I dont want to quit: Treating gaming addiction in Japan ( Al Jazeera

More and more young people are addicted to online video games. In a controversial decision last year the World Health Organization classified it as a disease. The WHO defines gaming disorder as impaired control over gaming, increasing priority given to gaming over other activities, and continuation or escalation of gaming despite negative consequences. Although it s spreading all over the world and only affects a small number of people who play video games, one of the first countries dealing with the disorder has been Japan. I wake up in the afternoon and then turn my computer on. Then I m gaming until around noon the next day and then go to sleep, says Shintaro Sakurai, who has been gaming since kindergarten. He plays every day, for between three and 20 hours a day, and seldom has time for much else. But he also does not believe he is addicted. Excessive gaming also has an impact on gamers friends and family. I wake up at around 89am. The first thing I do is open my computer, says schoolboy Tai.