As the video game Fortnite is taking over the world, there’s a rising panic that some gamers are getting full-on addicted, with headlines like “Parenting the Fortnite Addict” and “I almost lost my sons to Fortnite” popping up all over the place. Even the World Health Organization is worried about video games — just recently, it officially recognized “Gaming Disorder” as a mental health condition. But it’s not that simple. The American Psychiatric Association isn’t convinced, and says there’s not enough research showing that video game addiction is its own disorder. So what’s going on? Is video game addiction REALLY a thing?
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What is addiction?
There is no universal definition of addiction that everyone agrees on, but in general, addiction is when someone uses a substance or engages in a behavior repeatedly and compulsively, and continues to do so even if other areas of their life suffer.
What does the research say about video game addiction?
Whether you can be truly “addicted” to video games in the same way that you can be addicted to heroin or alcohol is up for debate — the research is kind of all over the place. But, when researchers look at the brains of some people who have problems with gaming, the reward pathways activate in the same way as people addicted to drugs.