Gaming Addiction Officially Recognized As Illness By The World Health Organization

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Participants sit at computer monitors to play video games at the 2018 DreamHack video gaming festival on January 27, 2018 in Leipzig, Germany. The three-day event brings together gaming enthusiasts mainly from German-speaking countries for events including eSports tournaments, cosplay contests and a LAN party with 1,500 participants.
WHO officially considers gaming disorder an official illness.

Gaming culture has become so profitable and popularized over the past few years, it's seems normalized to spend hours on hours playing videos. Some have managed to make it a career while others simply dedicate their downtime to playing video games. Gaming addiction has been studied on numerous occasions and it's become a growing concern, especially with the evolution of gaming. According to Kotaku, the World Health Organization finally recognized gaming as an illness.

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The 194 members of the World Health Organization have officially recognized video gaming addiction as an illness. A decision to add the addiction to its list of disorders was made earlier today at the 72nd World Health Assembly. The 11th edition of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, otherwise known as ICD-11, added "gaming disorder" after the 194 members deemed it a health concern during the assembly.

The ICD-11 defines "a gaming disorder as:

“A pattern of persistent or recurrent gaming behavior (‘digital gaming’ or ‘video-gaming’), which may be online (i.e., over the internet) or offline, manifested by:

1) Impaired control over gaming (e.g., onset, frequency, intensity, duration, termination, context);

2) Increasing priority given to gaming to the extent that gaming takes precedence over other life interests and daily activities; and

3) Continuation or escalation of gaming despite the occurrence of negative consequences. The behavior pattern is of sufficient severity to result in significant impairment in personal, family, social, educational, occupational or other important areas of functioning.”

The decision has previously been combatted by gaming organizations like the Entertainment Software Association who claimed that the decision to add gaming to the list of illnesses “recklessly trivializes real mental health issues like depression and social anxiety disorder.”

The ICD goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2022. 

 


About The Author
Aron A. is a features editor for HotNewHipHop. Beginning his tenure at HotNewHipHop in July 2017, he has comprehensively documented the biggest stories in the culture over the past few years. Throughout his time, Aron’s helped introduce a number of buzzing up-and-coming artists to our audience, identifying regional trends and highlighting hip-hop from across the globe. As a Canadian-based music journalist, he has also made a concerted effort to put spotlights on artists hailing from North of the border as part of Rise & Grind, the weekly interview series that he created and launched in 2021. Aron also broke a number of stories through his extensive interviews with beloved figures in the culture. These include industry vets (Quality Control co-founder Kevin "Coach K" Lee, Wayno Clark), definitive producers (DJ Paul, Hit-Boy, Zaytoven), cultural disruptors (Soulja Boy), lyrical heavyweights (Pusha T, Styles P, Danny Brown), cultural pioneers (Dapper Dan, Big Daddy Kane), and the next generation of stars (Lil Durk, Latto, Fivio Foreign, Denzel Curry). Aron also penned cover stories with the likes of Rick Ross, Central Cee, Moneybagg Yo, Vince Staples, and Bobby Shmurda.
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