An addiction is a mental disorder (in most cases). Addictions can form for a lot of reasons. Some of them can be relatively harmless, but in most cases an addiction impairs someone's ability to function properly. An addiction is definitely not the same as just really liking something.

I think a lot of the kneejerk reactions to this issue are due to people misunderstanding the WHO's position, feeling attacked, and jumping to the defense of themselves and their hobby, when it reality neither is actually under attack.

If one reads the definition of gaming disorder, it's not talking about 99.9% of gamers, it's talking about the most severe and dysfunctional 0.1%, just as the term alcoholism does not refer to the vast majority of those who consume alcoholic beverages.

I'll never understand why gaming gets the brunt of this kind of criticism. If it's not some sort of moral panic by either the Religious right or the Social Justice left, then its by these so called psychological or medical "experts" claiming that gaming can cause some sort of psychological harm or addiction. Like, why don't we ever hear this sort of thing about television or movies? Which I sure these same people spend hours upon hours vegging out mindlessly in front of watching stupid garbage on network and cable TV. At least gaming forces you to use your brain a little bit.

Not a chance you can convince me hour for hour that TV is better than gaming. You see TV has commercials/advertisements that can literally brainwash people. As for the non advertisement kind like Netflix, I have definitely seen much worse tv marathons than video games.

Books and movies might have been hyperbole on my part, but they also often have marathons much like video games.

That's interesting...

Gambling addiction isn't classified as a disorder. Over consumption of television isn't classified as a disorder. Caffiene addiction isn't classified as a disorder. Steroid addiction isn't classified as a disorder. Over consumption of internet isn't classified as a disorder.

Why? Because none of these activities explicitly indicate that there's something dysfunctional with their brain - as opposed to an eating disorder. Engaging in anti social activities in excess doesn't mean your diagnosed with a disorder. If that was the case, we'd have a real f***ing problem on our hands. Gee, I wonder if the reason why people who have social interaction/integration problems is because they have anxiety? Or perhaps they're misanthropic? Or maybe they're polygamists who are normally accustomed to not getting out much?

There are WAY TOO MANY variables to consider when just labeling an addicted gamer to having a "disorder". Disorder is a strong word when put in the same sentence as a human - because it indicates there's something mentally dysfunctional about them.

What a blanket statement, the WHO, along with many politicians - STILL have no god damn clue about how video games work, and the effect that it has on the human mind.

No god damn wonder video games still has a stigma to it.

Thank you .

Addiction is a mental disorder, usually triggered by psycho-social conditions and environmental factors.

An 8 year old is not free to choose what they spend their time on, that's ridiculous, are you seriously suggesting that children be allowed to make their own rules and manage their own time at all points? If your kid spends all day inside, they will lack training and understanding in social interaction, reading and emitting non-verbal signals, cooperative capabilities, interpersonal skills and traits such as empathy and ability to compromise. In addition, these kids often suffer from various symptoms due to lack of exposure to sunlight, one-tracked diet and quite often poor personal hygiene. To understand the implications and consequences of too much time spent with playing games or similar pastimes, you need to see the effects in front of you and how it affects them down the line. If the mentioned 8 year old only wants to eat sausages and fries and drink Coke all day and change his clothes every other week, is he still better off deciding for himself that his preferences are okay? He doesn't want to see the doctor, go to the dentist, go to school? Stay up late at night? All okay, right, because we can't possible decide for him?

Kids, especially boys, with neuropsychiatric disorders are hit the worst by this form of addiction and it becomes really complicated.

A few other points; no is calling anyone crazy, absolutely no one. As for sex, we are biologically and psychologically made for sex and intimacy, the same cannot be said for substance use/abuse or being glued to screens and games. I've spent the last five years working in youth psychiatry, specializing in neuropsychiatry and kids with Asperger, ADHD, Tourettes and OCD, and about half of our kids are addicted to games and gaming, if their access to games is limited, they often spend their time watching other people play on youtube or twitch. None of them are crazy, but they have major issues for sure. I'm currently educating myself on this particular subject and intend to start doing consulting on videogame addiction across my two home countries, it's sorely needed. I'm also going to focus on smaller children and parent synergy where parents are unwittingly damaging their infant/toddler attachment period and normalizing screens and devices as a means of distraction and stimulation rather than physically doing it themselves, the latest reports from child psychology is gloomy stuff, the prescription of antidepressants to children under 1 year of age has exploded in the past decade or so.

I wasn't making a value statement, just explaining the science behind it. Video games are more effective at tapping into your rewards center because they require more active engagement.

On a personal note, while I've definitely had some pretty atrocious movie marathons and it cost me sleep that I would have bitterly needed, I've never neglected base needs like hunger, thirst or the need for the loo because of it. Mostly because there are scheduled breaks (between episodes, between movies, commercial breaks, pause button, whatever) and there's much less active engagement. The movie will keep playing even if you walk away, it does not require your input or change dynamically based on your input, both major factors for creating an endorphine response. On the other Hand I have definitely ignored my bladder while gaming and that is a telltale sign of an effective endophine response trigger cicle.

Now commercials and manipulation in that regard are an entirely diffrent topic.

Just like too much of everything can become a problem. lol

Of course gaming too much is bad - just like fapping 20 times a day everyday is probably not great for you either, everything should be in moderation. I don't this is attacking gamers for what they do, but playing consistently to the point it affects your actual effects your life is absolutely an issue (recently a huge deal was made about an NHL prospect who likely will never play because of a video game addiction).