A SURVEY ON INTERNET GAMING DISORDER AND ITS EVALUATION AMONG STUDENTS OF GUNTUR DISTRICT

Abstract

Psychology is a science which studies about the human minds, their functions and behavioural effects.
It was altered due to several reasons. Major age group that were indulged into psychological disorders are
teenagers. As they use various gadgets, it alters their psychology. One of the highly effective things is gaming
on internet. As most of the students have been affected by gaming disorder all over the world, the American
Psychiatric Association (APA) thought there is a need to include it in Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of
Mental Disorders (DSM). So, a worldwide study was invited by APA on internet gaming disorder. In this view,
a survey has been conducted on students of various colleges of Guntur district regarding their internet gaming
pattern. A questionnaire was prepared which includes their personal history and evaluation parameters. A total
of 780 students have been participated in the study which include both males and females. Majority of the
students were found to play games on mobile phone. An average of 6-20 hours of gaming per week was noted.
Based on the questionnaire, the nine DSM-5 criteria were evaluated and a total of 167 students were found to be
among the disordered group. Loss of control followed by failure to withdrawal from internet gaming were the
main reasons for this disorder. From this study, it was concluded that internet gaming is a serious psychological
disorder among students and they should be counselled. Further, we suggest APA to include internet gaming
disorder in DSM-V