The American Psychiatric Association (APA) has listed internet gaming disorder as a mental disorder in the recent Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). According to the DSM-5, it is noted that significant impairment or distress within an individual’s life (American Psychiatric Association, 2013).
The condition has been limited to gaming and does not incorporate challenges with general use of the online platforms or rather internet. Some of the major symptoms that have been identified for internet gaming disorder are; tolerance or rather the need to game more to satisfy the urge, preoccupation with gaming, engaging in gaming in order to relieve distressful conditions such as guilt and hopelessness, losing interest in previously interesting activities, continuing gaming regardless of the challenges, experiencing withdrawal symptoms when gaming is inaccessible and lying when asked about the amount of time spent while gaming (Petry et al. 2015). For an individual to be diagnosed as an internet gaming disorder victim, a person has to have experienced five or more of the stated symptoms in a year. The condition can be acquired while gaming on the internet or on other electronic devices (Petry et al. 2015).
Przybylski, Weinstein & Murayama (2017) study conducted a research to ascertain the clinical relevance of Internet Gaming Disorder which is presently a new phenomenon. The item response theory and humanistic needs theory were used in the study to examine the disease. Four research questions have been explored in the study. these questions are what makes up the acute prevalence rate of IGD and its diagnosis as denoted under DSM-5, How the prevalent of clinically relevant IGD compare with known rates from other similar conditions such as gambling addiction, the extent at which the assumptions behind measuring tools for evaluating the conditions qualify psychometrically and the degree at which IGD differ in relation to daily behaviors and clinical outcomes equated with individuals who do not meet the criteria.
An open-science methodology was employed incorporating four studies having 18, 932 participants. The four studies were all cohorts involving young adults between the ages 18-24 years from different countries. The sample was recruited via the Google surveys. Findings from the study revealed that among the participants more than 2 among 3 participants did not record any symptoms of the disorder. It was noted that a very small percentage ranging from 0.3% and 1.0% qualified as victims of the condition. It was also identified that gambling is more addictive compared to IGD. Therefore, it can be ascertained that there is sufficient evidence that links IGD to game engagement. However, there is still insufficient evident that links the condition to social, physical and mental health outcomes.
Summing up, socio-cultural factors play a significant role in influencing the prevalence of the disorder. It is important for the society to receive training on how to manage time while engaging in internet related activities especially those activities that are associated with gaming. Parents should also control their children not to engage into too much internet gaming since the most vulnerable population are the young people.
References
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th ed. Washington, DC, American Psychiatric Publishing. American Psychological Association.
Petry, N. M., Rehbein, F., Gentile, D. A., Lemmens, J. S., Rumpf, H. J., Mößle, T., … & Auriacombe, M. (2014). An international consensus for assessing internet gaming disorder using the new DSM‐5 approach. Addiction, 109(9), 1399-1406.
Petry, N. M., Rehbein, F., Ko, C. H., & O’Brien, C. P. (2015). Internet gaming disorder in the DSM-5. Current psychiatry reports, 17(9), 72.
Przybylski, A. K., Weinstein, N., & Murayama, K. (2017). Internet gaming disorder: Investigating the clinical relevance of a new phenomenon. American Journal of Psychiatry, 174(3), 230-236.
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