The WHO May Recognize Excessive Video Gaming As Mental Health Disorder (cbsnews.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from CBS News: The World Health Organization is poised to classify "gaming disorder" as a mental health problem in its 2018 update of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD). Gaming disorder could be diagnosed if a person's video game habit "is of sufficient severity to result in significant impairment in personal, family, social, educational, occupational or other important areas of functioning," according a tentative draft of WHO's 11th update to the ICD. Licensed marriage and family therapist Paula-Jo Husack said common symptoms for children and adults include social isolation, trouble transitioning from one thought to another, reduction in empathy, loss of appetite and loss of sensory perception. The WHO said those symptoms generally need to persist for at least a year before doctors diagnose a case of gaming disorder, but added that a diagnosis could be made sooner if symptoms are severe.

Comments

The WHO recognizes excessive gaming disorder

[93 Escort Wagon]

AKA “The Kids Aren’t Alright”.

Re:The WHO recognizes excessive gaming disorder

[93 Escort Wagon]

The truly sad thing is - Tommy could see, hear, and speak before he got addicted to pinball.

May I suggest we add a few things?

[Opportunist]

I mean, while we're at it, could we add clinging excessively to "social" media and constant gawking at your damn phone? I mean, the latter has a good chance of sorting itself out when you do it in halfway decent traffic, but the former does become an issue.

Re:May I suggest we add a few things?

[Ol Olsoc]

So we want people to be miserable for ... what exactly?

Misery loves company?

It is kind of a mess out there.Bear with me as I set the situation.

With the widening education gap, more and more educated women are not finding quality males to pair with.. So they reach their mid-30's and panic. The urge to reproduce is not a social construct. So they freeze some eggs for when Mr Right comes along. But they have a list of requirements for mister Right. He must be equal or higher in education, and making at least as much money as her. There are some strange ones too - he's gotta be tall. My wife verifies that tall men are sexually stimulating for her and every woman she knows.

Being younger than she is is also a nice consideration, but the same age as her is fine. He must also be willing to start a family immediately, going through the defrosted egg artificial insemination process. So I guess a prenuptial sperm count is part of the process too. This is an emotionally draining process So this is some incredible guy they demand. The men who these women have dated become quite turned off with their practice of turning a first date into a job interview.

The problem is that there aren't many of these high quality men available, and not many in the pipeline either. A lot of young men these days have checked out. Many have found the college experience toxic, and the stereotype of hanging around playing video games a lot isn't all that wrong. A lot of others have decided to learn trades instead of go the toxic college route. in any case, these men are considered substandard, and not fit for marriage.

So that brings us to this point. A marriage and relationship counselor as the spokesperson for people who want to classify "excessive" game playing as a mental disorder. This is probably based on the flawed premise that if young men stop playing games, they will suddenly decide to go to college and become high quality men that can marry and have children with the quality women. This is conjecture of course, but there is something weird about a marriage counselor making mental health decisions.

They should also include...

[MerlTurkin]

"Smart" phone addiction. These pathetic retards can't put them down for even 2 minutes.

Re:They should also include...

[geekmux]

"Smart" phone addiction. These pathetic retards can't put them down for even 2 minutes.

Smartphone addiction is so prevalent in society that your common sense suggestion was modded down. That's sad.

90% of society is a smartphone addict. When everyone acts the same, no one sees a problem, and attacks those that do point out the obvious.

And yes, I'll likely be modded down as well.

Sure, pile it on.

[fahrbot-bot]

Now that deaf, dumb and blind kid also has a mental disorder? It's tough being a Pinball Wizard.

Unless you're one of the top gamers

[darthsilun]

And making over $100K a year. Then it's okay.

The WHO have already ...

[ei4anb]

recognized Pinball Wizard since 1969

the ADA covers the deaf and blind already

[Joe_Dragon]

the ADA covers the deaf and blind already

what the WHO should recognize as a mental illness

[FudRucker]

is religion, especially religious extremism & religious fundamentalism, now those kinds of people prove to the world they are crazy everyday and most the world turn a blind eye to it, afraid to acknowledge the insanity these people display everyday

Isn't that basically just addiction?

[wardrich86]

Is excessive gaming any different from any other excessive _____ situation? I think they have a name for that... addiction

Re:Isn't that basically just addiction?

[Ol Olsoc]

About that... I'm wondering when "spending time with me" became the norm, the standard?

Oh, just one of those things. I think its the "tinkering module" being activated. Whatever the present state is, it doesn't satisfy, and must change. My better half gets annoyed when I am around her too much. But I know that I can't be around too little as well. It's kind of a calculus.

disclaimer - I am a very annoying person to begin with.

A similar list of "mental illnesses"

[KHKw2k]

Reading.
Watching TV.
Playing Golf.
Football.
American Football.
Board Games.
Hobbyist Mathematics.

Pretty much anything that takes your time away from "productive" (for someone else, most likely) labor.
Because the only sane position is to spend your life in the endless pursuit of wealth. Any other value assignment is madness!

Loot Boxes

[rsilvergun]

surprised nobody here mentioned it yet. If you're wondering why we're suddenly talking about gaming addiction again there's your answer. The game industry noticed the addicts and is exploiting them. And a lot of those addicts are kids.

Re:what the WHO should recognize as a mental illne

[Kjella]

And what, pray-tell, do you suggest to do to treat it, or to at least manage it? How does such classification help anyone? You can't deprive a person of their religion like you can deprive them of alcohol, smartphones, or any thing else that has a material existence. And just think about it for just a second... how do you imagine it might make things any better if it was classified as a mental illness? What good do you imagine it might do? I mean, if you think that they WHO should classify it as a mental illness, then you personally probably already treat it like one yourself, so what difference does it make if the WHO were to acknowledge it as such other than perhaps to justify your own feelings?

We have many psychological conditions like say Alzheimer that can't be meaningfully treated, that's not a prerequisite for a diagnosis. Classifying something as a sickness is something that can be used and abused in many contexts though. For example until the 10th revision homosexuality was a disorder, it's no more concrete or treatable than belief in the supernatural. Your assertion that it wouldn't matter seems blissfully naive and ignorant of history.