Gaming addiction classified as disorder by WHO

Sly Saint

Sly Saint

Senior Member (Voting Rights)
"
Gaming addiction is to be listed as a mental health condition for the first time by the World Health Organisation.

Its 11th International Classification of Diseases (ICD) will include the condition "gaming disorder".

The draft document describes it as a pattern of persistent or recurrent gaming behaviour so severe that it takes "precedence over other life interests".

Some countries had already identified it as a major public health issue.

Many, including the UK, have private addiction clinics to "treat" the condition.

The last version of the ICD was completed in 1992, with the new guide due to be published in 2018."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-42541404

new 'calling' for Crawley(?)
 
Sly Saint said:
Gaming addiction is to be listed as a mental health condition for the first time by the World Health Organisation.
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Sorry, but I don't see anything at all controversial or inappropriate about this. I'm seen pathological gambling addiction close up, people who had lost everything, their lives destroyed, torn apart with grief because all they could think of was where to find the next stake. It affects huge numbers of people and exerts a hold as strong as alcohol or any addictive drug. Most people can gamble a bit without needing to keep doing it. A minority can't — to them it's a need exactly like a drug fix — and that's surely a mental health condition, possibly involving some genetic predisposition. Talking about it as though it's just a bit of a lack of self-discipline would be to fail to understand the severity of the condition. It destroys lives as surely as ME or non-operable cancer.

The WHO is right to recognise it.
 
FreeSarah said:
I don't see a problem in classifying addictions as mental health disorders.
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I think the question is whether or not playing X hours of video games per day is an addiction. I doubt it is in most cases, as gamers tend to get bored with one game and go onto another, or evolve new hobbies. Even intensive gaming seems to be more related to escapism when there's a lack of more interesting alternatives, typically in high school or college.

It might happen in a way which seems disruptive to normal life sometimes, but I suspect the underlying problem then is something else entirely. If gaming "addicts" couldn't play games, they'd likely replace games with a completely different "addiction" which serves as a similar outlet or method of avoidance. And if a specific addiction is that easy to give up, it's unlikely it was actually an addiction.

The only point I agree on is that excessive gaming may be a sign of a mental health problem. But it also might not be at all.
 
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Valentijn said:
If gaming "addicts" couldn't play games, they'd likely replace games with a completely different "addiction" which serves as a similar outlet or method of avoidance. And if a specific addiction is that easy to give up, it's unlikely it was actually an addiction.
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So is your theory that addictions don't exist at all? The same could be said for any addiction. Re: If heroin "addicts" couldn't find heroin, they'd likely replace heroin with a different "addiction". I guess if heroin didn't exist there would be no heroin addicts at all. Yes, but it does exist, and there are heroin addicts. And even if we remove the object of addiction ... guess what ... the addiction doesn't just disappear. So it's not that easy to give up as you might think. I'm giving myself as the bad example here: I have alcohol addiction, haven't drunk since 2009, but still feel the need to. And honestly, if my health allowed it, I'd probably still drink. I haven't found another addiction which can replace it. Probably my PC addiction (I'm 10-12 hours at the PC)? Yes, but as I said, I still feel the need to drink. So one addiction can't always "replace" another.
 
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When my oldest son was 8 he was only one of 2 children in his class of 24 who didn't have a playstation, X-box, gameboy or some other gaming console. In a moment of weakness I ordered the new playstation 3 from amazon, and as an afterthought added a book called "Playstation Nation" at checkout. They arrived on a Friday. I hid the playstation in my office, read the book over the weekend, and sent the playstation back to amazon on Monday.

The main thing I remember from the book is how so many boys game throughout their teenage years, then when they move away from home in their 20s, away from parental influence which limited their gaming, (or into their parents' cellar) they start gaming full-time with nothing to stop them, all you need is a low-paying job as a waiter or something to exist, forget about getting a further education or career, and spend every minute you can in front of a screen shooting or slaying something.

My oldest son, now 21, has since thanked me for being the meanest parent in the village, because he does sport, plays guitar and has a social life, whilst so many of his contemporaries are just gamers who talk about gaming and can't get a date.

One reason I was so strict about this is that when I was a teenager, when Space Invaders came along but before you could play on a personal computer, every Saturday would find me in an arcade behind a record shop putting all my money into one of those machines, to the detriment of sport (which I should have been doing but was skiving off from) and my social life. Week after week after week.

So I'm pretty sure gaming addiction is a thing, and when it starts affecting your work / social / personal life it's a problem.
 
svetoslav80 said:
And even if we remove the object of addiction ... guess what ... the addiction doesn't just disappear.
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Right. The addiction to heroin remains in the absence of heroin, because in the absence of heroin, there is still a biological need for it.

In the absence of World of Warcraft, someone will go play Everquest instead. No internet connection, and maybe they'll play cards with friends or solitaire, or even read a book. The point is more of a retreat from reality or thinking about reality, rather than a need for a specific experience.

A heroin addict is not going to just grumble a bit in the absence of heroin, then switch to smoking pot or drinking.

I don't disagree that excessive gaming is a problem, but I doubt it qualifies as an addiction.
 
Still can't understand what your method of distinguishing between real and fake addictions is. Which ones of these do you recognise as real addictions: food addiction, sex addiction, gambling addiction? "Biological need" , as a term, is a type of dependency need, which is different from addiction. No one has biological need for heroin. One can eat food out of biological need (dependency), or one can eat compulsively (addiction). Similarly, (excessive) gaming is not always an addiction of course, but sometimes is.
 
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I think a real addiction (as distinct from dependency or frank absence of either) would be when the pursuit of that activity is such that
it is harmful to the person and/or others in their lives. Similarly, when desire for the substance/activity supersedes the natural inclination for self-care ( i.e. food, sleep, hygiene, work) or care for the well-being of others, you are looking at addiction, I would say.
 
TiredSam said:
My oldest son, now 21, has since thanked me for being the meanest parent in the village, because he does sport, plays guitar and has a social life, whilst so many of his contemporaries are just gamers who talk about gaming and can't get a date.
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Your son is lucky. He was able to grow up and become an adult. I am glad you got rid of the PlayStation.

If you are familiar with the term Otaku, it represents a lifestyle that encourages antisocial characteristics which reinforces the behaviour to avoid responsibility. Whether is an obsession with anime, video games, manga, purchasing collectibles, and/or porn.... it’s a convenient way to escape the perceived social threats of rejection, teasing, and criticism.
 
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MErmaid said:
it’s a convenient way to escape the perceived social threats
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Since this is mentioned again: What is so wrong with escaping reality for some time? (I know, the problem is when this happens constantly...)

I assume nobody here has the perfect life, no problems, only best friends, best of health...Life is hard, especially if finances are difficult. One has to find the nice things and enjoy them; sometimes the nice things come as a gift.

Now, it seems gaming as a means to escape reality isn't accepted - but studying and working seem to be. When I studied maths it was clear to me many people chose this to escape reality. In maths, everything's well-defined, clear and ordered, no uncertainties...Some spent nearly all their lives with maths. You could also take other hobbies, like sports, or chess or..., especially if competition is involved. Or people who don't do anything else than working, nearly no holidays, no time with friends and family or with oneself.

I think it's questionable to define a certain behavior as 'sick', and another not - where the underlying processes are similar.

Another thing I think about - there is a reason why people want to escape life or certain situations. Often that's a good reason. To say this is 'sick' doesn't help with solving the underlying problem. If you take away the addiction without solving the problem, I'd say there's a new addiction waiting next door. Plus the addicted is likely to feel terrible. I don't think that's constructive.
 
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