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'Gaming Disorder' Is a Now an Official Medical Condition, According to the WHO
Nearly anywhere you go, it's easy to find children and adults alike transfixed by their phones, and while texting and social media certainly claim a big part of that attention, increasingly it's gaming that's drawing us in.
At the World Health Organization's World Health Assembly on Saturday, member states officially recognized gaming addiction as a modern disease. Last year, the WHO voted to include gaming disorder as an official condition in the draft version of its latest International Classification of Diseases (ICD); the vote finalizes that decision. The WHO's ICD, currently in its 11th edition, serves as the international standard for diagnosing and treating health conditions.
According to Tarik Jasarevic, a spokesperson for the WHO, the move is "based on reviews of available evidence," and reflects general agreement among experts around the world that some people show a "pattern of gaming behavior characterized by impaired control," prioritizing gaming over other daily responsibilities, including attending school or work and keeping social appointments.
According to the WHO experts who analyzed studies on gaming behavior, people's use of gaming is different from their use of the internet, social media, online gambling and online shopping. There isn't sufficient data, they say, to indicate that people's reliance on those is a "behavioral addiction" the way gaming can be.
Previously: World Health Organization Will Recognize "Gaming Disorder"
World Health Organization Officially Lists "Gaming Disorder" in ICD
Why is There a 'Gaming Disorder' but No 'Smartphone Disorder?'
Related: Treatment Centers for Internet Addiction are Popping Up
Burnout is Now an Official Medical Diagnosis, Says the World Health Organization
(Score: 4, Funny) by PartTimeZombie on Thursday May 30 2019, @11:29PM
So I am busy sending my workers out and improving my empire nicely, building farms, mines and roads. I am trading peacefully with my neighbours and sharing the good word of Zoroastrianism with them.
All is going well, except for that forward-settling scumbag Chandragupta, who settles a new city near my borders, then complains about me being too close and not giving his people room to expand.
The next thing I know, swarms of Varu elephants are approaching my borders and he is declaring war.
Being a wise ruler, I have anticipated this and have several pikemen already trained and ready, so I am able to see off his attack.
However, now my formerly peaceful neighbours think I'm some sort of warmonger. What am I to do?
That's a real gaming disorder.