In May, so-called “gaming disorder” was added to the list of health problems in the World Health Organization’s disease classification. Some gaming industry proponents contested the inclusion because they fear “the newly classified disorder problematizes all gaming,” the Jakarta Post reported, and “pathologizes” an otherwise normal form of entertainment.
The WHO says gaming disorder is marked by ongoing or escalated gaming despite negative consequences over a course of 12 months.
Koo Ja-hyun, a psychiatrist at a mental health center in South Korea, said he’s often seen people with the disorder in his practice, especially teenagers. Lee Hae-kook, a psychiatrist and WHO mental health consultant, said the classification followed a “thorough review of its public health implications.”
“For those not in the health and medical sectors to object (to the classification), especially out of other conflicting interests, is not only puzzling but also irrelevant from where WHO stands,” he added.
At a July 3 discussion of the problem sponsored by the Korean Psychological Association, Ahn Woo-young, a psychology professor at Seoul National University, said the behavioral problem could cause neurologic changes in the brain similar to those seen in other addictions. “Addiction is a brain disorder. By which I mean, addiction is not only psychological but also neurological,” Ahn said. “All addiction activates the dopamine reward circuits in the brain—including the addictive usage of games.”
“Increasingly more research reveals that video gaming and other gaming disorders—while less researched than substance addiction—involve neurological changes in brain structure,” he said.
But Bang Seung-ho, who offers “gaming detox” sessions for children and adolescents, questioned the new classification, saying that in his experience, “Medical intervention was not necessary in helping kids cut down on gaming.”
Lee Deok-jong, an addiction psychiatrist at National Health Insurance Service Hospital in Ilsan, noted that behavioral addiction “does not necessarily involve biological tolerance or withdrawal symptoms, as with substance addiction, in which chemical substances are directly involved in the development of the disease.”
However, he added, “Arguing that gaming disorder is less of a health threat because it does not bear the characteristics of say, alcohol addiction, lacks understanding of the fundamental difference between a substance addiction and a behavioral addiction.”
