Richard Hogan: Are you worried about your child's gaming habits?
In 2018 the WHO classified gaming as a new mental health condition. This classification was based on the American Psychiatric Association’s finding that gaming prompts neurological responses in the brain which promote reward and pleasure. The APA was essentially saying that gaming, in the extreme, is addictive.
That’s not to say every child who games will be addicted but it was a warning not to leave your child unsupervised with these games. Anyone working with teenagers over the last number of years would have noticed the impact gaming was having on family dynamics. I have met so many families struggling to understand how to parent this new feature of modern family life.
