With an estimated 3.3 billion gamers globally and an industry valued at nearly $300 billion, video games represent the fastest-growing form of entertainment—outpacing traditional sports, music, and movies combined. Although gaming can foster community and personal enrichment, it also carries the risk of internet gaming disorder (IGD), a behavioral addiction marked by impaired control over gaming, prioritization of gaming over other activities, and continued play despite negative consequences.
Internet Gaming Disorder: A Clinical Strategy Guide for Providers, Parents, and Players is the first and most comprehensive interdisciplinary resource on the diagnosis, treatment, and cultural context of IGD. Written by psychiatrists with expertise spanning child and adolescent, addiction, forensic, and geriatric psychiatry, this volume offers a holistic view of the benefits and problems associated with gaming.
Accessible yet clinically rigorous, this guide explores
• Medical and psychiatric comorbidities associated with IGD• The risk of online exploitation• Gaming's impact across diverse populations, including children and adolescents, older adults, and LGBTQ+ individuals• The intersection of gaming with social media and real-world violence• The latest evidence-based interventions, from pharmacological treatments to cognitive-behavioral therapy and family-based strategies
Further chapters delve into the ethical dimensions of gaming, the future of immersive technologies, and how video games are emerging as therapeutic tools. Each section integrates clinical insight with real-world examples, offering case studies, key clinical points, and practice questions to reinforce learning. Equally valuable for clinicians, families, and gamers, Internet Gaming Disorder provides practical strategies for setting healthy boundaries, recognizing warning signs, and engaging with video games in a balanced, rewarding way.
James Sherer, M.D., is Deputy Chief Medical Officer at Carrier Clinic in Belle Mead; Addiction Medical Director at Blake Recovery Center and Addiction Medical Director of Retreat and Recovery at Ramapo Valley, part of Hackensack Meridian Health in Mahwah; Network Medical Director for Addiction Medical Services at Hackensack Meridian Health Care Transformation Service; Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in Newark; and Chief Clinical Officer at Nostos in Mount Tabor, New Jersey.
Nathan Carroll, D.O., M.B.A., M.P.H., is National Medical Director of a pioneering technology-focused mental health company; the former Chief Psychiatric Resident at Jersey Shore University Medical Center, part of Hackensack Meridian Health in Neptune, New Jersey, and the immediate past Chair of the American Psychiatric Association Foundation Leadership Fellowship in Washington, D.C.
Petros Levounis, M.D., M.A., is Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Associate Dean for Professional Development at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School; Chief of Service at University Hospital; and Director of the Northern New Jersey Medications for Addiction Treatment Center of Excellence in Newark, New Jersey. He is also a former President of the American Psychiatric Association (2023–2024).
