From Newshub. View the original article.
by Dan Satherley
Most parents already know it’s real, but now health officials agree: video game addiction is real.
New Scientist reports the World Health Organization’s International Classification of Diseases was last updated in 1992, and the next version – due 2018 – will recognise gaming addiction as a genuine mental health disorder.
The wording is still being worked on, but the draft text includes a number of symptoms doctors should look out for, including:
- whether the patient gives priority to videogames “to the extent that gaming takes precedence over other life interests”
- an inability to control how often or how long the patient plays
- ignoring the growing negative consequences of the patient’s gaming.
Gaming addiction will fall under the category ‘disorders due to addictive behaviour’ – the same as gambling.
It comes after EA’s popular Star Wars: Battlefront II came under widespread criticism for including ‘loot crates’ – items gamers pay real money for, but don’t know what’s inside – which have been compared to gambling.