Gaming addiction on the rise in India
Estimates put forward by different studies and research papers have indicated that in India, anywhere between 1.3 per cent and 19.9 per cent of adolescents are suffering from gaming addiction.
Hyderabad: While pursuing a hobby is always encouraged, there comes a point when a leisure activity quickly becomes quite intrusive and even without realising, it turns into an addiction. This is what appears to be happening to scores of adolescents aged between 10 years and 19 years in India, who are ending up as gaming addicts.
Estimates put forward by different studies and research papers have indicated that in India, anywhere between 1.3 per cent and 19.9 per cent of adolescents are suffering from gaming addiction.
Depending on the location and availability of the internet, the prevalence of gaming addiction among young people could go as high as nearly 20 per cent, studies have indicated. The prevalence of addiction to gaming in India is quite high when compared globally, where the prevalence is between 1 per cent and 3 per cent.
“Video game addiction starts when gamers become preoccupied with video games, where they will think and fantasise about the game when they are not playing it, when they should be focusing on other things, such as schoolwork, office work, etc. They also start playing games for unaccountable number of hours and days, leading to lack of eating, resting and personal hygiene,” says Dr. Vishal Akula, general secretary, Indian Psychiatric Society, Telangana State branch.
Also called as Internet Gaming Disorder, a few years ago the World Health Organization (WHO) included gaming disorder in the 11th revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) in 2018.
The WHO defined it as “a pattern of gaming behaviour (‘digital-gaming’ or ‘video-gaming’) characterised 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.”
Dr. Vishal points out that youngsters suffering from gaming addiction continue to spend a lot of time in gaming despite suffering its consequences. “There is always an increased urge to be the best in the game. Games are designed in such a way that the more adolescents play, they develop their skills and progress in the game, which further fuels them to play it.”
Addicts continue gaming despite being aware of its negative effect on their lives. “They may drop out of school and disregard their hygiene and self-care just to play. In case of adults, they may lose their jobs or relationships but they continue to play even at the cost of their mental and physical health,” Dr. Vishal pointed out.
