We all know someone who plays (way) too much video games. But is he addicted to video games? If we say it for fun, video game addiction, or video game disorder, is an illness officially recognized by the WHO (the World Health Organization) which included it in the 11th revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11). This addiction therefore now has a very precise definition:"The behavior must be of sufficient severity to cause significant impairment of personal, family, social, educational, occupational or other important areas of functioning, and in principle, manifest clearly over a period of at least 12 months. This addiction has been added to the ICD-11 because many health professionals in many countries have witnessed this disorder.
A teenager who plays the latest trending video game for 4 hours in a row therefore theoretically has no risk of developing this disease. Indeed, according to Shekhar Saxena, a WHO expert, video game disorder affects people who spend "20 hours a day for 1 year [in front of video games to the point of] putting gaming before their vital needs" , relates Konbini . The WHO insists that video game addiction can be noticed before it gets too bad. It is enough for each player to be attentive to the time spent in front of a video game and in particular if he refuses to see his friends, go out, eat, sleep for the benefit of this activity.
This addiction would only affect a tiny part of the world's population, so there is little chance that our 11-year-old nephew who plays Candy Crush will have it!
