In Geneva today (18 June), the World Health Organization (WHO) presents its new catalogue of recognised diseases, the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11). This catalogue helps to record disease patterns uniformly. For the first time, excessive gaming is defined as a mental disorder and, in addition to burnout, depression and eating disorders, is recorded as a mental illness – and hopefully not simply demonized.
For the first time, the World Health Organization (WHO) classifies excessive gaming as a mental illness and distinguishes between video, Internet and digital to capture consoles, browsers and apps alike. The WHO is mainly concerned with valid statistical statements on the state of health of people around the world. The spread of smartphones goes hand in hand with digital games on mobile devices.
On the one hand, the games market worldwide is worth about 80 billion US dollars, on the other hand, it is not only about shooting games and farm simulations but also about certain talents that can only be solved in the game. Children who have problems with mathematics are known to develop mathematical skills in computer games that cannot be taught otherwise. Last but not least, the game is also part of human culture. Therefore, games are also subject to the change of time. Pac-Man and Super Mario, World of Warcraft and Fallout 4 are just two of them.
The catalogue helps to record disease patterns uniformly without demonising the findings. With the concept of screen time, Apple already offers a promising approach in iOS 12 to keep the digital game on the screen in order. Parents can give their children guidelines without having to forego a game.