Is my child addicted to gaming, or is something else going on?

The short answer

Do not diagnose gaming addiction from long hours, enthusiasm or one furious switch-off. The ICD-11 diagnosis is gaming disorder. It requires a persistent pattern of impaired control over gaming, gaming taking increasing priority over other interests and daily activities, and continued or escalating gaming despite negative consequences. The pattern must cause significant difficulty in important areas of life and would normally have been evident for at least 12 months. Start by separating the activity, the ending and the wider functioning. Find out what the game provides, whether the child can stop at an agreed point, what happens to sleep, education, health, relationships and chosen activities, and whether attempts to change have restored control. Check pain, mood, anxiety, bullying, isolation, school difficulty and inaccessible offline demands rather than assuming gaming caused every problem. Keep immediate boundaries around safety, sleep and spending while gathering a two-week pattern. Seek assessment when control and functioning remain substantially impaired. In England, the NHS National Centre for Gaming Disorders accepts referrals for people aged 13 and over; routes elsewhere vary.

• Long hours, strong interest or distress at one interruption do not establish gaming disorder.
• Separate the game itself, the stopping transition and the child's functioning across life.
• Look for persistent loss of control, increasing priority, continued gaming despite harm and significant impairment.
• Investigate what gaming provides and what offline difficulty may be driving or hidden by it.
• Keep proportionate boundaries while seeking assessment when control and functioning remain seriously affected.