When online video games first started to become a thing in 1999/2000, I developed a bit of an unhealthy obsession with a Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game (MMO) called Everquest. I had just moved out west from Montreal with my fiancée and hadn’t made many new friends out here, so I was understandably a bit lonely. Back in Quebec, I had a ton of friends, and one particular group with whom I played the pen and paper Dungeons & Dragons game on Saturday nights. Everquest filled that hole, by allowing me to roleplay a wood elf ranger, and do battle with the forces of evil alongside other gamers.
But, for whatever reason, I let the video game go from a fun pastime or diversion, into something that was affecting my relationship. I was spending more time in the game world than I was in real life, and it worried my significant other. When I realized just how much I was playing the game, I eventually backed off and opted for moderation when it came to my gaming habits. I still consider myself a hardcore gamer today. However, I won’t forego family responsibilities, work, or anything else in favour of a mere digital diversion.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recently proposed adding something called ‘Gaming Disorder’ to the 2018 list of its International Classification of Diseases, listed under “disorders due to substance use or addictive behaviours.” They want to classify it as similar to gambling addiction; however, some experts say the move “trivializes real mental health issues.”
“Just like avid sports fans and consumers of all forms of engaging entertainment, gamers are passionate and dedicated with their time. Having captivated gamers for more than four decades, more than two billion people around the world enjoy video games,” read a statement by the Entertainment Software Association. “The World Health Organization knows that common sense and objective research prove video games are not addictive. And, putting that official label on them recklessly trivializes real mental health issues like depression and social anxiety disorder, which deserve treatment and the full attention of the medical community. We strongly encourage the World Health Organization to reverse direction on its proposed action.”
Some psychiatrists are also concerned with the proposed classification, saying that “while ‘myths’ about the similarities between gaming and substance abuse persist, they are true ‘only insofar as any pleasurable activity activates these regions [of the brain].
How gaming involves them is more similar to other fun activities like eating chocolate, having sex, getting a good grade, etc., not heroin or cocaine.” They suggest that excess gaming could be a “coping mechanism” rather than a problem unto itself, and the focus should not be on gaming but on an individual’s tendency to overindulge in any given activity.
In other words, it isn’t about gaming, but rather why a person uses the games to escape.
The WHO proposal isn’t set in stone, and it remains to be seen if the classification will go ahead. It’s also important to note that in 2013, “Internet Gaming Disorder” was also proposed for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, but was ultimately shelved for further study due to a lack of evidence supporting its inclusion.
