According to the Spanish "Nation" website, next year, WHO will identify the "Gaming Disorder" caused by indulging in games as a mental illness and include the new version of the International Classification of Diseases, which will be released next year.
In an interview, Vladimir Poznyak, director of the Mental Health and Substance Abuse Department of the WHO, said: WHO has done more than a decade of research and consideration on whether game disorders are included in mental illnesses. Now WHO believes it has met the relevant standards.
According to the description in the draft International Classification of Diseases, "disorder of the game" is characterized by continuous or over-frequent play of games, including online games and video games, with the following three characteristics.
The first is to play the game, can not control the start and end time, frequency, intensity, duration and situation, etc .; the second is to play the game priority placed on other important matters and daily activities; Finally, over-play negative game After the consequences appear, still maintain this pattern of behavior and even further strengthened.
Obviously, such a person is not uncommon.
Vladimir Poszniak, head of the WHO Department of Mental Health and Drug Abuse, said: "Health care professionals should recognize that game disorders can have a serious health impact." He also noted that while most People who play the game do not have a game disorder, just like most people who drink alcohol do not have alcohol disorders, but in some cases over-playing the game can have negative consequences. '
According to the draft, game disturbances can have a serious impact on life, and judgments of game disorders usually require one year of diagnosis, but this can be shortened if the symptoms are severe or meet all the conditions for diagnosis.
Internet addiction has long been included in mental illness. The earliest Internet addiction standards developed by China .2008 in November, by the Beijing Military Region General Hospital formulated the first clinical diagnosis of Internet Addiction "through expert testimony, play games Addiction was formally included in the diagnosis of 'mental illness.' In 2013, the "Clinical Diagnostic Criteria for Internet Addiction" was officially included in the Fifth Edition of the Handbook of Mental Illness Diagnostics and Statistics, edited by the American College of Psychiatry.
As early as 2007, the medical community has argued that game addiction, like alcohol addiction, is classified as a mental disorder, but at the time it was opposed by experts at the American Addiction Medicine Association, and now with the proliferation of smartphones, games The influence is greatly enhanced, the problem of addiction is also increasingly prominent.
However, given the game company's influence, the inclusion of game addiction can trigger controversy, protests and lobbying in the industry. "Game disorders" may even be popularized into common sense in people's daily lives Go through some games.