Jeremy is a 38-year old Accountant. He has been married 13 years and had two children (two boys aged 9 years and 7 years). Jeremy contacted you to ask if there was anybody he could connect with because of his “severe gaming addiction”. Jeremy informed you via email that over the previous 18 months, his online playing of Fortnight had gone from about 3 or 4 hours of playing every evening to playing up to 14 hours a day. He claimed that his relationship was breaking down, that he was spending little time with his children, and that he constantly called in sick to work so that he could spend the day playing online games.
When playing online he claimed that: “life’s worries go out of the window” (i.e., that he did not have any worries when playing as the game provided an escape from life’s pressures). He had tried to quit playing on several occasions but could not go more than a few days before he experienced “an irresistible urge” to play again —even when his wife threatened to leave him. He claimed that giving up online gaming was worse than giving up smoking and that he was “extremely moody, anxious, depressed and irritable” if he was unable to play online
Q1) Is Jeremy’s gaming putting him at risk so far? And How?
His gaming addiction is affecting his life. His wife has threatened to leave him because of his addiction to gaming.
Question 2) Does Jeremy meet the criteria to be diagnosed with an internet gaming disorder?
Q3) Create a brief treatment plan for Jeremy and how would you support him?
