Minecraft to Roblox, is video game addiction a real illness?

tech.hindustantimes.com:

Computer gaming was one of the lucky industries to grow during the pandemic. Global revenues are expected to pass $200 billion in the next two years.

But the industry’s financial success is drawing some concern. Last month, the World Health Organization formally recognized video game addiction as an illness, but questions remain about how prevalent the issue is, particular among adults. Parmy Olson hosted a Twitter Spaces on March 16 with Henrietta Bowden-Jones, a medical doctor and founder of the U.K.’s National Center for Gaming Disorders. They were joined by Lisa Jarvis, a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering healthcare and the pharmaceutical industry. Below is an edited transcript of their conversation.

Henrietta Bowden-Jones: My National Problem Gambling Clinic was going very well and in 2019 was replicated 14 times. I managed to add on this gaming clinic because of people’s concerns around “loot boxes.” People wanted to know whether young people who were attracted to loot boxes while gaming might eventually be more likely to suffer from gambling harm.

Henrietta: These gamers are still living at home. But what I see at this clinic is by no means representative of who is really suffering from this problem. I’m still perplexed by the fact that I’m not really seeing 20-year-olds, 30-year-olds. One has to ask the question, are they out there and don’t know we exist? That’s unlikely. So are the ones who are gaming compulsively not ready to come for help or is there a spontaneous remission that gets people to stop and start getting better?

Henrietta: I don’t think there is a clear answer yet. People ask me whether the decision to classify gaming addiction was a good idea or not. I was delighted that decision was made because