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'Gaming disorder' deemed an official illness by World Health Organization

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  • IselinIselin Member LegendaryPosts: 18,719
    DMKano said:
    Xasapis said:
    A great excuse to pump kids with drugs, guilt free.

    Except that game addiction is not treated with drugs but with therapy.

    Behavior modification and counseling - that's how its done.

    Non substance addiction disorders are rarely if ever treated with medication.


    How positively Freudian of them... "Tell me again about that train entering the tunnel, young lady."
    ConstantineMerusJeffSpicoli
    "Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine, without harming the community ... but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It's the invasion of the idiots”

    ― Umberto Eco

    “Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?” 
    ― CD PROJEKT RED

  • ConstantineMerusConstantineMerus Member EpicPosts: 3,338
    Gdemami said:
    ConstantineMerus said:
    And this is just the beginning. When there's a disease/disorder, there's a market. When there's a market, there are going to be products. 
    ...not a begging at all, this has been going as long as psychiatry/psychology "existed".

     There is 3 times more "official disorders" than there was in the 50thies.

    The result? Nearly 50% of Americans suffer some form of disorder in their life-time - and plenty of drugs to prescribe.

    Just from the recent itteration, if you visit France and you happen to be Japanese origin, you should beware of Paris syndom but neither Italy seem to be safe since you can get struck by Florance syndrome if you visit a city of the same name.


    Psychiatry/psychology is just a comedy...altough very lucrative one...
    I meant the beginning of psychiatry and medications for gaming disorder. But yeah you are correct. 
    Constantine, The Console Poster

    • "One of the most difficult tasks men can perform, however much others may despise it, is the invention of good games and it cannot be done by men out of touch with their instinctive selves." - Carl Jung
  • gabrielgoldberggabrielgoldberg Newbie CommonPosts: 2
    Well that's a little bit harsh, isn't it? 
    However, in asian regions it may to seem as mental disorder, where people die 'cause of tiredness. Playin 24/7 without sleep, will get you to the point where you can't respawn no more.
  • PhryPhry Member LegendaryPosts: 11,004
    The report is not credible and the science behind it is sketchy at best as is often the case when agenda driven organisations cherry pick data and ignore 'inconsistencies' that often entirely disprove their arguments. W.H.O is an organisation that as part of the U.N has virtually no credibility these days, anything they say can be safely ignored, honestly just disbanding the U.N would probably be a good step towards ending any number of international 'issues' as they hinder far more than they help, which is virtually never. :/
    ConstantineMerusJeffSpicoliGdemami
  • AmatheAmathe Member LegendaryPosts: 7,630
    Gdemami said:
    Amathe said:
    The 50s were almost 70 years ago. There have been quite a few advancements in science and medicine since then. For example, physicians no longer endorse cigarettes in advertisements. Lobotomies are no longer done. The list goes on and on. But the fact of progress in knowledge is not a sound basis to deny new knowledge. 

    ...maybe re-read your own post and try to think what's wrong with it.
    Or maybe you could learn the difference between announcing that an organization has reached a determination, and personally endorsing the merits of that determination.
    Gdemami

    EQ1, EQ2, SWG, SWTOR, GW, GW2 CoH, CoV, FFXI, WoW, CO, War,TSW and a slew of free trials and beta tests

  • UngoodUngood Member LegendaryPosts: 7,530
    I am glad to see Gaming Addiction finally get some notice. 

    This has been a real, well known thing, since well, EQ was called "Ever Crack" for a reason, and I wager a lot more people got sucked into games and ended up ruining their lives than we all would like to know about. 

    But, I am glad to see this coming more to light, and a realization that this is affecting people, that this is a real problem, like any other kind of addiction, and that people who are in fact suffering from this, need help to handle their addiction, not scorn or mockery, or ridicule. 
    KyleranGdemami
    Egotism is the anesthetic that dullens the pain of stupidity, this is why when I try to beat my head against the stupidity of other people, I only hurt myself.

  • TheocritusTheocritus Member LegendaryPosts: 9,751
    Gaming isn't an illness or mental disorder, it's a choice...just like drugs, alcohol, or anything else we choose to do.
  • HashbrickHashbrick Member RarePosts: 1,851
    Gaming isn't an illness or mental disorder, it's a choice...just like drugs, alcohol, or anything else we choose to do.
    You couldn't be more wrong. The choice is to start doing them, the addiction is how you can't let go once you do.  Some have the power to stop, some don't have the mental capacity to stop.

