How to know if you have gaming disorder

For decades, parents have been in despair over children’s incessant hours on the PC, lost to the world and wholly absorbed in ‘mindless’ gaming. They would be surprised to learn it happens to adults too. But how much gaming is too much and how can you tell when someone has an actual gaming disorder?

Until recently, gaming wasn’t considered a disorder at all. At least the formalised classification of diseases used by doctors didn’t consider it worth listing. But it seems the people who maintain the ICD (International Classification of Diseases) have rethought this one and now do include gaming addiction as a mental disorder.

A bit of gaming is healthy. It gives you a way to switch off from the world around, just as reading a book might, and it sharpens your brain, coordination, and even the ability to strategise. Gaming is so engaging that many businesses and educational initiatives use ‘gamification’ as a method of getting people to learn something faster. What is that point beyond which crossing over means you have gone from healthy gaming into addiction?

You’ll know it when you find that the person’s life is all disrupted. If one’s work, relationships, daily routine and leisure are messed up badly, it’s time to take action. Does the person still like to spend time with friends? Are school grades or work at the office suffering seriously? Is sleep and everyday grooming neglected? That’s a sign of the balance gone all wrong. The complicating factor is that it’s invariably because there is something else wrong, such as dissatisfaction with relationships in the first place, boredom at work, maladjustment or even depression.

It’s difficult to know which comes first. In fact, does the maladjustment lead to excessive gaming or does gaming lead to maladjustment? In reality, both feed into each other and addictions find it easy to take root when there are pre-existing problems.

Yelling at someone to stop playing games on the computer or phone isn’t going to solve the problem. Or feeling rotten about yourself because you’re unable to tear yourself away from Super Mario. If the problem is out of control, sit down and look at the underlying causes and sort those out — or get help resolving issues to move on to healthier off-time.

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