New Delhi: Who believes that playing video games can become a mental health disorder? Yes, the World Health Organization will include it in the lists of disorders soon in 2018.

While we all know that gaming addiction is real, so far, it was not taken very seriously. However, new reports show reasons of serious concern for parents of children who are avid gamers.

A survey found out that 10 per cent of the people playing video games admitted to spending between 12 and 24 hours glued to their video game screens. While some may debate whether gaming does pose a threat to mental health, the amount of time many people spend playing video games is surprising.

Americans had ‘Pac-Man’ (an arcade game) Fever as far back as 1981 but it has taken until now for the World Health Organization to officially recognize that playing video games too often could be a mental health disorder. Now, in 2018, playing video games obsessively might lead to a diagnosis of a mental health disorder.

In the beta draft of its forthcoming 11th International Classification of Diseases, the World Health Organization includes “gaming disorder” in its list of mental health conditions. The list was last updated 27 years ago, in 1990.

Several gamers were found to go long hours in front of their consoles, causing a lack of sleep and a reduction in physical activity and exposure to sunlight.

According to the draft, Gaming disorder can be diagnosed if it “is of sufficient severity to result in significant impairment in personal, family, social, educational, occupational or other important areas of functioning.” 

The disorder is not characterized by playing a video game here or there, but rather by lack of ability to control when one games, “increasing priority give to gaming to the extent that gaming takes precedence over other life interests and daily activities,” and continuing to game avidly despite having negative consequences for doing so.

Basically, in simpler terms the symptom includes:

• Firstly, the inability to control when and how to play video games.
• Another red flag is when someone chooses games over other interests in life and keeps playing despite negative consequences.

Adding 'gaming disorder' to the list means that it will be recognized by doctors and insurance companies.

Video game playing, either online or offline must be “normally evident over a period of at least 12 months” for this diagnosis to be made, according to the beta draft guidance. However, if symptoms are severe and all requirements are met, health care professionals may include people who have been playing for shorter periods of time, the draft reads.

On the other hand, Gregory Hartl, a spokesman for the WHO said that, “The new ICD-11 entry on gaming disorder includes only a clinical description and not prevention and treatment options.”

But Forbes on the other hand, suggests that you can self-diagnose by asking yourself the same questions people use to detect alcohol addiction. Just swap the word “alcohol” for “gaming.” If you identify strongly with the four questions you may have a problem and are advised to try to cut down:

• Have you ever felt you should cut down on your gaming?

• Have people annoyed you by criticizing your gaming?

• Have you ever felt bad or guilty about your gaming?

• Are video games usually the first thing you think about in the morning when you wake up?

Lastly, a guide to diagnose and categorize

The spokesman for the WHO also described the ICD (International Classification of Diseases) as the “basis for identification of health trends and statistics globally and the international standard for reporting diseases and health conditions. It is used by medical practitioners around the world to diagnose conditions and by researchers to categorize conditions.”

This comprehensive list is intended to make it easier for scientists to share and compare health information between hospitals, regions and countries. It also enables health care workers to compare data in the same location over different time periods. Additionally, public health experts use the ICD to track the number of deaths and diseases.

The existing version of the ICD was endorsed by the World Health Assembly, the decision-making body of WHO, in May 1990 and currently is used by more than 100 countries around the world. The forthcoming version of the ICD will be published in May 2018.

References:
indianexpress.com
http://wtkr.com
https://www.forbes.com
http://www.dailymail.co.uk
https://www.indiatimes.com