Childhood video game addiction linked to mental illness: researchers

A study published the journal Pediatrics suggests that children who become addicted to video games are more likely to be depressed, anxious or have social phobias. It also found that teens who have trouble fitting in with other kids are more likely to become addicted in the first place. But the “real surprise” of the study, according to researchers, was that once addicted children who qualified as depressed stopped playing altogether, their depression lifted. The study included data on 3,034 children in Singapore over two years. The average time spent playing video games was 20.5 to 22.5 hours per week. About 9 per cent of the children surveyed qualified as "addicted."

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