Gaming disorder increases during pandemic
The Hindu
Dangers go beyond the monetary motivations of online gambling
Anand*, a jovial extroverted 15-year-old in Bengaluru, got a personal smartphone for the first time last year when schools were closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and online classes began. Within six months, he was on the phone for more than seven hours each day, not for classes but rather to binge on online games.
Worried about the sudden behaviour changes in their teenager — insomnia, withdrawal from social contacts, academic failure, and extreme anger and irritability — his parents took him to the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences’ aptly named SHUT clinic, which stands for the Service for Healthy Use of Technology. Their son was diagnosed with gaming addiction, a disorder that is quickly growing as the pandemic spurred an increased use of Internet devices.