Gaming addiction cases up 30% post-COVID, say Singapore counsellors

SINGAPORE: The issue of gaming addiction, especially among youths, was highlighted in a CNA video on Tuesday (June 10). The number of cases of gaming addiction has increased by around 30 per cent, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic began.

The video cited counsellors and therapists as saying that more than 80 per cent of the cases involve young people, particularly students. Parents who have been concerned about their children’s behaviour have lodged 30 per cent more complaints than before.

Those who have become addicted to gaming waste not only hours of their time each day but could also spend hundreds of dollars on the habit, which can also come at the expense of hygiene, sleep, socialising, and even gamers’ physical and mental health.

Counsellors who spoke to CNA pointed out that there could be deeper issues underlying the addiction, such as depression, anxiety, or ADHD. Addressing these root issues, said Tom Maniatis, the Senior Psychotherapist for Addictions at Promises Healthcare, is key.

In Parliament in February 2024, MP Shawn Huang asked the Minister for Communications and Information if there was current data on how prevalent gaming addiction is among youths in Singapore.

While the MCI has no data on gaming addiction, which is also known as gaming disorder or Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD), the ministry advised parents who suspect that their child may have the disorder to seek help from family doctors and public healthcare institutions such as the National Addiction Management Service (NAMS) or other programmes so that their child can be assessed and if necessary, interventions may be determined.

Is there an upside? The view from a gamer girl

Giving a contrasting view, one commenter on the CNA report wrote that the issue is actually “no problem if the addiction can win championships in e-sports.”

In 2024, The Smart Local republished a piece from a gamer girl. who endeavoured to debunk the misconception that gamers in Singapore are “doomed for failure.”

“Video games give gamers a bigger push in life than non-gamers give us credit for,” wrote Jessica Fang.

While acknowledging that there are “occasional” horror stories of gamers who’ve needed hospitalisation when they deprioritised eating and sleeping, Ms Fang, who in her heyday as a gamer would play from 9 a.m. to 3 a.m. the following day, said that most of the gamers she knows are quite normal human beings with a job, family and social life.

“I’m living proof that this isn’t true. I may use up my free time to play games, but I still have a secure job. I am, after all, writing this article right now. Even when I used to play a lot of video games throughout university, and managed to cop a 3.7 GPA while I was at it,” she wrote.

For her, and perhaps many others, gaming has more pros than cons, including helping her through times when she was depressed, giving her a sense of accomplishment, and sparking her interest in fungi and mythology.

“It’s easy to paint people with a gaming habit in a negative light. And his is amplified with all the flak we get about how it promotes isolation, violence, and bad self-care. But those who don’t play video games may not be aware of the overall positive mental relief and unadulterated entertainment it gives gamers at the end of the day,” she wrote. /TISG

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