87% Indians believe online gaming taking a toll on their mental & physical health: Survey

Around 87 per cent of Indians playing online games belive that their gaming has taken a toll on their mental and physical health, according to a latest survey. NortonLifeLock Inc, a cybersecurity company in the third edition of its India digital wellness report revealed that 76 per cent of respondents agreed that their addiction to action-based games has led to changed behaviour including an increase in depression and anxiety levels. The survey was carried out on 1,500 city-based Indian adults largely exploring the rise in online gaming via smartphones.

A large portion of the respondents were parents, out of which 45 per cent revealed that they find it difficult to control their children's smartphone usage and 70 per cent felt that their children were connecting with strangers online and were being subjected to cyberbullying, harassment and violence through the online gaming world. Out of these, 81 per cent have put a check mechanism on their child's usage of smartphones agreeing that it has not been very effective in controlling their addiction. 

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'Positive impacts as well'

However, respondents also agreed that online gaming seems to have had a degree of positive impact as well. In the survey, 81 per cent of respondents felt that multiplayer online games enhance teamwork skills while 70 per cent of respondents feel that playing online games can make people smarter as they improve brain coordination and reaction.

"People could be drawn to online gaming for entertainment but data shows that it is not all about fun and games. The virtual playing field comes with risks such as identity theft, cyberbullying, phishing and credit card theft to name a few," said Ritesh Chopra, Director of NortonLifeLock India.

"It is interesting to note that children follow the same patterns as their parents when it comes to online gaming. Therefore it becomes extremely important for parents as well as children to be educated about the threats that can compromise their safety and privacy in this complex digital world. 'Play well and stay safe' seems to be the new mantra in these challenging times," said the Director in a statement.

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(with inputs from ANI)