The World Health Organization now recognizes "gaming disorder" as an illness

Ericthegreat · May 28, 2019

Well when I'm really into a MMO doing raid progression, I'd probably be classified under this, but I think this is a real thing if you truely do nothing else, and especially like the few people who have died of dehydration and exhaustion.

FAST6191 · May 28, 2019

QuazaRayy said:
hey retards at WHO, games are SUPPOSED to be addictive so you finish them. If this had gone into effect earlier, I would have been diagnosed with gaming disorder AGES AGO. Gaming is a way of life for me but seriously these assholes are trying to get video games banned.

There is a fairly big difference between what some people use in day to day parlance and what medics call addiction. Similarly while someone might have designed a game to be addicting most would probably aim more for compelling -- if nothing else ruining your user base and making something such that they don't come back for the next piece of hardware or your next game is not a great plan.

The definition put forth by them in the OP with regards to it taking over their lives and a litany of other symptoms (many of which would want to occur at the same time or in combination) is a fairly standard wording for a behavioural addiction. Enjoying playing games, having it as your main hobby and pastime, is not what they are aiming for. A therapist or similar might well try to get you to broaden your horizons but that is a different matter and they would likely do that for anything so all encompassing.

I question the need for the standalone definition, especially one worded so... I am struggling for the right word as it is not ambiguous, necessarily unhelpful, incorrect or similar but it does not contain any info on why games might do what they do, why it might warrant its own definition over baseline behavioural addictions or what might be important to note here*. Similarly I take issue with the industry response that effectively denies such a thing can even happen. That said you appear to have failed to understand what is going on here.

*if it exists as a behaviour you can be addicted to it. Games however do have some mechanisms that mean they are more prone to it than vast swathes of other possibilities, they have health risks associated with addiction that others might not (most games being fairly sedentary affairs, somewhat socially isolating and also risk things in the RSI/carpal tunnel realms at higher exposure levels, unlike various drugs though you are unlikely to find yourself in a crack den or similar such situations). As with the NHS thing mentioned before I am not sure any of those warrant any kind of specialist treatment, diagnostics or similar but that is a different matter.

DANTENDO · May 28, 2019

Shit here's another anyone got burnout from playing to much

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/9166677/burn-out-disease-world-health-organisation-8-signs/

Issac · May 28, 2019

I don't really see the big deal. To me this feels quite obvious and about time. I had a classmate in high school who dropped out with only 1 and a half year to go. Why? Because he was playing World of Warcraft, in school, at home... and wanted to play it full time, so he dropped out of school to play WoW.

Games are addictive, they trigger our reward system and we have fun. That can go overboard for some. Just like eating candy, doing meth, alcohol, or shopping, only to name a few addictions that are very much real.
All of them trigger parts of our brains.
Sure, reading books is a joy for some, but it is a slower reward and the number of people who lock themselves up to read books and forget to eat... well they aren't quite as many as the video game addicts.

And you also have to remember, there's a big difference of being an addict, and enjoying something.
Everyone saying "I'm a gamer, am I an addict now?!?"... no.

DANTENDO · May 28, 2019

Issac said:
. and wanted to play it full time, so

Did anyone try and stop them and say thts stupid

Issac · May 28, 2019

DANTENDO said:
Did anyone try and stop them and say thts stupid

No idea, I would assume his parents would. Us classmates told him it was stupid whenever he suggested it, and we never thought he truly was serious about it either, but one day he just didn't show up.

Foxi4 · May 28, 2019

Any reason to harp on kids is good enough. Now c'mere kid, have some tasty Adderal, or perhaps a few Ritalins. Nevermind the fact that addictive behaviour is pretty well-understood and we don't need a specific category for gaming, just roll with it.

Ev1l0rd · May 28, 2019

Foxi4 said:
Any reason to harp on kids is good enough. Now c'mere kid, have some tasty Adderal, or perhaps a few Ritalins. Nevermind the fact that addictive behaviour is pretty well-understood and we don't need a specific category for gaming, just roll with it.

You're overlooking the fact that there is a lot of misinformation out there about what constitutes a gaming addiction.

Ask 14 different people what they see as gaming addiction and you'll get 14 different answers.

A very common standard is "if you spend more than 4 hours with video games a week, you are addicted". I hope I shouldn't have to explain why this is not a good standard.

