Now it's official: "Gaming Disorder" is a mental condition according to WHO

[captain_to_fire]

Source: World Health Organization via Forbes

 

WHO (beta draft):

Quote

Gaming Disorder

 

Gaming disorder is characterized by a pattern of persistent or recurrent gaming behaviour (‘digital gaming’ or ‘video-gaming’), which may be online (i.e., over the internet) or offline, manifested by:

 

1) impaired control over gaming (e.g., onset, frequency, intensity, duration, termination, context);

2) increasing priority given to gaming to the extent that gaming takes precedence over other life interests and daily activities; and

3) continuation or escalation of gaming despite the occurrence of negative consequences.

 

The behaviour pattern is of sufficient severity to result in significant impairment in personal, family, social, educational, occupational or other important areas of functioning. The pattern of gaming behaviour may be continuous or episodic and recurrent. The gaming behaviour and other features are normally evident over a period of at least 12 months in order for a diagnosis to be assigned, although the required duration may be shortened if all diagnostic requirements are met and symptoms are severe.

This is from the draft of WHO's "International Classification of Disease - Eleventh Revision" where the WHO are documenting diseases. 

Quote

Being in the ICD-11 will mean that it will officially become a health condition, a diagnosis that can be used by doctors, other health care workers, and insurance companies. Some may even call it a label.

 

Before you get too Madden about this, keep in mind that this is not saying that playing video games is a mental disorder. Plenty of well-adjusted individuals play video games. Depending on the game and when, how often, how long, why, and where you play it, video games can be a safe way of improving hand-eye coordination, enhancing problem solving abilities, relieving stress, connecting people, and living out fantasies as covered here by Daphne Bavelier, a Professor at the University of Geneva:

 

But just because someone likes gaming doesn't mean they're addicted to it or have a gaming disorder. The Forbes article continues:

Quote

Therefore, classifying an activity as a mental health condition is all about context. Using a plunger on a clogged toilet is a fairly normal activity. Using a toilet plunger on your boss's head, not so normal. Key phrases in the "gaming disorder" description above are "impaired control over gaming" and "takes precedence over other life interests and daily activities." Practically any activity, even those seemingly good and necessary, can become mental health issues when you no longer can control the activity and the activity starts interfering with your life. Let's go back to the toilet plunger. Using a toilet plunger to unclog a toilet and avoid a poo spill is a life helping activity. 

 

Researcher Douglas Gentile is one of the sources as to why "gaming disorder" is included in the new ICD-11. He states:

Quote

Pathological Video-Game Use Among Youth Ages 8 to 18

ABSTRACT

Researchers have studied whether some youth are “addicted” to video games, but previous studies have been based on regional convenience samples. Using a national sample, this study gathered information about video-gaming habits and parental involvement in gaming, to determine the percentage of youth who meet clinical-style criteria for pathological gaming. A Harris poll surveyed a randomly selected sample of 1,178 American youth ages 8 to 18. About 8% of video-game players in this sample exhibited pathological patterns of play. Several indicators documented convergent and divergent validity of the results: Pathological gamers spent twice as much time playing as nonpathological gamers and received poorer grades in school; pathological gaming also showed comorbidity with attention problems. Pathological status significantly predicted poorer school performance even after controlling for sex, age, and weekly amount of video-game play. These results confirm that pathological gaming can be measured reliably, that the construct demonstrates validity, and that it is not simply isomorphic with a high amount of play. (Emphasis is mine)

To determine if you're one of the people potentially suffering from pathological gaming disorder, the Forbes article provided an acronym to ask yourself and it's called "CAGE" which is used by therapists to diagnose alcohol addiction but instead replace "drinking" with "gaming".

1. Have you ever felt you should Cut down on your gaming?
2. Have people Annoyed you by criticizing your gaming?
3. Have you ever felt bad or Guilty about your gaming?
4. Are video games usually the first thing you think about in the morning when you wake up (Eye opener)?

Even LMG's own Luke Lafreniere appeared in a video sharing his experience about gaming addiction. I'm sure there's more to the story more than meets the eye especially for a quarter of a minute video of playing video games and reading books about them although so many people do that.