    I know it might be hard for you to comprehend but there is people out in the world that can't choose for themselves because their "broken brain" does it for them.
    KyleranMadFrenchieGdemamiUngood
    [[ DEAD ]] - Funny - I deleted my account on the site using the cancel account button.  Forum user is separate and still exists with no way of deleting it. Delete it admins. Do it, this ends now.
  • AmatheAmathe Member LegendaryPosts: 7,630
    edited June 2019
    Gaming isn't an illness or mental disorder, it's a choice...just like drugs, alcohol, or anything else we choose to do.
    Anything that can produce pleasure in a person's brain is capable of creating an addiction. Some things are more addictive than others. Chocolate and heroin, for example, can both be addictive - but heroin much more so. 

    Addiction takes three primary forms - psychological, habitual, and physical. Once a person is addicted, their judgment is impaired. Yes, they still have free will, and yes, they still can choose to desist from the addictive behavior. But it can be very hard for them - especially if the addiction produces strong physical side effects.

    A person can quit smoking. People quit smoking all the time. That doesn't mean it isn't really hard to quit, because smoking hammers away at all three addictive forms - psychological, habitual, and physical.   

    I'm not sure where gaming fits into this matrix. I haven't read the studies the WHO relied on. Probably it is more psychological and habitual. 

    In my personal, unproven, undocumented, unscientific opinion, a person addicted to gaming is probably seeking psychological refuge in games as an escape from something that they can't or don't want to cope with in real life.  Not so much that gaming itself is pernicious somehow as an addictive behavior. Take that for what it's worth.
    KyleranMadFrenchieGdemami

    EQ1, EQ2, SWG, SWTOR, GW, GW2 CoH, CoV, FFXI, WoW, CO, War,TSW and a slew of free trials and beta tests

  • GdemamiGdemami Member EpicPosts: 12,342
    Amathe said:
    Or maybe you could learn the difference between announcing that an organization has reached a determination, and personally endorsing the merits of that determination.
    ...if you were bothered to actualy think about it, you would understand that it is one and the same.
    AmatheKyleran
  • GutlardGutlard Member RarePosts: 1,019
    bcbully said:
    What about the physical ailments of this brutal disease?? Wrist pain, digit numbness. Are they at least gonna prescribe some percs??? 
    Don't they just call that puberty?  B)  ;)

    Gut Out!
    KyleranUngood

    What, me worry?

  • GutlardGutlard Member RarePosts: 1,019
    Amathe said:
    The 50s were almost 70 years ago. There have been quite a few advancements in science and medicine since then. For example, physicians no longer endorse cigarettes in advertisements. Lobotomies are no longer done. The list goes on and on. But the fact of progress in knowledge is not a sound basis to deny new knowledge. 

    I'm still waiting for them to get to a point where they can wave a small machine over us to cure most things, like in Star Trek, and yet even as advanced as they are then they STILL need to give shots!

    Gut Out!

    What, me worry?

  • AmatheAmathe Member LegendaryPosts: 7,630
    edited June 2019
    Gutlard said:
    I'm still waiting for them to get to a point where they can wave a small machine over us to cure most things, like in Star Trek, and yet even as advanced as they are then they STILL need to give shots!

    Gut Out!
    What I need waved over me from Star Trek is Yeoman Rand.

    EQ1, EQ2, SWG, SWTOR, GW, GW2 CoH, CoV, FFXI, WoW, CO, War,TSW and a slew of free trials and beta tests

  • laseritlaserit Member LegendaryPosts: 7,591
    Amathe said:
    Gaming isn't an illness or mental disorder, it's a choice...just like drugs, alcohol, or anything else we choose to do.
    Anything that can produce pleasure in a person's brain is capable of creating an addiction. Some things are more addictive than others. Chocolate and heroin, for example, can both be addictive - but heroin much more so. 

    Addiction takes three primary forms - psychological, habitual, and physical. Once a person is addicted, their judgment is impaired. Yes, they still have free will, and yes, they still can choose to desist from the addictive behavior. But it can be very hard for them - especially if the addiction produces strong physical side effects.

    A person can quit smoking. People quit smoking all the time. That doesn't mean it isn't really hard to quit, because smoking hammers away at all three addictive forms - psychological, habitual, and physical.   

    I'm not sure where gaming fits into this matrix. I haven't read the studies the WHO relied on. Probably it is more psychological and habitual. 

