'Fortnite' Has Been Blamed For Dozens Of Divorces This Year

We're probably all familiar with the term 'X-Box widow' but now a divorce specialist has said that playing online games is becoming as bad for relationships as drug or gambling addictions.

The statistics from divorce-online.co.uk, show a whopping 200 of its divorce petitions since January this year have cited Fortnite or other online games as a reason for divorce.

Epic Games

A spokesperson for the company said: "Addiction to drugs, alcohol and gambling have often been cited as reasons for relationship breakdowns but the dawn of the digital revolution has introduced new addictions.

"These now include online pornography, online gaming and social media, so it is no surprise to us that more and more people are having relationship problems because of our digital addictions.

"These numbers equate to roughly five percent of the 4,665 petitions we have handled since the beginning of the year and as one of the largest filers of divorce petitions in the UK, is a pretty good indicator."

via GIPHY

Gaming addiction can be serious and is now officially recognised as mental disorder problem by World Health Organisation, which put 'gaming disorder' on its International Classification of Dieseases (ICD).

In recent months we've heard various stories of children being so sucked into online gaming they've plunged their families into debt, headbutted their parents out of frustration when being asked to stop playing and one girl who even ended up in therapy due to her gaming addiction.

One mum told the Sunday People how her little girl played the game non-stop, secretly playing the game for up to ten hours a day, often while her parents were asleep and completely unaware.

The mum said: "We had no idea, when we let her play the game, of the ­addictive nature or the impact it could have on her mental health.

"She is in ­therapy for the addiction after she ­became withdrawn, ­agitated and disturbed from playing up to ten hours a day - sometimes playing until dawn, wetting herself so she didn't have to leave the screen.

"This is a serious issue which is destroying our little girl's life and someone needs to step in to ban it before it becomes an epidemic."

As a result, many parents - and probably a few wives and husbands - have called for the game to be banned.

Topics: Relationships

Claire Reid

Claire is a journalist at LADbible who, after dossing around for a few years, went to Liverpool John Moores University. She graduated with a degree in Journalism and a whole load of debt. When not writing words in exchange for money she is usually at home watching serial killer documentaries surrounded by cats. You can contact Claire at [email protected]

@ClaireReid19