Homoeopathic treatment of a child with internet gaming disorder and atopic dermatitis: A case report

Abstract

Introduction: Internet gaming disorder (IGD) is an emerging disorder, recently added to DSM-5, which has a capacity to reach pandemic proportions in the near future. The Indian mobile gaming market has grown significantly over the past few years with many users spending a significant amount of time on mobile games. A patient initially presenting with atopic dermatitis (AD) was subsequently diagnosed with IGD based on the analysis of his mental symptoms and was managed holistically with homoeopathy. Case Summary: A 3-year-old boy primarily presented with AD. During the interrogation of his mental state, he was found to have symptoms fulfilling the criteria of IGD as per DSM- 5. He was successfully treated with individualised homoeopathic medicine Mercurius solubilis over a period of 3½ months. The subjective symptoms improved, the lesions on the skin disappeared, itching subsided and hyper-pigmentation was resolved. Furthermore, there was gradual improvement in his behavioural symptoms such as anger, destructive nature and the habit of playing internet mobile games for long durations. The Modified Naranjo Criteria score after treatment was 8, which suggested a probable association between the homoeopathic medicine Mercurius solubilis and the outcome in this case. This case shows that the individualised homoeopathic medicine selected based on the totality can have favourable results in the treatment of IGD and remission of AD.