Cii Radio| Ayesha Ismail| 28 December 2017| 09 Rabi ul Aakhir 1439
The World Health Organisation (WHO) is set to classify excessive video game playing as signs of a mental disorder for the first time next year.
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 WHO defines the disorder as a “persistent or recurrent” behavior pattern of “sufficient severity to result in significant impairment in personal, family, social, educational, occupational or other important areas of functioning.”
The disorder is characterized by “impaired control” with increasing priority given to gaming and “escalation,” despite “negative consequences.”
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must be “normally evident over a period of at least 12 months” for this diagnosis to be made, according to the beta draft guidance.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.
Digging into the terminology a little bit reveals that playing the odd 20-minute game of FIFA or plugging an hour into Zelda each weekend is not going to be detrimental to your health.
But, if it starts to become all-consuming (think eight-hour overnight binges) and the rest of your life starts to become unimportant, then there are signs of a problem.
The WHO has made it clear that it does not include any prevention or treatment methods, but rather just a clinical description of what constitutes a disorder.
Gregory Hartl, a spokesman for the WHO, told CNN it is 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.”
Extracts – CNN| Mirror