 

[Luke video removed]

 

I used to play WoW and even bought ebooks (Dawn of the Aspects and War of the Ancients on the Kindle app on my iPad) about it and yet I don't I have any gaming disorders. I'm not trying to dismiss Luke's experience, it's just that there's more to this and unfortunately the website linked on the video is no longer working.

 

But it only shows that drugs aren't the only ones that are addicting. While the DSM-V (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV) still defines "addiction" as a compulsive use of dangerous substances, it looks like in the new DSM update, gaming disorder will be included as per WHO recommendation. And I hope no one dismisses someone from being addicted to playing video games as just being "lazy" or "crazy" because they need help. Many people play video games to escape a harsh, cruel world or environment and I can't blame them. Instead of heroin or crystal meth, they play Witcher 3 in 4K high settings. I hope just in like Europe and Canada, "harm reduction" facilities will include conditions such as gaming addicts though I don't know how treatment is going to be administered to them. Just like how "war on drugs" is a doomed to fail at the beginning and is a waste of taxpayer's money, it's time for people to reach out to these people and offer help just like how gambling addicts get over and recover. Whether it's substance abuse or gaming addiction, they all fire the same pleasure centers in the brain by flooding certain portions of the brain with dopamine.  

Edited December 27, 2017 by hey_yo_
Removed the video about Luke

[kelvinhall05]

We're two and a half minutes to midnight and these guys are worried about video games? Come the fuck on. Worry about bigger issues. This doesn't mean shit if we'll all die because Trump and Kim Jong Un are arguing about nukes and about to start WWIII.

[iRileyx]

Uhh, isn't that video with luke just cut from an LTT video? pretty sure it's a comedy sketch not an actual true story lmao.

[captain_to_fire]

Just now, RKRiley said:

Uhh, isn't that video with luke just cut from an LTT video? pretty sure it's a comedy sketch not an actualy true story lmao.

I don’t know? Maybe we should ask @Slick himself. 

[lewdicrous]

Welp.. Now we just wait for someone to open a 'Gaming Rehabilitation Center' if that's not already a thing.

[lewdicrous]

3 minutes ago, RKRiley said:

Uhh, isn't that video with luke just cut from an LTT video? pretty sure it's a comedy sketch not an actualy true story lmao.

It's just some poorly made bs..

[captain_to_fire]

1 minute ago, lewdicrous said:

Welp.. Now we just wait for someone to open a 'Gaming Rehabilitation Center' if that's not already a thing.

Seeing that rehab facilities in many countries also treat behavioral addictions aside from substance abuse like gambling or sex addiction, I wouldn’t be surprised if gaming addicts will be treated by the same institutions as well. 

[ItsMitch]

Going a bit far aren't you WHO? I don't class this as a disorder more of bad parenting if your kid is on his computer, w/e 24/7 then it should be the parent's responsibility to find a good enough response to the problem. There's bigger problems in the world to focus on instead of targeting the gamers. 

 

[iRileyx]

5 minutes ago, hey_yo_ said:

I don’t know? Maybe we should ask @Slick himself. 

Or just watch the start of this video

 

 

[aisle9]

Snowflake disease

[captain_to_fire]

Just now, SC2Mitch said:

Going a bit far aren't you WHO? I don't class this as a disorder more of bad parenting if your kid is on his computer, w/e 24/7 then it should be the parent's responsibility to find a good enough response to the problem. There's bigger problems in the world to focus on instead of targeting the gamers. 

 

Uhm many grown ups experience gaming addiction and not just teenagers. Did you even read the OP. One of the sources which I included is well corroborated and peer reviewed. Are you concerned that your parents or health authorities will take away your gaming PC? 

 

Telling experts and institutions like the WHO to not explore the potential link between compulsive gaming and addiction is nothing more but “academic political correctness” and making sure that gamers (addicted or not) have their own safe spaces. Everything should be up to scrutiny. Now if there’s someone who wants to challenge the WHO and others, they’ free to publish a counter argument. 

[ItsMitch]

1 minute ago, hey_yo_ said:

academic political correctness

You going up the political street? I dunno man, that's a scary one for sure. 

