Do you find yourself running and gunning in 2 a.m. gaming sessions after telling your spouse hours earlier you just need to get past the next checkpoint?
Do you have a “pattern of persistent or recurring gaming behavior” that takes priority over “other life interests and daily activities” despite the “negative consequences” which may result?
Bad news tired gamers; according to the World Health Organization, you may have “Gaming Disorder.”
In the latest revision of the WHO’s International Classification of Diseases (ICD) released last year and coming into effect on January 1st, 2022, “gaming disorder” is now a thing. According to a beta draft of the ICD noted by Geek.com, it’s described as follows:
Gaming disorder is characterized by a pattern of persistent or recurrent gaming behavior (‘digital gaming’ or ‘video gaming’), which may be online (i.e. over the Internet) or offline, manifested by:
1) impaired control over gaming (e.g. onset, frequency, intensity, duration, termination, context)
2) increasing priority given to gaming to the extent that gaming takes precedence over other life interests and daily activities
3) continuation or escalation of gaming despite the occurrence of negative consequences.
The behavior pattern is of sufficient severity to result in significant impairment in personal, family, social, educational, occupational, or other important areas of functioning. The pattern of gaming behavior may be continuous or episodic and recurrent.
The gaming behavior and other features are normally evident over a period of at least 12 months in order for a diagnosis to be assigned, although the required duration may be shortened if all diagnostic requirements are met and symptoms are severe. -Geek.com
“There is increasing and well-documented evidence of clinical relevance of these conditions and increasing demand for treatment in different parts of the world,” said a WHO spokesman in January.
Indeed, according to Statista the number of “active video gamers” has grown to over 2 billion worldwide, and is projected to reach 2.7 billion by 2021.
There are even NSFW Reddit forums aimed at gamers who want to check out gamer girls’ ‘loot boxes’ so to speak. Several of them. So while you may have an addiction, know that there’s hope. And if you’re just fine with that, there are entire communities of fellow gamers who can validate your proclivities.
According to Sky, gamers are pissed.
A statement from the Global Video Game Industry Associations read: “We are concerned [the WHO] reached their conclusion without the consensus of the academic community.
“The consequences of today’s action could be far-reaching, unintended, and to the detriment of those in need of genuine help.”
It also said that the WHO’s guidance was not based on “sufficiently robust evidence”.
Some experts also agree that there is not enough evidence to define video game addiction as an illness. -Sky
And according to a report published by the Journal of Behavioral Addictions, there is a “weak scientific basis” behind the new classification.
And while gamers may now be subject to a WHO-certified mental disorder for simply gaming too much, individuals who have decided to live their life as the opposite gender no longer have to worry about such judgement.
via zerohedge
