![]() ![]() ![]() Since – according to Washington Post report – an estimated 2 billion people globally play video games regularly, that could mean tens of millions of affected people. WHO estimates that gaming disorder affects no more than 3 percent of gamers worldwide. Right now, many patients are teens or young adults – "mainly men, and mainly 15 to 25", Bowden-Jones says – though she insists they take a "very open-armed approach". It opened in late 2019, after WHO included gaming disorder in its international index, and is now the first NHS clinic of its kind. We're speaking in the Centre for Internet and Gaming Disorders., a new west London-based NHS clinic of which she's Director. "Gaming disorder is about gaming that can be very very compulsive, with a loss of control in relation to your life, your duties, your goals," Dr Henrietta Bowden-Jones OBE confirms to me. But you could easily be slamming away to your detriment on any other game. Epic multiplayer shoot-em-ups like Fornite land in the news because they're popular with young children (among other stories, a nine-year-old girl's rehab stint hit headlines in 2018). You can be addicted to any game, too – it isn't specific to genre or title. It's characterised by choosing to game over other activities and responsibilities in spite of negative consequences, rather than for casual fun. Much like problematic drinking or drug use, problem gaming is about a loss of control. ![]()
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