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The World Health Organization says compulsively playing video games now qualifies as a new mental health condition, in a move that some critics warn may risk stigmatizing young players.
In its latest revision to an international disease classification manual, the UN health agency said Monday that classifying “gaming disorder” as a separate condition will “serve a public health purpose for countries to be better prepared to identify this issue.”
Dr. Shekhar Saxena, director of WHO’s department for mental health, said WHO accepted the proposal that gaming disorder should be listed as a new problem based on scientific evidence.
Dr. Joan Harvey, a spokesperson for the British Psychological Society, warned the new designation might cause unnecessary concern among parents and said only a minority of gamers would be affected.
WHO released a definition for the disorder earlier in the year. The agency defined it as a pattern of behaviour characterized by “impaired control over gaming, increasing priority given to gaming over other activities to the extent that gaming takes precedence over other interests and daily activities, and continuation or escalation of gaming despite the occurrence of negative consequences.”
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