The definition laid out here by the WHO specifically exists to let those who do have a degree in psychology recognize that if a kid is for playing so many video games that it's starting to destroy their own life (ie. the excellent example here from earlier up in the thread where someone was skipping school to play WoW), that they can officially designate it as such and more importantly can start developing programs and courses to help counteract and prevent this from occuring, which is crucial. The fact that it's now recognized as an illness means that there can be proper studies that meet a clearly defined designation of addiction and realistic statistics can be gathered.

Almost all cases I see of research into gaming addiction are usually anecdotal or framed with the question "how many hours do you spend on video games", which carries the underling loadedness that if you play more than x arbitrary hours you must be addicted.

Most "treatments" I know of (and my mom is the kind of person that believes I am 100% addicted to my digital systems so she brings this up every other month), involve simply taking away all technology and telling the kids in question to "get a different hobby" to replace games with.

This should hopefully help to locate the deeper causes as to why people fall into this addiction and help psychiatrists come up with methods to counteract this that aren't the bullheaded solution that is readily proven not to work with people who are truly addicted.

Foxi4 · May 28, 2019

Ev1l0rd said:
You're overlooking the fact that there is a lot of misinformation out there about what constitutes a gaming addiction.

Ask 14 different people what they see as gaming addiction and you'll get 14 different answers.

A very common standard is "if you spend more than 4 hours with video games a week, you are addicted". I hope I shouldn't have to explain why this is not a good standard.

The definition laid out here by the WHO specifically exists to let those who do have a degree in psychology recognize that if a kid is for playing so many video games that it's starting to destroy their own life (ie. the excellent example here from earlier up in the thread where someone was skipping school to play WoW), that they can officially designate it as such and more importantly can start developing programs and courses to help counteract and prevent this from occuring, which is crucial. The fact that it's now recognized as an illness means that there can be proper studies that meet a clearly defined designation of addiction and realistic statistics can be gathered.

Almost all cases I see of research into gaming addiction are usually anecdotal or framed with the question "how many hours do you spend on video games", which carries the underling loadedness that if you play more than x arbitrary hours you must be addicted.

Most "treatments" I know of (and my mom is the kind of person that believes I am 100% addicted to my digital systems so she brings this up every other month), involve simply taking away all technology and telling the kids in question to "get a different hobby" to replace games with.

This should hopefully help to locate the deeper causes as to why people fall into this addiction and help psychiatrists come up with methods to counteract this that aren't the bullheaded solution that is readily proven not to work with people who are truly addicted.

We *already have* a definition of addictive behaviour, it's no different from any other addiction. I suggest reading the WHO release to find exactly how flexible their definition is. This will turn into a cudgel to be used against kids who just enjoy escapism. The entire diagnosis hinges upon three factors - "an inability to control playing video games", which just reminds me of "mom, this is an MMO, I can't save right now", "spending extended amounts of time playing video games instead of other daily activities", which is vague when it comes to a hobby - gaming very well may be the only "daily activity" someone performs, and "the lack of the ability to stop gaming despite negative consequences", which is just a repeat of the first symptom with a more specific qualifier. The whole cycle is supposed to last 12 months, except when it isn't - the WHO reserves the right to diagnose at any time a few paragraphs later. Thank you WHO, you just described any old addiction in the vaguest of terms. Now I really can't wait for people who don't play video games to diagnose how much is too much.

SG854 · May 28, 2019

Ev1l0rd said:
You're overlooking the fact that there is a lot of misinformation out there about what constitutes a gaming addiction.

Ask 14 different people what they see as gaming addiction and you'll get 14 different answers.

A very common standard is "if you spend more than 4 hours with video games a week, you are addicted". I hope I shouldn't have to explain why this is not a good standard.

The definition laid out here by the WHO specifically exists to let those who do have a degree in psychology recognize that if a kid is for playing so many video games that it's starting to destroy their own life (ie. the excellent example here from earlier up in the thread where someone was skipping school to play WoW), that they can officially designate it as such and more importantly can start developing programs and courses to help counteract and prevent this from occuring, which is crucial. The fact that it's now recognized as an illness means that there can be proper studies that meet a clearly defined designation of addiction and realistic statistics can be gathered.

Almost all cases I see of research into gaming addiction are usually anecdotal or framed with the question "how many hours do you spend on video games", which carries the underling loadedness that if you play more than x arbitrary hours you must be addicted.

Most "treatments" I know of (and my mom is the kind of person that believes I am 100% addicted to my digital systems so she brings this up every other month), involve simply taking away all technology and telling the kids in question to "get a different hobby" to replace games with.

This should hopefully help to locate the deeper causes as to why people fall into this addiction and help psychiatrists come up with methods to counteract this that aren't the bullheaded solution that is readily proven not to work with people who are truly addicted.

