. Of those households, an estimated four percent of gamers were considered extreme users, defined by those who play 50 hours per week on average.

Next year, the addiction may become official. The World Health Organization finally added video game addiction to its list. Their description of gaming disorder is very similar to that of gambling disorder in that it interferes with one’s ability to live a productive life, takes precedence over other activities, and can be developed fairly quickly – in one year or sooner.

In addition to video game addiction, there’s a more extreme disorder called hazardous gaming. At this level, the activity begins to affect the mental health of the person suffering from it. This disorder can also affect the person’s physical health, especially if it leads to forgetting to eat, losing sleep, and a spending too much time sitting.

However, the listing isn’t final yet. It still must go through approval by the WHO during the World Health Assembly in 2019. The Entertainment Software Association has protested the inclusion, and a group of mental health researchers and social scientists are planning to sign off on an article in a health journal saying that video game addiction shouldn’t be included.

Be the first to comment!

font size decrease font size increase font size
Print
Email

Rate this item

1
2
3
4
5

(0 votes)

Read 3344 times Last modified on Monday, 25 June 2018 03:59

Tagged under

Stephanie Faris

Stephanie is a freelance writer and novelist whose work has appeared on NYPost.com, PSMag.com, the Intuit Small Business Blog, and many others. She is the Simon & Schuster author of 8 children's books, including the Piper Morgan chapter book series, 25 Roses, and 30 Days of No Gossip.