Video game addiction (VGA) has been suggested by some in the medical community as a distinct behavioral addiction characterized by the excessive or compulsive use of computer games or video games that interferes with a person's everyday life. Video game addiction may present itself as compulsive gaming, social isolation, mood swings, diminished imagination, and hyper-focus on in-game achievements, to the exclusion of other events in life.
In May 2013, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) declined to include video game addiction in the 5th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, concluding that there was insufficient evidence to include it as an official mental disorder. However, proposed criteria for Internet Gaming Disorder were included in a section called Conditions for Further Study. The World Health Organization included gaming disorder within the 11th revision of its International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems as of June 2018.
While Internet gaming disorder is proposed as a disorder, it is still discussed how much this disorder is caused by the gaming activity itself, or whether it is to some extent an effect of other disorders. Contradictions in research examining video game addictiveness may reflect more general inconsistencies in video game research. For example, while some research has linked violent video games with increased aggressive behaviour other research has failed to find evidence for such links.
“When I was in college, I would start playing at 8am and would continue till 3am the next day. I had more friends online than I had in real life. My online gaming friends, who I had never met before, knew more about my problems than my roommate did. I realised I had a problem when my ex-girlfriend ended our long-term relationship,” a 25-year-old said.
