WHO now officially lists "gaming disorder" as a disease

[StaceyPowers]

At the 72nd World Health Assembly in Geneva, the World Health organization officially declared “gaming disorder” to be a disease. It is now listed in the 11th Revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11).

It is described as "persistent or recurring gaming behavior" that causes a "significant impairment in personal, family, social, educational, occupational or other important areas of functioning.”

What constitutes “impairment?” WHO says, “"impaired control" over gaming, an individual prioritizing gaming over "other life interests and daily activities", and continued gaming activity in "despite the occurrence of negative consequences.””

I’m not sure how I feel about this. The definition seems pretty fair, but there is a lot of gray area in the phrase “significant impairment.”

The most problematic sticking point to me is “an individual prioritizing gaming over ‘other life interests and daily activities.’”

If one really likes gaming, even if it doesn’t cause “negative consequences,” one is going to prioritize it over at least some other life interests and daily activities. And one might be doing this to help treat mental illness, but a psychiatrist could assume it is a symptom or illness itself rather than a treatment.

What are your thoughts on this?

 

[Executor Akamia]

As a layperson, to me, it sounds like a symptom of a bigger problem, but it's nevertheless believable. Without reading papers on the subject, I don't know what the threshold is exactly for "significant impairment". Without anything specific to work with, it could come across as arbitrary.

Edited May 25, 2019 by Executor Akamia

[The Blackangel]

It's an excuse to label those of us that still game in our late 30's as mentally deficient. Nothing more.

[StaceyPowers]

18 hours ago, Executor Akamia said:

As a layperson, to me, it sounds like a symptom of a bigger problem, but it's nevertheless believable. Without reading papers on the subject, I don't know what the threshold is exactly for "significant impairment". Without anything specific to work with, it could come across as arbitrary.

That "significant impairment" language is common in psych diagnoses, and it is indeed problematic. It can go the other way too. I'm getting an eval for high-functioning ASD in a few months. My impairments are significant to me, and have made it a challenge to function in the world--but alas, they are not as glaringly obvious as those in a low-functioning person. There is a tendency for psychologists to shrug and go, "Well, you're getting by, so ..." :/

[skyfire]

I kind of agree, most of the gamers show mix of aggression and the mellowness at the same time. testosterone level of many gamers have gone down. it affected social skills for some and list goes on. I guess it was meant to be a disease eventually. 

[The Blackangel]

4 hours ago, skyfire said:

I kind of agree, most of the gamers show mix of aggression and the mellowness at the same time. testosterone level of many gamers have gone down. it affected social skills for some and list goes on. I guess it was meant to be a disease eventually. 

Luckily though, that effect varies from gamer to gamer. I knew a guy that gaming had the opposite effect on him. He played only the most "manly" games on the market. I heard his mother say that he had had a checkup from the doctor, and his testosterone had gone through the roof. He laid off the games for a few months and it went back down to the normal range. I had known something wasn't right with him, because he was like a bull on steroids. I'm just glad I never slept with him. That would have been a grudge fuck from Hell.

[StaceyPowers]

1 hour ago, The Blackangel said:

Luckily though, that effect varies from gamer to gamer. I knew a guy that gaming had the opposite effect on him. He played only the most "manly" games on the market. I heard his mother say that he had had a checkup from the doctor, and his testosterone had gone through the roof. He laid off the games for a few months and it went back down to the normal range. I had known something wasn't right with him, because he was like a bull on steroids. I'm just glad I never slept with him. That would have been a grudge fuck from Hell.

Are there any research studies on these apparent testosterone effects?

[The Blackangel]

10 hours ago, StaceyPowers said:

Are there any research studies on these apparent testosterone effects?

None that I know of. But I also don't keep up with medical journals and studies either. All I know is that when a guy does something that makes him feel more "manly" it can boost his testosterone production.

[skyfire]

18 hours ago, The Blackangel said:

Luckily though, that effect varies from gamer to gamer. I knew a guy that gaming had the opposite effect on him. He played only the most "manly" games on the market. I heard his mother say that he had had a checkup from the doctor, and his testosterone had gone through the roof. He laid off the games for a few months and it went back down to the normal range. I had known something wasn't right with him, because he was like a bull on steroids. I'm just glad I never slept with him. That would have been a grudge fuck from Hell.

I think manly games are pretty much gone. Except mortal kombat I don't think any manly games have remained. I don't consider soccer and cricket exactly manly games anymore even women and LGBTQ community plays it. And with horizon type games I am kind of worried about type of SJW concepts gone in the head of kids. I don't think there are any research studies on testosterone levels or way to boost it while playing games . But if kids are thinking gender is social construct then definitely testosterone level has dropped to zero for them especially if they are into gaming. 

[StaceyPowers]

 

 

1

5 hours ago, skyfire said:

But if kids are thinking gender is social construct then definitely testosterone level has dropped to zero for them especially if they are into gaming. 

As a Communication major who studied social constructs in depth in university, I do believe gender is a social construct. And I can tell you as someone who experiences chronic pain tied in part to my estrogen levels, that belief has done zero to crash my hormone levels. Plus, if belief were that powerful, trans persons would not require hormone therapy to transition. It doesn't work that way. 

12 hours ago, The Blackangel said:

None that I know of. But I also don't keep up with medical journals and studies either. All I know is that when a guy does something that makes him feel more "manly" it can boost his testosterone production.

I want more testosterone to curb my runaway inflammation. Maybe I need to find ways to feel more "manly," rofl.

[killamch89]

The description is too vague - I can tell the requisite research wasn't done because the variety of gamers is too vast for this definition of "gaming disorder" to properly identify which individuals fall under this category.

[skyfire]

Considering I studied science, I don't consider gender as social construct. It's either two of them or imbalance of both in one category.If we give art graduates the right on science, that would muddy the scientific facts. That's why I feel SJWs should not interfere with scientific facts with their acceptance theories mixed in to muddy the reality. Then again gaming industry along with comics and hollywood are already fallen into SJW schemes, so this mental disorder was bound to happen. 

[The Blackangel]

1 hour ago, skyfire said:

Considering I studied science, I don't consider gender as social construct. It's either two of them or imbalance of both in one category.If we give art graduates the right on science, that would muddy the scientific facts. That's why I feel SJWs should not interfere with scientific facts with their acceptance theories mixed in to muddy the reality. Then again gaming industry along with comics and hollywood are already fallen into SJW schemes, so this mental disorder was bound to happen. 

The problem there is that SJW's are completely bigoted and intolerant. They go nuclear if something doesn't fit into their tiny bubble of "ME ME ME". In their eyes every last person on earth is required to conform to what they want at all times. Individuality is a crime now. If I wasn't in a wheelchair, I would like to stomp every one of them I see into the ground. They are doing nothing good for the world. They are only fucking up literally EVERYTHING they touch.

 

[kingpotato]

I dont think there is such thing as a gaming disorder, people who get "addicted" to videogames are simply people who are too lazy and rather play games instead of working or doing something productive for their life. 

[skyfire]

I am not sure where the issue with SJWs would go though. I mean it has affected normal people too and people who should be struggling and working hard in life are not thinking properly. I guess we have to understand that this is era of change of some sort.