In what is only an interesting piece of info for people who aren’t parents of Fortnite addicted teens and tweens, video game addiction is now a real thing.
The World Health Organization has now added video game addiction (defined as “a pattern of persistent or recurrent gaming behavior” that “takes precedence over other life interests”) to the International Classification of Diseases database.
Video games are growing in popularity with no signs of slowing down. Fortnite made 3 billion dollars last year. And as the phenomenon grows, so does the addiction.
According to the WHO, for gaming disorder to be diagnosed, the behavior pattern has to be of appropriate severity to result in significant impairment in personal, family, social, educational, occupational or other important areas of functioning and would typically have to be evident for 12 months or longer.
What does that mean exactly? It means in order to be diagnosed with gaming disorder, you need to be pretty addicted to video games for at least 12 months.
https://www.instagram.com/p/ByC85O7n1J_/?utm_source=ig_embed
If you or a loved one is spending too much time on video games, it’s possible they should talk to someone.