English
Gamereactor
news

WHO expert defends gaming disorder classification

"It provides health professionals the possibility to identify this disorder."

Subscribe to our newsletter here!

* Required field
HQ

Recently the new draft of the International Classification of Diseases (or ICD-11) was released, and in this report there appeard an official classification for "gaming disorder", which has opened a heated debate on whether gaming should be listed as such.

The classification has drawn criticism from a wide variety of experts, but now a World Health Organization expert has responded to the discussion. Dr Vladimir Poznyak, a coordinator of the WHO Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse, has defended the classification to GamesIndustry.biz, saying:

"The inclusion of gaming disorder into classification is that it provides health professionals the possibility to identify this disorder, to diagnose it if it is present, and to link to the client all of the knowledge there is available about gaming disorder. This allows us to predict its cause and to identify the most appropriate prevention and treatment interventions."

In response to the classification, Oxford University professor Andrew Przybylski, who co-wrote a paper titled "A weak scientific basis for gaming disorder: Let us err on the side of caution" has retorted, and while he agrees that the classification is premature, he does believe that this will open up an important debate, and reminds developers and publishers of their important role in people's lives.

"We still obviously think this is premature, but it offers those in the games industry a chance to get realistic about what their role is here," Przybylski writes. "As a kid of open, transparent, and robust science... I really think that the people who make games have a role to play here. We really need to collaborate with the industry. Game makers collect and control so much data and the real problem is that this literature is closed."

What's your take on the whole issue?

WHO expert defends gaming disorder classification


Loading next content