Gaming Disorder: A New Diagnostic Category
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ADI JAFFE: Substantial anxiety, depression, isolation, bullying-- environments like that drive more heavy duty reliance on coping strategies. Some people find drugs and alcohol and find that those do a good job for them. Other people find gaming. Other people find porn.
Whatever it is that you find that works, kind of flips your switch and allows you to move away from the discomfort that you're experiencing otherwise, you practice more. And if you practice it enough, and you start relying on it in a heavier and heavier sense in your life, inevitably, you move slowly and gradually towards what we are calling addiction. I just hope that, as we develop an understanding that gaming addiction is a real thing, that people can actually develop severe compulsions around internet games and things of that nature, that we don't fall into the trap of believing that we will find a silver bullet because now we found the diagnosis. There's still individual underlying that. There's still going to be distinguishing factors of why people got into it and what is it that they enjoy about the experience.
WOMAN: There was a time, when I was in middle school, when my entire summer went to playing World of Warcraft and I don't-- didn't do anything else. I spent 15 hours a day playing. So that was an addiction.
It feels a little odd to categorize it as a health issue, but I can see that because there have been issues in the past where streamers have tried to do 24-hour streams. They've collapsed. They've gone to the hospital. I think some guy died. Clearly, there is an issue, and gaming can be very addictive.
MAN: My parents always had pretty strict rules about when I'm allowed to play. I have to do all my homework first on the weekends. I can't wake up early and play video games. So when I was at home, it was pretty regulated. It was like, school came first, and then games.
And then when I went to college, I was kind of on my own. I was just like, video games all day. Wake up late. I don't really feel like going to class. Video games.
CHRISTOPHER MULLIGAN: In the world of technology, if you apply the simple criteria of addiction-- withdrawal symptoms, tolerance, negative consequences over time-- some of the real standards they apply to kids, teens, adults who are compulsively or involved in overuse of technology. So it will allow clinicians and parents also to try to bill for it within insurance, so that's significant. But it also is an important piece of evolution in this recognition of this as a problem, that the World Health Organization recognizes that gaming addiction is an addiction.
It is a problem, and it deserves its own category and deserves credibility. So it's very significant. The issue will continue to be just pushed back, around, is it an addiction, is it not an addiction, and also, a lot of pushback from culture in general.
CAM ADAIR: Originally, when I started gaming, it was fine. I was a healthy kid, happy kid. Played hockey, but eventually, it began to become a problem, and I actually ended up dropping out of high school not once, but twice.
Never graduated. Never went to college, and got to a point where I was pretending to have jobs, playing video games up to 16 hours a day, and eventually actually wrote a suicide note. And that's when I realized I needed to make a change.
At the point where I wrote a suicide note, that's when I realized I no longer felt safe with myself and no longer felt like I could prioritize my health and well-being. So I actually asked my father to help me find a counselor, and he did. And this counselor really helped me start to find more stability and structure in my life, where I could start creating a new life beyond gaming. And it was that feeling of a second chance that I had that really helped me move forward.
It's a very important decision because it helps improve the conversation from what it's been, which is, is video addiction real or not, which actually polarizes gamers because a lot of gamers then feel under attack, saying that their passion is an addiction, which isn't the case. All that we're saying with video game addiction is there's some players who play who struggle with addiction issues, and I believe they deserve support. And I hear from 10s of thousands of them all over the world every single month.
If you're in a situation where either yourself or someone you know is struggling, there is a lot of hope. I believe there's a number of steps we need to take first that's just more prevention. There needs to be more awareness in schools. Parents need to be educated more.
There need to be better resources. There needs to be more professionally trained, professional support services available. And I also believe that it's actually about understanding how these games are designed and why they do hook you so much.
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