Excessive gaming, like any other activity, has its impact. Recently, The World Health Organization (WHO) has recorded 'Gaming Disorder' as a Mental Illness, positioning it as comparable to alcohol and drug abuse, in the revised International Classification of Diseases (ICD), says Dr Parul Tank, Consultant Psychiatrist, Fortis Hospital, Mulund. Here, Dr Tank tells you about all you need to know about the impact of gaming addiction on your child s health.
Failure to perform in academics: It has been examined that gaming increases a child s attention span, but it is selective attention , so education loses its the number 1 priority position to gaming.
Adverse impact on health: Teens health can be adversely affected by excessive gaming as playing virtual games becomes a priority rather than physical exercise. The risk of childhood obesity also increases. Children sometimes also skip meals and sleep to play these games; this is damaging. In the long run, the glare from the TV screens could affect the child s eyesight.
Addiction to gaming: Pathological gamers or addicted gamers are more susceptible to developing Anxiety, Insomnia, Social Isolation, and Depression. These factors can influence each other. Pathological Gaming can also result in Social Phobia, making the child more inclined and attracted to gaming.
Aggression in teens: Playing violent video games have a negative impact on teens. This changes the behaviour and attitude of players and makes them susceptible to becoming violent and increasingly anti-social.
Solving this problem
The first step would be to prevent your child from developing this illness if it hasn t developed into an addition yet. Limit the TV time to not more than 1hr to 1.5hrs a day; this must be enforced strictly. Pathological gaming can only be reversed by methods used for other pathological disorders like alcoholism, etc. This would involve abstaining from playing games full time, counselling sessions and so on, says Dr Tank.
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