A brief overview of internet gaming disorder and its treatment

In the latest (fifth) edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5; American Psychiatric Association, 2013), Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) was included in Section 3 (‘Emerging Measures and Models’) as a promising area that needed future research before being formally included in the DSM. This paper provides a brief overview of IGD and its treatment. There are now over 20 different screens for assessing problematic gaming although very few studies have used nationally representative samples. The prevalence rates in these studies have ranged from 1.2% to 8.5% depending upon country and screening instrument used. Although IGD is not yet an officially recognized disorder, there have been a number of treatment studies although many of these do not distinguish between Internet Use Disorder and IGD. In terms of psychological treatments for IGD, cognitive-behavioural therapy appears to be the most widely used. It is concluded that standardized and comprehensive methods of diagnosis are at present lacking, and that further research into IGD is needed from clinical, epidemiological, and neurobiological aspects of IGD.