Article Gaming disorder recognised as a disease

Disclaimer: I realise this may be an upsetting topic for some, and if things become too heated I will be locking this thread. But as this is important news on what has been a highly controversial topic for many years, I feel it is worth discussing, and I have faith that members will be able to discuss this in a calm and respectful manner. Thank you in advance~


For better or worse, this month the World Health Organisation has officially recognised "gaming disorder" as a disease, with a full clarification for this to come into effect in 2022.

For now, the WHO have provided the following definition for gaming disorder:

You can read the full article for yourself here.

Whilst suggestions for what "gaming disorder" may be have been floating around for a number of years prior to this, this is the first incident where a significant step has been made to officially recognise it as a disease. Previous attempts to fully recognise it have been stopped by lack of research and evidence, with only basic definitions and guidelines being provided by organisations such as the APA. Similarly, support groups in affected countries have existed for quite some time. With these things in mind, the WHO's decision to officially acknowledge "gaming disorder" may not come as a surprise to many.

In your opinion, is this classification a positive step towards helping people with addictions to video games overcome them, or does it show a clear lack of understanding and context? Is this a case of a small minority prompting an extreme reaction, or something that gamers and their families need to be made aware of?

 

Unlike those above, I have serious concerns with this and I am not OK with it. It is definitely a premature judgement, and it invites all sorts of misunderstandings. It seems like little more than a reaction in the face of extreme cases that have been reported, and controversies like lootboxes that have resulted in destructive spending. I mean, they'll have a proper diagnosis in 2022, and in the meantime have provided that horribly vague definition? Why are they doing this now? There is no evidence to properly support this. No research - at least, none that I have seen, and if there WAS any they would be quick to flaunt it and make use of it - to cite in support of their findings. Much like the idea that violent video games cause violence - which has neither been confirmed nor denied through research - this seems like a witch hunt.

With countries moving to enact legislation on lootboxes, uproar about working conditions in some companies, other companies going bust...this is another nail in the coffin on villifying video games. Whilst these are problems in the industry that definitely need to be addressed, I do not think that extreme responses are going to change matters in a positive, constructive, or informed manner here. ESPECIALLY here, because addiction is a very real problem that many people face, and one that needs to be handled with care and proper understanding, not with heavy-handed diagnosis and a one-size-fits-all approach. This news actually scares me more than I care to admit.

I think the WHO have a duty to address this, yes, but I do think it should have been handled in a more responsible manner. The APA have had guidelines for gaming disorder in place for a number of years even though they haven't officially recognised it on grounds of insufficient evidence. The WHO are in much the same position, although they HAVE recognised it, and therein lies the problem - it looks like a grossly misinformed decision, and in a way it is, because there is insufficient research to support it at this time. Really, they should have waited until 2022 or whenever when they had that evidence to provide a full and accurate diagnosis, not jumped the gun now at a time when extreme cases of gaming addiction and violence are all over the news. It's reactionary and not really well thought-out.

As someone who has been misdiagnosed by professionals before and had their life effectively destroyed by this for years, I worry about the people out there who are suffering from another mental illness and use video games as a method of coping with that. What happens to them if they are misdiagnosed with gaming disorder because of this? It's extremely damaging to be misdiagnosed, and without video games as an outlet, these people could turn to other far more harmful ways of coping - drugs, alcohol, self-harm, etc - or even take their own lives. It's rarely as clear-cut as "I have a disorder" in real life, and this recognition of gaming disorder as a disease without the proper research shows a gross lack of understanding on how damaging addiction can be, how beneficial video games can be as a coping mechanism, and how complex mental health can be.

It also worries me that the real issue is being obscured here by people reacting negatively to this for the wrong reasons. The game industry objects to this because of course it does - companies object to everything that stands between them and making maximum profits, and awareness that it is not healthy for players to be addicted to their games impacts their corporate image and their bottom line, because there is going to be some responsibility falling on their shoulders for the way they design their games. Meanwhile, a lot of players are offended because they see this as a personal attack, even though the definition does not apply to them and they are aware of this, so really they have no basis for that offense...well, at least in my opinion they don't. The WHO are clearly thinking of those with this problem in this decision, but they are doing this under societal pressure to do something about a growing problem and without sufficient research to give some much-needed clarity and guidance. This is very much a "we know it's there and we're doing something, carry on" situation that is only going to invite further misdiagnosis and misunderstanding. They're just handing people ammunition to blame video games for mental health problems, and whilst this may be truth in some cases, it will not be true of all.

Addiction can be a symptom as well as a disorder. There is no real acknowledgement or understanding of this in that "definition" or this decision, and I hope that something more than an acknowledgement is done about this before 2022. If some proper diagnosis criterion come out of this and it leads to more people suffering from addiciton getting help, that's absolutely fantastic. But I can't see this doing that in its current state. It's not so much a first-step forward as it is adding fuel to an already raging fire, and I think it's going to hurt more people than it helps before understanding improves...if it ever does.