Has to cause negative outcomes and metal distress.

That’s a big problem when people see a psychology diagnosis. Too many people go, I read this article online and you have Narcissistic Personality disorder because you fit the description.

That’s not how that works. It’s not, you fit all these bullet points so therefore you have an addiction. It has to cause negative outcomes. If it doesn’t, no mater how perfectly someone fits a description, is not a disorder/addiction.

Doesn’t matter if you play 10 hrs, 15 hrs, if no negative outcomes, like affecting school or family issues, then no addiction. If not then people that make money with a job playing video games 40+ a week would be considered an addiction.

Pipistrele · May 29, 2019

We're all officially a bunch of wackos .u.

Cylent1 · May 29, 2019

You all are falling right into the democrat trap!
Do you actually think that identifying with whatever you decide to be that day and to demand us assimilate around you is not a mental disorder? Or do you think this videogame addiction study should be a disorder?
This new way of life we have to live by does not make 1 lick of sense!

zoogie · May 29, 2019

3 2 1 ... Gamer Pills!

Yours for $350/bottle!

Cylent1 · May 30, 2019

zoogie said:
3 2 1 ... Gamer Pills!

Yours for $350/bottle!

They will go good with my medical weed! Where can I sign up?

the_randomizer · May 30, 2019

You know how I deal with addiction and other mental health issues? Going to the gym, eating better, losing weight, in short, taking better care of my body

Being more physically active has been helping me a lot lately.

Pleng · May 30, 2019

the_randomizer said:
. If people were to tone back their screen time significantly, and took more breaks and were more productive, this wouldn't even be an issue.

Right. But there are people in question who *don't* do that. And this therefore needs to be addressed.

And don't worry I'm pretty sure your additional is already classified.

Deleted User · May 30, 2019

So, I hopped into WHO database using my totally real and amazing hacking skills. Found something a rather interesting prototype slated for release in 2020

WHO in 2020 said:
~~Gaming~~ Fanfic disorder is characterized by a pattern of persistent or recurrent ~~gaming~~ fanfic reading behaviour (‘digital ~~gaming~~ fanfic reading’ or ‘video-~~gaming~~watching of some dude reading homestuck’), which may be online (i.e., over the internet) or offline, manifested by:

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

increasing priority given to gaming to the extent that ~~gaming~~ fanfic reading takes precedence over other life interests and ~~BEING A NORMAL FUNTIONING HUMAN BEING~~ daily activities; and

continuation or escalation of ~~gaming~~ fanfic reading 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~~ fanfic reading behaviour may be continuous or episodic and recurrent. The ~~gaming~~ fanfic reading 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 ~~(i.e BEING A NORMAL FUNCTIONING HUMAN BEING YOU DAMNED WEIRDOS)~~ are met and symptoms are severe.

I have a problem.

IcedOutBart · May 30, 2019

cots said:
I wonder how they class parents who sit their kids down in front of a smart phone or video gaming console for 8 hours a day so they don't have to be a parent so they can spend all day updating their facebook status. Or better yet, how they classify adults who spend all of their free time staring at mobile device to such an extent that they are being killed off for walking in front of cars or getting into car accidents for doing so. Have you looked around at people in a public area lately? What are they all doing? Talk about mental illnesses.

Facts!!!be worried about the wrong shit!!!

Deleted-481927 · May 31, 2019

Purple_Shyguy said:
*cuts off my penis and have surgery to replace it with an open wound I have to stretch out every few hours stop from healing over for the rest of my life*

Not a mental Illness

*Plays videogames a lot*

Is a mental illness.

Am I dumb or are you referring to MtF bottom surgery if so gender dysphoria isn't a mental illness - it's a condition from birth: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/gender-dysphoria/

I get the idea but you seem to be implying it is

sorry if i interpreted that wrong

cots · Jun 1, 2019

samhhhhh said:
Am I dumb or are you referring to MtF bottom surgery if so gender dysphoria isn't a mental illness - it's a condition from birth: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/gender-dysphoria/

I believe gender dysphoria is a real thing that exists, but it's no excuse to go chopping your johny long off. However, the majority of people seeking sex changes (gender reassignment is the popular term I believe) don't suffer from any of the rare physical conditions that greatly contribute to the gender dysphoria disorder - they simple want to flip flop between identifying as a man or a women. There is no good reason that I can see in cutting your long john off. Depending on who you ask it is indeed a mental disorder. I'd call that a much more serious problem then spending too much time playing video games.

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