One of Australia’s leading experts on online gaming addictions, Dr Vasileios Stavropoulos, predicts a rise in the phenomenon as games become more advanceed and children more engaged in the virtual world.
A senior lecturer in psychology at Victoria University, Dr Vasileios Stavropoulos says about 4 per cent of children and young adults are at risk of addiction to online gaming.
One of the most common signs of addiction is disengagement with education, Dr Vasileios Stavropoulos said in an interview with The Sydney Morning Herald.
“They will develop a disorder, they will withdraw, they will put on weight, they will be sleepless at night because they are committed to the gaming groups who play overseas.
“They socialise with the game and they withdraw from real life and through that, progressively accumulate problems,” he added.
Stavropoulos expressed concerns for Victoria’s virtual school which help children with online gaming addiction saying it was “wrong” as “the biggest issue with gaming disorder is difficulty in relationships”.
“If you keep them at home they lose the possibility of developing a sense of belonging in real life,” he said.
