Main

Sections

Features

News 12 Originals

Choose Your Region

Be the first to know

Topics you care about, straight to your inbox

Your email address

Main

Sections

Features

News 12 Originals

Default

Be the first to know

Topics you care about, straight to your inbox

Your email address

12 on Health: Video 'gaming disorder'

<p>Playing video games too much will now be recognized as a disorder by the World Health Organization.&nbsp;</p>

News 12 Staff

•

Dec 29, 2017, 11:40 AM

•

Updated 2,316 days ago

Share:

Playing video games too much will now be recognized as a disorder by the World Health Organization.
"There is a lot of debate as to what a gaming disorder is. For myself, as a child psychiatrist, it has a lot to do with what would be abnormal for gamers in what would impair your functioning," Brooklyn Dr. Owen Muirm says.
WHO says it's adding excessive video game disorder to its list of international classification of diseases in 2018.
Muir says the move gives medical professionals more resources to research and treat the addiction. 
"It's not what your 80-year-old mother thinks is too much video games. It's what is actually kind of out of the norm and causes impairment in work and school life."
Muir says treatments for gaming disorder will vary.
He says games, unlike some addictions, are designed to keep you engaged.
Games trigger your brain's reward system and make you want to come back for more.
"If you're playing video games so much that you're not leaving your house, you're not eating your food, you're not going to school, you're not going to work; those are problems in your life," he says.
Muir says the first step is to get an evaluation from a doctor who will be able to tell you if playing too many games is an actual problem
or the root of other issues.
He suggests seeing a psychologist or a physiatrist for help if you believe you may be spending too much time playing video games.
More from News 12
2:00
NYPD: 17-year-old girl fatally stabbed in Soundview; 3 people in custody

NYPD: 17-year-old girl fatally stabbed in Soundview; 3 people in custody

1:48
Temperatures cool off heading into the weekend for NYC

Temperatures cool off heading into the weekend for NYC

0:21
Man sentenced to 12 years for attempted shooting, conspiracy to distribute drugs

Man sentenced to 12 years for attempted shooting, conspiracy to distribute drugs

1:45
Bronx man achieves dream job through CUNY apprenticeship program

Bronx man achieves dream job through CUNY apprenticeship program

0:33
Police: 2 suspects wanted for stealing phone from elderly man

Police: 2 suspects wanted for stealing phone from elderly man

0:43
2 City Council committees hold joint hearing on sexual harassment policies

2 City Council committees hold joint hearing on sexual harassment policies

1:38
St. Simon Stock School in Fordham won't reopen this fall due to low enrollment

St. Simon Stock School in Fordham won't reopen this fall due to low enrollment

1:32
Residents outraged after ban on door cameras at Mott Haven building

Residents outraged after ban on door cameras at Mott Haven building

1:43
Nonprofit wants to bring an independent cinema to the Bronx

Nonprofit wants to bring an independent cinema to the Bronx

Diocese of Brooklyn: 3 Catholic academies to close at the end of the school year

Diocese of Brooklyn: 3 Catholic academies to close at the end of the school year

1:54
Bronx charter schools have open seats for upcoming school year

Bronx charter schools have open seats for upcoming school year

2:04
Grants up for grabs for restaurants hurt by new stove standards

Grants up for grabs for restaurants hurt by new stove standards

1:51
Residents worried that sinkhole problems from years prior may return

Residents worried that sinkhole problems from years prior may return

1:19
Council members making a push for rat birth control

Council members making a push for rat birth control

1:43
NYPD: Multiple suspects wanted for string of gunpoint robberies across the Bronx, Manhattan

NYPD: Multiple suspects wanted for string of gunpoint robberies across the Bronx, Manhattan

1:30
82-unit affordable housing development coming to West Farms

82-unit affordable housing development coming to West Farms

1:51
RFK announces he has enough signatures to appear on NY ballot

RFK announces he has enough signatures to appear on NY ballot

1:41
Bronx man in custody following death of his 79-year-old mother in Concourse Village apartment

Bronx man in custody following death of his 79-year-old mother in Concourse Village apartment

1:47
City officials, drivers weigh in on potential disappearance of parking spots in Mount Hope

City officials, drivers weigh in on potential disappearance of parking spots in Mount Hope