Parents shouldn't take away consoles from children who show signs of gaming addiction because it could lead to physical violence, a psychologist has warned. Professor Henrietta Bowden-Jones, head of the National Centre for Gaming Disorders, says it can become a police matter when kids lose access to gaming. The centre – which along with the World Health Organization recognises gaming addiction as a disorder – is seeing teens who are gaming up to 14 hours a day. Children are hooked on Call of Duty, Fortnite, FIFA, Angry Birds, War Zone and Minecraft, but no game is necessarily more addictive than any other. According to the centre's founder, it has dealt with 745 patients since it opened in October 2019, including 327 last year.

For many years, parents have raised concerns that their child might be addicted to video games. Now, a new ruling by the World Health Organization (WHO) gives credence to those beliefs, as the agency agreed this weekend to recognize gaming addiction as a mental health disorder. To be diagnosed with this disorder, people must be playing video games so much that it'takes precedence over other life interests.' A new decision from the WHO has recognized'gaming addiction' as a mental health disorder. The change has been reflected in the WHO's International Classification of Diseases (ICD), a list used by health providers as a guideline for diagnosing patients. Gaming disorder falls under the WHO's list of'mental, behavioral or neurodevelopmental disorders' and closely mirrors the language used by the WHO to describe'gambling disorder.'

Think your kid is addicted to video games? There could be something to it. The World Health Organization has made video game addiction an official mental health disorder. The Geneva, Switzerland-headquartered organization has added "Gaming disorder" to the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems or "ICD-11," which goes into effect in January 2022. The condition has been included in the global medical guide within a section detailing disorders due to substance use or addictive behaviors along with "Gambling disorder." The ICD-11 describes "Gaming disorder" as recurrent video game playing that leads to "impaired control over gaming" and an "increasing priority given to gaming to the extent that gaming takes precedence over other life interests and daily activities," despite "the occurrence of negative consequences."

How much gaming is too much gaming? This is the question Japan's pre-eminent addiction expert, Dr. Susumu Higuchi, is trying to answer as he treats people whose lives have been destroyed by video game addiction. Online gaming addiction has become the fastest-growing form of addiction in the 21st century, and it's the most vulnerable people -- children -- who mainly fall prey to its psychoactive effects, Higuchi says. As head of the Kurihama Medical and Addiction Center in Kanagawa Prefecture, which started the country's first program for internet addition in 2011, Higuchi is rolling up his sleeves to tackle a scourge that has eaten into the vitals of our society. "This isn't just about Japan, it's happening all over the world," Higuchi said in a recent interview.

Three months after a 9-year-old girl was reportedly sent to therapy for Fortnite addiction that caused her to wet herself, a parent has taken the drastic step of smashing her children's iPads to prevent them from playing the popular game. TV presenter Kirstie Allsopp has been widely criticised for her parenting methods, however her frustration once again draws attention to the issue of video game addiction among children. Since launching last year, Fortnite has amassed more than 125 million players around the world, together with a fair amount of controversy. Its developer, Epic Games, has been accused of using "predatory" gambling techniques to encourage children to spend money in the game, while cyber criminals have targeted players through a series of complex campaigns. The latest iPad smashing scandal may seem relatively minor in comparison but opens up the debate over whether playing such games is harmful to both children and adults.

There's been a lot of concern lately, by parents especially, about video game addiction. The World Health Organization has added the behavioral condition "gaming disorder" to their International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems. In 2013, the American Psychological Association (APA) designated gaming disorder as "a condition for further study." But even that provoked pushback. Akin to an addiction to heroin or alcohol, the proposed diagnostic criteria roughly tracked those for substance abuse, such as withdrawal, tolerance, a desire to stop, and negative impact on life activities.

The international health community has decided that if you play video games like Fortnite or World of Warcraft a lot, you might suffer from a mental-health issue: Gaming Disorder. It's a behavioral condition that the World Health Organization has added to the proposed 11th revision of its International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, or ICD-11, the first update to the classification since 1992. If you play a lot of chess or Settlers of Catan on a card table in the den, don't worry, you're fine--according to WHO, gaming disorder is a digital affliction. If you play obsessively online with other people, to the detriment of other activities, that's one possible sign of trouble. But playing offline and alone--Candy Crush, say, or even Tetris--is also a potential red flag.

Kendal Parmar's son went from being a sporty and sociable boy who loved school, to a child who would stay in his room and rarely go outside. The change in his personality was down to a gaming disorder that crept up on him at the age of 12, when he started secondary school. Three years later, Joseph is still struggling with the problem. Parmar says the biggest sign that something was wrong was the amount of arguing that would occur when she asked him to stop playing video games. "Eventually his habits developed and he was gaming all the time. He became too terrified to go to school and he was terrified of people," she says.

There is no strong evidence to support fears that screen time is inherently bad for children, experts have warned, adding that the recognition of so-called gaming disorder by the World Health Organisation is premature. Time spent using devices ranging from computers to smartphones and televisions has been the subject of debate after the UK's culture secretary Matt Hancock called for parents to set boundaries for their children on the use of tech. "Unlimited and unsupervised access to smartphones can be a portal to some very serious risks. And the chief medical officer has highlighted growing concerns around the impact on children's mental health. This backs up every parent's instinct; that children must be protected," he said.

The World Health Organization says that compulsively playing video games now qualifies as a new mental health condition, in a move that some critics warn may risk stigmatizing too many young players. While it's hard for some investors to wrap their arms around the significance of gaming, the short answer is it is massive and expected to continue to exhibit huge growth for years to come. Can someone truly be addicted to video games? The World Health Organization thinks so – but a major professional organization for psychiatrists strongly disagrees. The World Health Organization on Monday classified "gaming disorder" as a diagnosable condition, giving mental health professionals a basis for setting up treatment and identifying risks for the addictive behavior.