XPost: sac.politics, alt.society.liberalism, alt.society.mental-health
XPost: alt.psychology

GENEVA — Obsessive video gamers know how to anticipate dangers
in virtual worlds but now The World Health Organization says
they now should be on guard for a danger in the real world:
spending too much time playing.

In its latest revision to a disease classification manual, the
U.N. health agency said Monday that compulsively playing video
games now qualifies as a mental health condition. The statement
confirmed the fears of some parents but led critics to warn that
it may risk stigmatizing too many young video players.

WHO said classifying “gaming disorder” as a separate addiction
will help governments, families and health care workers be more
vigilant and prepared to identify the risks. The agency and
other experts were quick to note that cases of the condition are
still very rare, with no more than up to 3 percent of all gamers
believed to be affected.

Dr. Shekhar Saxena, director of WHO’s department for mental
health and substance abuse, said the agency accepted the
proposal that gaming disorder should be listed as a new problem
based on scientific evidence, in addition to “the need and the
demand for treatment in many parts of the world.”

Dr. Joan Harvey, a spokeswoman for the British Psychological
Society, warned that the new designation might cause unnecessary
concern among parents.

“People need to understand this doesn’t mean every child who
spends hours in their room playing games is an addict, otherwise
medics are going to be flooded with requests for help,” she said.

Others welcomed WHO’s new classification, saying it was critical
to identify people hooked on video games quickly because they
are usually teenagers or young adults who don’t seek help
themselves.

“We come across parents who are distraught, not only because
they’re seeing their child drop out of school, but because
they’re seeing an entire family structure fall apart,” said Dr.
Henrietta Bowden-Jones, a spokeswoman for behavioral addictions
at Britain’s Royal College of Psychiatrists. She was not
connected to WHO’s decision.

Bowden-Jones said gaming addictions were usually best treated
with psychological therapies but that some medicines might also
work.

The American Psychiatric Association has not yet deemed gaming
disorder to be a new mental health problem. In a 2013 statement,
the association said it’s “a condition warranting more clinical
research and experience before it might be considered for
inclusion” in its own diagnostic manual.

The group noted that much of the scientific literature about
compulsive gamers is based on evidence from young men in Asia.

“The studies suggest that when these individuals are engrossed
in Internet games, certain pathways in their brains are
triggered in the same direct and intense way that a drug
addict’s brain is affected by a particular substance,” the
association said in that statement. “The gaming prompts a
neurological response that influences feelings of pleasure and
reward, and the result, in the extreme, is manifested as
addictive behavior.”

Dr. Mark Griffiths, who has been researching the concept of
video gaming disorder for 30 years, said the new classification
would help legitimize the problem and strengthen treatment
strategies.

“Video gaming is like a non-financial kind of gambling from a
psychological point of view,” said Griffiths, a distinguished
professor of behavioral addiction at Nottingham Trent
University. “Gamblers use money as a way of keeping score
whereas gamers use points.”

He guessed that the percentage of video game players with a
compulsive problem was likely to be extremely small — much less
than 1 percent — and that many such people would likely have
other underlying problems, like depression, bipolar disorder or
autism.

WHO’s Saxena, however, estimated that 2 to 3 percent of gamers
might be affected.

Griffiths said playing video games, for the vast majority of
people, is more about entertainment and novelty, citing the
overwhelming popularity of games like “Pokemon Go.”

“You have these short, obsessive bursts and yes, people are
playing a lot, but it’s not an addiction,” he said.

Saxena said parents and friends of video game enthusiasts should
still be mindful of a potentially harmful problem.

“Be on the lookout,” he said, noting that concerns should be
raised if the gaming habit appears to be taking over.

“If (video games) are interfering with the expected functions of
the person — whether it is studies, whether it’s socialization,
whether it’s work — then you need to be cautious and perhaps
seek help,” he said.

https://kdvr.com/2018/06/18/compulsive-video-game-playing-could- be-mental-health-problem/

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