Though there are people of various ages who might consider themselves addicted to video games, there hasn't been any substantive research that would warrant the World Health Organization to classify excessive gaming behavior as its own disorder.
It's possible that video games may be a trigger or something that people would enjoy to excess but according to video game industry representatives, putting it under the same category as other mental health issues may be trivializing the gravity of those disorders.
“The WHO is an esteemed organization and its guidance needs to be based on regular, inclusive, and transparent reviews backed by independent experts,” the statement said. “‘Gaming disorder’ is not based on sufficiently robust evidence to justify its inclusion in one of the WHO’s most important norm-setting tools.”
When the WHO finalized ICD-11’s text last year, the Entertainment Software Association pushed back against the inclusion of “gaming disorder,” saying that doing so “recklessly trivializes real mental health issues like depression and social anxiety disorder.”
Should 'gaming disorder' be considered a disease on its own?
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PS4 or Xbox?
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What it is it if you Burn-Out on Gaming?
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