    In my personal, unproven, undocumented, unscientific opinion, a person addicted to gaming is probably seeking psychological refuge in games as an escape from something that they can't or don't want to cope with in real life.  Not so much that gaming itself is pernicious somehow as an addictive behavior. Take that for what it's worth.
    Quitting smoking is easy, I've done it a million times ;)

    On a serious note I smoked for 33 years and quit 6 years ago cold turkey. I tried quite a few times before that but was always unsuccessful. In the end it was easy, I believe I was just ready, I didn't really enjoy it anymore, I knew inside that I was just smoking because I was addicted and that realization made quitting that much easier for me.
    AmatheKyleran

    "Be water my friend" - Bruce Lee

  • AmatheAmathe Member LegendaryPosts: 7,630
    laserit said:
    Quitting smoking is easy, I've done it a million times ;)

    On a serious note I smoked for 33 years and quit 6 years ago cold turkey. I tried quite a few times before that but was always unsuccessful. In the end it was easy, I believe I was just ready, I didn't really enjoy it anymore, I knew inside that I was just smoking because I was addicted and that realization made quitting that much easier for me.
    Nice Mark Twain reference. :) 

    I also quit after many years of smoking. While there were many reasons why I should have wanted to quit, in the end I really just got tired of having to stop what I was doing all the time to go smoke. What a pain in the ass that was.
    MadFrenchieHashbrickKyleranlaserit

    EQ1, EQ2, SWG, SWTOR, GW, GW2 CoH, CoV, FFXI, WoW, CO, War,TSW and a slew of free trials and beta tests

  • ConstantineMerusConstantineMerus Member EpicPosts: 3,338
    Amathe said:
    laserit said:
    Quitting smoking is easy, I've done it a million times ;)

    On a serious note I smoked for 33 years and quit 6 years ago cold turkey. I tried quite a few times before that but was always unsuccessful. In the end it was easy, I believe I was just ready, I didn't really enjoy it anymore, I knew inside that I was just smoking because I was addicted and that realization made quitting that much easier for me.
    Nice Mark Twain reference. :) 

    I also quit after many years of smoking. While there were many reasons why I should have wanted to quit, in the end I really just got tired of having to stop what I was doing all the time to go smoke. What a pain in the ass that was.
    Thought that was a Bernard Shaw reference? 
    Constantine, The Console Poster

    • "One of the most difficult tasks men can perform, however much others may despise it, is the invention of good games and it cannot be done by men out of touch with their instinctive selves." - Carl Jung
  • AmatheAmathe Member LegendaryPosts: 7,630
    ConstantineMerus

    EQ1, EQ2, SWG, SWTOR, GW, GW2 CoH, CoV, FFXI, WoW, CO, War,TSW and a slew of free trials and beta tests

  • HashbrickHashbrick Member RarePosts: 1,851
    Amathe said:
    laserit said:
    Quitting smoking is easy, I've done it a million times ;)

    On a serious note I smoked for 33 years and quit 6 years ago cold turkey. I tried quite a few times before that but was always unsuccessful. In the end it was easy, I believe I was just ready, I didn't really enjoy it anymore, I knew inside that I was just smoking because I was addicted and that realization made quitting that much easier for me.
    Nice Mark Twain reference. :) 

    I also quit after many years of smoking. While there were many reasons why I should have wanted to quit, in the end I really just got tired of having to stop what I was doing all the time to go smoke. What a pain in the ass that was.
    So lawmakers made you quit, interesting...
    JeffSpicolilaserit
    [[ DEAD ]] - Funny - I deleted my account on the site using the cancel account button.  Forum user is separate and still exists with no way of deleting it. Delete it admins. Do it, this ends now.
  • MadFrenchieMadFrenchie Member LegendaryPosts: 8,505
    Amathe said:
    laserit said:
    Quitting smoking is easy, I've done it a million times ;)

    On a serious note I smoked for 33 years and quit 6 years ago cold turkey. I tried quite a few times before that but was always unsuccessful. In the end it was easy, I believe I was just ready, I didn't really enjoy it anymore, I knew inside that I was just smoking because I was addicted and that realization made quitting that much easier for me.
    Nice Mark Twain reference. :) 

    I also quit after many years of smoking. While there were many reasons why I should have wanted to quit, in the end I really just got tired of having to stop what I was doing all the time to go smoke. What a pain in the ass that was.
    Thought that was a Bernard Shaw reference? 
    Shaw referencing Twain? :D 
    ConstantineMerus

    image
  • ConstantineMerusConstantineMerus Member EpicPosts: 3,338
    Amathelaserit
    Constantine, The Console Poster

    • "One of the most difficult tasks men can perform, however much others may despise it, is the invention of good games and it cannot be done by men out of touch with their instinctive selves." - Carl Jung
  • PhaserlightPhaserlight Member EpicPosts: 3,072
    DMKano said:
    Xasapis said:
    A great excuse to pump kids with drugs, guilt free.

    Except that game addiction is not treated with drugs but with therapy.

    Behavior modification and counseling - that's how its done.

    Non substance addiction disorders are rarely if ever treated with medication.


    Sorry mate, this just isn't true. 

    From PsychGuides.com on Video Game Addiction Treatment

    "Treatment for video game addiction is similar to that for other addictions. Counseling and behavior modification are the primary means of treating addicted gamers. Together, individual and family counseling are powerful treatment tools. Some treatment facilities incorporate medication in their programs."

