WHO PROPOSES OBSESSIVE GAMING AS DISORDER

NEW DELHI: Playing video games obsessively could be classified as a mental health disorder from 2018, once the World Health Organization (WHO) goes ahead with proposed changes and updates to its diagnostic manual.

The WHO is set to include “gaming disorder” for the first time in its International Classification of Diseases (ICD), which is used by more than 100 countries. The latest version of the manual, last updated in 1990, will be published in May next year.

By adding “gaming disorder” to the ICD, WHO will make the health condition an official diagnosis that can be used by health care workers, including doctors, a spokesman told CNN.

A draft of the latest version of the manual, called ICD-11, posted online lists gaming disorder among “disorders due to addictive behaviours”. It also lists conditions medical personnel can use to decide if a gamer’s behaviour can be described as a mental health disorder.

Vladimir Poznyak, a member of WHO’s Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse, said health professionals need to recognise that gaming disorder may have “serious health consequences”. “Most people who play video games don’t have a disorder, just like most people who drink alcohol don’t have a disorder. However, in certain circumstances overuse can lead to adverse effects,” he was quoted as saying by the Independent. HTC