Fortnite addiction is resulting in hundreds of divorces
Online gaming addiction is under the spotlight once again
By Isaiah Mayersen,
WTF?! Is Fortnite ruining your relationship? You’re not alone because
according to divorce-online.com, nearly 5% of the divorce petitions it’s
received this year have blamed addiction to Fortnite and other online
games as a reason for divorce.
That's over 200 of the 4,665 petitions for divorce they've received this
year. The company is one of the UK’s largest filers for divorce
petitions, and to them, it’s “no surprise that more and more people are
having relationship problems because of our digital addictions.” The
birth of the internet has caused many issues in marriages, they say, and
is joining the ranks of drugs, alcohol and gambling.
It’s no secret that Fortnite has become something of a global sensation,
with over 125 million registered players and several million players
online at any given time. But let’s look at what that 5% statistic
really means if we apply it to the American population.
A commonly quoted statistic is that somewhere in America a person files
for divorce every 13 seconds, meaning someone files for divorce blaming
Fortnite and other online games every 5 minutes. I’m not sure where the
13 seconds originates from, but using the American census data from
2016, I calculated that a divorce occurred every 38 seconds. That would
be a gaming-related divorce every 12.5 minutes today.
That would also imply that there will be over 40,000 divorces this year caused by gaming addiction. Yikes.
Gaming addiction is becoming a heavily debated topic, with the World
Health Organization classifying it as a mental health disorder, and
several treatment centers already opening. Concerned parents and several
politicians have claimed it promotes violence, while many gamers insist
it’s just a healthy hobby.
If it is ruining your relationship, though, it might not be a bad idea to get treatment.
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