W.H.O Officially Recognizes Video Game Addiction As A Mental Disorder

The World Health Organization (WHO) created an International Classification of Diseases (ICD) to categorize and define health disorders. After careful consideration doctors are urging parents to monitor their children’s “screen time” as it could have lasting effects on their mental health.

The ICD is updated habitually and features over 50,000 different disorders, injuries, and causes of death. Over the weekend, WHO officially added a form of video game addition called “Gaming Disorder” to the ICD as a mental health disease.

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Video game addiction consists of “a pattern of persistent or recurrent gaming behavior [that] takes precedence over other life interests,” according to WHO. Shekhar Saxena, a WHO substance mental health and abuse expert, explains that the organization conducted global research on the phenomenon before putting video game addiction in the ICD.

The organization found that the worst cases involved gamers playing up to 20 hours a day, neglecting food, sleep, and other daily activities.