Do you play Candy Crush and Pokeman GO on your smartphone all day ? Do you play Solitaire on your PC screen in-between work assignments ? Once you go home, do you fire up the Playstation 4 and play “God of War” for three hours non-stop ? Do you think of video games even when you do other work?
Then, in common parlance, you are “crazy” about video games. But now, medical authorities think so too. The World Health Organization (WHO) is set to announce “Gaming Disorder” as a new mental health condition to be included in the 11th edition of its International Classification of Diseases. A diagnosis standard, the ICD defines the universe of diseases, disorders, injuries and other related health conditions. Researchers use it to count deaths, diseases, injuries and symptoms, and doctors and other medical practitioners use it to diagnose disease and other conditions. In many cases, health care companies and insurers use the ICD as a basis for reimbursement.
The expectation is that the classification of gaming disorder means health professionals and systems will be more “alerted to the existence of this condition” while boosting the possibility that “people who suffer from these conditions can get appropriate help.” The WHO has identified three major diagnostic features or characteristics of the gaming disorder.
One is that the gaming behaviour takes precedence over other activities to the extent that other activities are taken to the periphery or altogether neglected. The second feature is “impaired control of these behaviours,” and “even when the negative consequences occur, this behaviour continues or escalates.” The third feature is that the condition leads to significant distress and impairment in personal, family, social, educational or occupational functioning.
The impact is real, according to officials and may include “disturbed sleep patterns, like diet problems, like a deficiency in the physical activity.” The main characteristics are “very similar” to the diagnostic features of substance use disorders and gambling disorder.
Since this is a clinical condition, a clinical diagnosis can apparently be made only by health professionals who are properly trained to do that.
Most interventions or treatments for gaming disorder are based on the principles and methods of cognitive behavioural therapy. Different types of support are also suggested, including psychosocial interventions: social support, understanding of the conditions and family support.
Some gamers may also be addicted to coffee or chewing gum to keep awake during all-night sessions, which could be adverse from a health point of view. A few could even be addicted to tobacco and illegal narcotics. Curiously, some gamers actually use gaming as an aid to dial down their depression or anxiety, so the doctors have to take his aspect too into consideration.
Excessive gaming has other implications too. Prolonged exposure to a computer screen without proper safeguards may be bad for the eyes in the long run.
Most gamers sit throughout the day playing their games, so they hardly have any outdoor exposure or exercise. This sedentary pose could cause many health problems including obesity.
Many studies have shown that hardcore gamers, who live in a world of their own, do not like to interact much with other people. They may connect with other gamers online, but their family relationship takes a back seat.
There is also a notion that violent video games, especially, the so-called First Person Shooters (where the player is the shooter/sniper) may leave a lasting impression among youngsters that violence is the correct way to deal with various issues. Copycat violence which mirrors for real what happens in movies and video games is another problem.
Some countries have banned video games that glorify or show excess violence and most give a rating (such as 18+ only) for parents to identify whether a particular game is good or bad. It is also quite possible for someone to believe that the worlds and scenarios depicted in video games are real, especially, with Virtual Reality (VR) games literally coming into play. For example, with VR, someone can ‘land’ on an alien planet and shoot the alien animals.
Fortunately for Sri Lanka, the gaming community here is very restricted in terms of numbers and scope. Most people cannot afford to pay around Rs.100,000 for a gaming console (Microsoft Xbox One/Sony Playstation4) or Rs. 300,000-400,000 for a dedicated gaming PC.
There is, however, a large number of people who play games on their smartphones and tablets, which could be equally addictive. And many, if not all, of these games are free to play which increases their appeal to the ordinary gamer who cannot afford the nearly Rs.8,000 or so needed to import a physical game or download it online.
It goes without saying that not all gamers are addicted and that not all games are addictive. It would be quite acceptable to play a game for a couple of hours, even every day. And some games can be quite educational and informative too. There are many software programmes and video games designed for young children that build up their cognitive and literacy skills. Some can simulate adults’ brain too. Games such as SimCity challenge the players to plan and build vast cities from scratch – it takes skill and the deployment of many strategies to do this. However, the challenge is to prevent children from migrating to the more adult-oriented, violent games.
People can also get addicted to other forms of entertainment and even web portals such as Facebook. There are many who constantly check the news feed on Facebook every few seconds and comment on everything that appears therein. People can even get addicted to getting selfies every couple of hours a day, which is definitely a mental condition. There is even a term for it – Selfitis. It is a genuine mental condition and people who feel compelled to continually post pictures of themselves on social media may need help, say psychologists.
The findings of such a research, published in the International Journal of Mental Health confirmed that there are three levels of selfitis. Borderline cases are people who take selfies at least three times a day, but do not post them on social media. Next is the ‘acute’ phase of the disorder where the pictures are posted. In the third ‘chronic’ stage, people feel an uncontrollable urge to take photos of one’s self round the clock, posting them more than six times a day.
Other technologically related mental health disorders which have been identified in recent years include ‘nomophobia’ the fear of not being near a mobile phone, ‘technoference’, the constant intrusion of technology in everyday life, and ‘cyberchondria’, feeling ill after searching online for symptoms of illness.
The key here is to use technology moderately for our benefit, without being over-reliant on it or being addictive. We should be masters of technology, not its slaves.