    "Although clinical trials are in the early stages, there is some indication that certain medications help video game addicts by altering their brain chemistry to reduce the urge to play. Buproprion, in particular, has appeared to offer help to some addicts by inhibiting norepinephrine and dopamine reuptake. A six-week trial showed that those taking the drug experienced fewer cravings to play."

    I can find a lot more resources, clinical trials, research and articles regarding similar methods. And this is just the beginning. When there's a disease/disorder, there's a market. When there's a market, there are going to be products. 

    Psychiatry is based on medications, not therapy.
    Ugh.  Buproprion.  Want to feel flat all the time with random, intermittent bouts of nervous anger?  Tangoed with that devil for a year back in 2011.  I expect antidepressants will one day be viewed like antibiotics in the medical world.
    ConstantineMerus

    "The simple is the seal of the true and beauty is the splendor of truth" -Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar
    Authored 139 missions in Vendetta Online and 6 tracks in Distance

  • AmatheAmathe Member LegendaryPosts: 7,630
    They also need to add "Gaming Website Disorder."
    Phaserlight

    EQ1, EQ2, SWG, SWTOR, GW, GW2 CoH, CoV, FFXI, WoW, CO, War,TSW and a slew of free trials and beta tests

  • p4ttythep3rf3ctp4ttythep3rf3ct Member UncommonPosts: 194
    While capitalism and big pharma are a real issue, it doesn’t necessarily mean that all mental health issues are scams. A year ago I suffered the worst, and my first, panic attack while driving. I literally turned into a drooling vegetable behind the wheel (after first thinking I was having a heart attack, and then a stroke as I began to lose body control). It left me in the hospital flopping around like a fish out of water for three hours. I’ve now had a year of CBT, EDRM (which Gave the best results so far) and chose to enlist a psychiatrist because at the age of 42 I literally lost the ability to drive in the blink of an eye. The psych tried some SSRIs which totally sucked in my case, and since that date if I have to drive I either need to get drunk or eat Xanax (or risk another panic attack which has happened...usually they are just anxiety attacks though). Mental health issues are very real and sometimes therapy isn’t enough, certainly not in the short term, not in my case. I clearly don’t enjoy having to take Xanax to drive, it kinda ruins the day...imagine having to Xanax out just to go to work, it blows (I work from home now, 4/5 days of the week as a result...I don’t anticipate a raise or bonus this year as a result of loss of FaceTime with my team and boss); but until I can get behind the wheel of a car again without being a clear and present danger to myself and other people on the road I am happy to have the option of some medication. 

    That's just, like, my opinion, man.

  • AdamantineAdamantine Member RarePosts: 5,085
    edited July 2019
    Xasapis said:
    A great excuse to pump kids with drugs, guilt free.
      [Bingo]
    I am curious: to what end?
    Um, you dont know ?!?

    Why, for making money off a person that "needs treatment" ?

    Doctors love to tell you you're ill so they can make money of "treating" your "problem".

    Pretty much like people start wars so they can make money selling weapons. Thats after all one of the core reasons why the USA is constantly at war, the "military-industrial complex", how republican president Eisenhower called it, wants more profit.

    Or like people like speculation with food, even if that raises food prices and will have murderous effects on people in developing countries, i.e. many people will starve, and some starve to death, just because food got too expensive for them.

    Compared to that, doctors telling you you have a problem when you really dont is relatively harmless.



    P.s.: OK I didnt noticed when I was writing this but of course many doctors are doctors because they want to help people. So a good doctor will indeed only treat you if they think honest to god that you have a problem. Still that doesnt stop other people, namely the pharmacy industry, trying to influence doctors to think that people need treatment, who dont.
    Post edited by Adamantine on
  • AdamantineAdamantine Member RarePosts: 5,085
    While capitalism and big pharma are a real issue, it doesn’t necessarily mean that all mental health issues are scams. A year ago I suffered the worst, and my first, panic attack while driving. I literally turned into a drooling vegetable behind the wheel [...]. 
    Well, no argument there.

    But I cant think of a reason why gaming addiction would be a thing, or worse how anyone would need medication because of "gaming addiction".

    Good games are just like, say, good food.

    Sure there might be a person of poor impulse control that, when subjected to good food, might eat too much of it, even up to the point of killing themselves.

    So yes, too much of a good thing ... can be really bad.

    But - thats not what an addiction is. An addition is a behavior against the will of the addicted person. Granted, the person killing themselves with eating too much food didnt want to die. They wanted to eat that food though.

    Also, people might play too much of a game if their life sucks. Which, granted, might be because the game was so good they played it too much. That still isnt addiction. These people still want to actually play that game. These people still play because they enjoy the experience.

    Gdemami
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