\u201cGaming disorder\u201d to be classified as a disease by WHO Freepik \/ World Health OrganizationThe World Health Organization caused a stir across the gaming community in summer 2018, after introducing a clause in their diagnostic handbook that would classify \u201cgaming disorder\u201d as a legitimate mental health affliction \u2013 a clause that has since passed in the 11th edition of the WHO\u2019s International Classification of Diseases. To be officially diagnosed with \u201cgaming disorder,\u201d a patient must exhibit three symptoms: an inability to control gaming behavior (whether it be the duration, intensity, or frequency of play time, etc.) – placing an \u201cincreased priority\u201d on gaming that takes precedence over other activities in life – an increased escalation of gaming despite negative consequences – The WHO state that, to be diagnosed with the disorder, \u201cThe pattern of gaming behavior may be continuous or episodic and recurrent,\u201d and requires a 12 month period to assign an official diagnosis \u2013 that is, unless symptoms are \u201csevere\u201d enough to warrant a more prompt classification. Despite the WHO\u2019s controversial new addition, many gaming organizations and even psychologists are wary of the \u201cdisorder,\u201d with mental health experts sounding off their concerns as early as last year, when the concept was initially introduced. \u201cYou could easily take out the word \u2018gaming\u2019 and put in \u2018sex\u2019 or \u2018food\u2019 or \u2018watching the World Cup,\u2019\u201d Oxford psychologist Andrew Przybylski said of the matter, arguing that the WHO\u2019s \u201cnew\u201d classification isn\u2019t even about games, in particular \u2013 a fact that he feared could \u201clead to a kind of pathologization of every aspect of life.\u201d Following the WHO\u2019s latest ruling, gaming enthusiasts have been sounding off across the internet, with such personalities like esports analyst Rod Breslau, caster and content creator Jack \u2018CouRage\u2019 Dunlop, and more decrying the decision via social media. \u201cI\u2019m collecting disability,\u201d Breslau jokingly Tweeted of the matter. \u201cDoes that mean I can get a placard to park in the handicapped spots?\u201d content creator \u2018Anne Munition\u2019 wrote. \u201cOr start collecting disability checks? (I would never actually do this but honestly, \u2018video game disorder?\u2019)\u201d Does that mean I can get a placard to park in the handicapped spots? Or start collecting disability checks? (I would never actually do this but honestly, “”video game disorder””???) https:\/\/t.co\/6MWhRDgVuc \u2014 Anne Munition (@AnneMunition) May 25, 2019 Well\u2026apparently the World Health Organization has unanimously voted that being addicted to video games is now a disorder\u2026 The only thing that can cure me of this disease are epic victory royales. \u2014 Jack \u201cCouRage\u201d Dunlop (@CouRageJD) May 25, 2019 While the WHO has made a new place for \u201cgaming disorder\u201d in its ranks, the condition doesn\u2019t go into effect until January 1, 2022 \u2013 leaving gamers with a little under three years before parents can take their \u201cgaming addicted\u201d children to psychologists for an official diagnosis of the disorder.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cGaming disorder\u201d to be classified as a disease by WHO Freepik \/ World Health OrganizationThe World Health Organization caused a stir across the gaming community in summer 2018, after introducing a clause in their diagnostic handbook that would classify \u201cgaming disorder\u201d as a legitimate mental health affliction \u2013 a clause that has since passed in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49064","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49064","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49064"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49064\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49064"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49064"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49064"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}