NORFOLK, Va. — Many people have turned to video games to pass the time while social distancing at home.
Market data analysis company NPD Group reported a $1.6 billion surge in video game sales, from hardware to software to accessories, in March.
We’re spending much more time at home, and that means video games, and the dopamine sensors they trigger, are within reach 24/7. The immediate gratification, some doctors say, is hard to resist, just like drug addiction.
It’s a situation that is taken more seriously now, even before the pandemic started.
In fact, in 2018 the World Health Organization classified Gaming Disorder as a legitimate medical condition characterized by "impaired control over gaming, increasing priority given to gaming over other activities…and continuation or escalation of gaming despite the occurrence of negative consequences.”
Even if these seem familiar to you a diagnosis is rare and usually involves extreme situations.
However, it can never hurt to ask your doctor about gaming addiction; according to some researchers, it often leads to poor performance in school and work, even personal hygiene.