We all know a gamer that plays way too many games, with countless people addicted to gaming in all forms: PC/console gaming, mobile gaming, and other forms of gaming. But now, the World Health Organization (WHO) has updated their list of classified diseases, and included a “gaming disorder” in this revised list. WHO’s new draft of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) describes the “gaming disorder” as a “pattern of persistent or recurrent gaming behaviour” whether it’s online, or offline. The description continues, saying: impaired control over gaming (e.g., onset, frequency, intensity, duration, termination, context) increasing priority given to gaming to the extent that gaming takes precedence over other life interests and daily activities continuation or escalation of gaming despite the occurrence of negative consequences What do people with this “gaming disorder” need to look out for? WHO says that they’re at risk of “significant impairment” to not just their personal, family, and social lives, but their education and work lives. The WHO also lists something they refer to as “hazardous gaming” that they explain as “a pattern of gaming, either online or offline that appreciably increases the risk of harmful physical or mental health consequences to the individual or to others around this individual”. WHO continues: “The increased risk may be from the frequency of gaming, from the amount of time spent on these activities, from the neglect of other activities and priorities, from risky behaviours associated with gaming or its context, from the adverse consequences of gaming, or from the combination of these. The pattern of gaming is often persists in spite of awareness of increased risk of harm to the individual or to others”.
[“Source-timesofindia”]