Game addiction quiz reveals if your Fortnite obsession is ‘gaming disorder’
IF you're worried that you or someone else might be a gaming 'addict', there's now an online test to find out if you're right.
An international team of psychologists has written an online quiz, which takes about 20 minutes to complete, that tests you against the the criteria set by the World Health Organisation.
How can I tell if I'm addicted?
THE WHO revealed nine criteria for gaming disorder - if five or more apply to you, you may be officially an addict.
- preoccupation with games
- withdrawal symptoms when gaming is taken away
- tolerance, resulting in the need to spend increasing amounts of time engaged in games
- unsuccessful attempts to control participation in games
- loss of interest in previous hobbies and entertainment as a result of, and with the exception of, games
- continued excessive use of games despite knowledge of psychosocial problems
- deceiving family members, therapists, or others regarding the amount of gaming
- use of games to escape or relieve negative moods
- jeopardizing or losing a significant relationship, job, or education or career opportunity because of participation in games.
The WHO description of gaming disorder does make it clear that it's the potential negative impacts that define game addiction, and recognise that "spending copious amounts of time gaming" on its own isn't enough to define addiction.
The test doesn't provide a formal diagnosis, but it will flag if you are "meet the WHO criteria for gaming disorder" so that you can seek professional help, according to lead researcher Dr Bruno Schivinski.
“We want to understand the point at which gaming becomes a health problem, and which factors contribute to the development of gaming disorders," Schivinski says.
"We hope there will be thousands of participants in the next phase of the study.”
Addiction rates in the UK might be as high as 14.6 per cent, according to the researchers, who hope to use the test to get a clearer perspective on how big the problem actually is.
Compared to Chinese gamers, Brits "exhibited significantly higher levels of depression, loneliness and severity [of gaming disorder symptoms]" – but gaming disorder itself was equally prevalent for both groups.
The study also found that women, who made up about half of the test sample, were just as likely as men to suffer from gaming disorder.
Being lonely and depressed were both strongly associated with problem gaming.
On average, the gamers who answered the survey played games for 12 hours a week, with half of that coming at weekends.
The UK games industry has previously hit out at the WHO and the idea of gaming disorder, claiming there was "no evidence" linking playing games to addiction.
"Addictive and immersive technologies" are the subject of an ongoing parliamentary investigation.
Reports of "gaming disorder" have been coming from all quarters, with one professional footballer revealing to The Sun how he feared it might ruin his career.
Children as young as 11 are reportedly being taken into care as a result of the disorder, while other parents have reported the troubling effects of compulsive gaming on their own children.
Adults have reported problems too, with one revealing he wrecked his life after blowing £15,000 of wedding savings on video games.
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