WHO Officially Declared Digital And Video Gaming Addiction As A Mental Health Disorder
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There was a time when children just used to
play physical games with their peers, but today we are in the era of technology
where we are surrounded by lots and lots of gadgets and machines. Today even children’s
are not away from the attraction of the technological world, they have forgotten
the physical games and get addicted to the digital and video games.
In its recent updates World Health
Organization has officially added digital and video game addiction to
International Classification of Diseases (ICD) as a gaming disorder. ICD is
originally designed as a health care classification system which provide a
system of diagnostic codes for classifying diseases, ICD is revised
periodically. The eleventh revision of ICD11 is accepted by WHO’s World Health
Assembly on 25th of May 2019 and will come into effect on 1 January
2022. In ICD 11th revision gaming disorder is defined as a pattern
of gaming behaviour characterized by:
- Impaired control over gaming.
- Giving more priority to gaming over other necessary activities.
- Continuation of gaming even in case of negative consequences.
WHO expert on mental health and substance
abuse, Mr. Shekhar Saxena said “some of the worst cases seen in global research
were gamers used to keep playing for 20 hours a day, and not having proper
meals, sleep, work or other routine activities”.
As per studies gaming disorders do not affects
vast majority of people, but still people who are into the digital and video
gaming activities should be in alert to the time they are spending in digital
world and try not to prioritize your
gaming schedule over the daily activities.
WHO Officially Declared Digital And Video Gaming Addiction As A Mental Health Disorder
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on
May 29, 2019
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