During a pandemic, excessive addiction to video games can lead to the development of psychological stress. Vladimir Poznyak, a specialist at the World Health Organization (WHO) in the field of psychoactive substance use and addictive behavior, warned about this in an interview with RIA Novosti.
According to him, during the period of forced self-isolation, many people are susceptible to unhealthy behaviors, such as abuse of games. Poznyak stressed the importance of maintaining a balance between online and offline activities.
“WHO recognizes that millions of people enjoy playing video games as a leisure activity and that it is a healthy hobby for most users. However, excessive passion for video games can lead to functional impairments and psychological stress for a significant number of players,”the expert explained.
The specialist recalled that gambling disorder was included in the 11th edition of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11). It comes into force on January 1, 2022.
Earlier, scientist Robert Yolken of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine concluded that the coronavirus pandemic caused an epidemic of mental illness. According to him, people with mental disorders were more vulnerable to infection.