[captain_to_fire]

5 minutes ago, RKRiley said:

Or just watch the start of this video

 

Oh for fucks sake it was just a prank. I’m editing the OP now. 

[Guest]

Gee, I spend more time on this forum in 2 days than I game in a week. Is forum haunting disorder going to be next?

[captain_to_fire]

Just now, tjcater said:

Gee, I spend more time on this forum in 2 days than I game in a week. Is forum haunting disorder going to be next?

Do you fit the criteria? 

Quote

1. Have you ever felt you should Cut down on your gaming?
2. Have people Annoyed you by criticizing your gaming?
3. Have you ever felt bad or Guilty about your gaming?
4. Are video games usually the first thing you think about in the morning when you wake up (Eye opener)?

1) impaired control over gaming (e.g., onset, frequency, intensity, duration, termination, context);

2) increasing priority given to gaming to the extent that gaming takes precedence over other life interests and daily activities; and

3) continuation or escalation of gaming despite the occurrence of negative consequences.

Just change a few words to fit the LTT context

[System Error Message]

 

 

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, hey_yo_ said:

Do you fit the criteria? 

Just change a few words to fit the LTT context

 

1 minute ago, VegetableStu said:

it mirrors SMS / chatroom / messageboard addiction, so in a sense...

Time for me to take some forum haunting rehab then ._.

[captain_to_fire]

1 minute ago, VegetableStu said:

it mirrors SMS / chatroom / messageboard addiction, so in a sense...

Looks like I fit one of the criterion: 

1. Are video games usually the first thing you think about in the morning when you wake up (Eye opener)?

I check LTT on my phone right after I checked my email and Twitter first thing in the morning. ?

[TetraSky]

I play games to distract myself while watching things like WAN show and the Co-Optional podcast. I just can't sit still and watch something for an hour (much less 3 hours) and do nothing but that.

Other than that, these days I barely play any games and I certainly don't play any sort of "competitive" games like CoD, LoL, etc... So... Yeah, not addicted to gaming. 

 

If anything I'm addicted to the internet. When I didn't have internet for 2 weeks, I kept opening my browser all the time to check something... only to realize "oh wait... no internet"... then 5 minutes later, repeat the process.

[Taja]

I was addicted to gaming (not a heavy addiction, but still a addiction), nowadays im not.

I still play ~2 hours a day, but it does not affect my life in a negative way. I really love gaming and I know it can be Very positive, but like LITERALLY anything you can get addicted to it and it can even ruin your life.

Just think about your habits and try to be healthy about them.

[Misanthrope]

Yes this is very real. However I am not fully convinced is an inherent flaw of all games: most people seem to be able to get addicted to mostly any remotely interesting activity. There's some activities however (i.e. Gambling) that seem to be psychologically tailored to trigger this addiction cycle and while I could see it for some games (Mainly mmos and some mobile games and free2play models that resemble, incidentally, gambling) As I said, labeling all games as addictive seems like a broad generalization.

[Satisfoxy]

Easy ways to tell if someone has a gaming addiction:

• Are age 24 or older.
• Doesn't have a job or only minimum wage.
• Stays up all night and sleeps all day.
• Doesn't understand why helping in video games isn't enough to cover rent.

Problems with trying to rehabilitate someone with a gaming addiction:

• Killing dragons is always going to be more fun than any job ever.
• Their circadian rhythm is going to have a difficult time with the 9-5 work week.
• They are used to an instant reward for their work.
• Their broke/usually don't have a drivers license which means they have to be driven everywhere for everything if you try to help them.

[suicidalfranco]

now combine this with MT, more reasons to ban them

[Drak3]

Poor @ARikozuM.

[AkatsukiKun]

This certainly shouldn't be dismissed, but I don't take it too seriously. While there are people who are highly addicted to games, in general most people aren't. Even though most of my free time is focused on gaming, less so on academic work, reading articles on the internet. I do see that there are levels to addiction where it's full blown games 24/7 and neglecting time to cater to proper personal health such as eating and showering, down to someone playing games at every possible waking moment while still be a functioning person in society.

 

So, I guess when I was younger I wasn't really paying attention in school, got my xbox taken away, in a way I could see that as an addiction and I was just being an ass of kid at the time.