New Straits Times

WHO recognises gaming disorder

The organisati­on has grouped it with disorders due to substance use or addictive behaviours

- Including sleeping and eating,” Saxena said by phone.

VIDEO gaming can be addictive in the same way as cocaine or gambling, the World Health Organisati­on said in a much anticipate­d update of the Internatio­nal Classifica­tion of Diseases (ICD-11). “After consulting with experts across the world, and reviewing evidence in an exhaustive manner, we decided that this condition should be added,” said Shekhar Saxena, director of the WHO’s department of mental health and substance abuse.

Online and offline “gaming disorder” is grouped with “disorders due to substance use or addictive behaviours” in the ICD’s 11th edition, the first major revision in nearly three decades.

The wording of the new entries has been known since January, when the WHO announced problem gaming would be recognised as a pathologic­al condition. Key symptoms include “impaired control” — notably the inability to stop playing — and focusing on the game to the exclusion of everything else.

“The person does so much gaming that other interests and activities are ignored, In extreme cases, gamers unable to pry themselves away from a screen drop out of school, lose jobs, and become cut off from family and non-gaming friends. The overwhelmi­ng majority of video game adepts are young, many in their teens. Symptomati­c behaviour must continue for at least a year before it is considered dangerousl­y unhealthy, according to the new classifica­tion.

Some 2.5 billion people — one-inthree worldwide — play some form of free-to-play screen game, especially on cell phones, but the disorder only affects a “small minority”, said Saxena. “We are not saying that all gaming is pathologic­al.”

The games industry raked in US$108 billion (about RM437 billion) worldwide last year, more than double movie box office receipts, according to Superdata, which tracks the games and interactiv­e media sector. Nearly 40 per cent of those sales are in east Asia, especially China and South Korea. Other important markets include the United States, Britain, France, Germany and Brazil.

In South Korea and the United States, clinics have sprung up to treat video game addiction, along with community and online support groups. So-called “shooter games” such as Fortnite — described on the support website Game Quitters as the “hottest game in the world” — are either played online or on offline consoles.

The inclusion of “gaming disorder” in WHO’s revised catalogue of diseases met with resistance, both from industry and some experts.

“The WHO process lacks transparen­cy, is deeply flawed, and lacks scientific support,” Michael Gallagher, president and CEO of the Entertainm­ent Software Associatio­n, said in a statement in March.

In a study to be published in the Journal of Behavioral Addictions, a group of 36 researcher­s said there was insufficie­nt evidence to warrant the new category.

“Given the gravity of diagnostic classifica­tion and its wider social impact, we urge our colleagues at the WHO to err on the side of caution for now and postpone the formalisat­ion,” they wrote in a study reviewing academic literature.

The ICD identifies about 55,000 separate injuries, diseases, conditions and causes of death, and is widely used as a benchmark for diagnoses and health insurance.

“It enables us to understand so much about what makes people get sick and die, and to take action to prevent suffering and save lives,” WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesu­s said in a statement.

The new ICD also includes, for the first time, a chapter on traditiona­l medicines, used by millions of people around the world.

AFPRelaxne­ws

“The person does so much gaming that other interests and activities are ignored, including sleeping and eating.

Shekhar Saxena

 ?? PICTURE FROM UK.BUSINESSIN­SIDER.COM ?? Video gaming can be addictive in the same way as cocaine or gambling, according to the World Health Organisati­on.
PICTURE FROM UK.BUSINESSIN­SIDER.COM Video gaming can be addictive in the same way as cocaine or gambling, according to the World Health Organisati­on.

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