Gaming Disorder? It's total bullshit. Here's why...

So, unless you live under a rock, you've probably heard the most ridiculous news of 2017 thus far (politics don't count, that's always a shit show). Gaming Disorder will potentially be recognized by the World Health Organization as a real disorder in 2018. 

So why is this bullshit? Here's my red flags so far.

1. The entry includes a clinical description, but not prevention and treatment options.

From USA Today's article on the subject:

"A draft of WHO's 11th update of International Classification of Diseases characterizes the disorder as "recurrent" gaming behavior manifested by "impaired control over gaming," "increasing priority given to gaming," and "escalation of gaming despite the occurrence of negative consequences.""

Ok, and? What is triggering the behavior? This is addressing a symptom, but not a single possible cause of the symptom. You could replace "gaming" with literally anything without changing the context. This more sounds like it describes something akin to a gambling addiction, or any other kind of addiction. Addiction is caused by other mental issues that reside in the patient, i.e. depression or anxiety. It isn't worthy of being called a disorder, because it simply isn't one.

2. There have been several studies debunking video game's influence on violent and/or misogynist behavior, or studies "proving" the video game's influence have been discredited due to poor methodology and/or bias.

There have been many studies done about video game's influences on development and behavior, many of which came post-Columbine trying to explain the killers' behavior. However, much of those studies have not found a good correlation between gameplay and violence, both type and amount. Nowadays, the feminist movement has tried and failed several times to prove that video games such as GTA V promote misogyny.  Often the questionnaires are poorly worded, forcing test subjects to pick extreme answers other than something on the middle ground. The data is then manipulated to fit an ideology that is trying to be proven by the researchers, other than be any kind of objective.

3. Organizations such as the World Health Organization represent countries that have little to no experience with video games.

Many of the countries do not have video games as popular past times. Out of the list of representatives, these countries do not have much experience in video games (either banned or just not popular):

• Albania
• Congo
• Eritrea (also called the most censored country in the world)
• Gambia
• Kazakhstan
• Liberia
• Nepal

4. Organizations such as the WHO and APA (American Psychological Association) are not concerned about actual health issues, just making more diagnosable disorders so psychologists can make more money.

I often think back to a story my boyfriend told me. When he was young, like first grade young, his teacher told his mother that he should be on ADHD medication because he was "hyper". He was literally a kid just being a kid. Granted, the teacher was not a psychologist, but a psychologist had sold her on the fact that her own kid needed to be medicated, and she passed her new-found "wisdom" to my boyfriend's mom. He had not been, nor ever will be, on medication for psychological issues- simply because he has none. 

5. This type of behavior is often caused by over-reliance on "digital babysitters" when children are young, which can lead to them associating video games with good behavior later on.

This is purely me bullshitting at this point, but I've noticed something about the kids today- they're always playing with tablets. Phones. Watching Peppa Pig on YouTube. Playing games on mommy's phone. I'm beginning to think that this is an issue with parenting, more than it is about an actual disorder. It's like the ADHD diagnosis craze all over again. There will be, once again, a huge influx of kids stoned out of their minds, and what for? Because of something that psychologists refuse to understand or are simply too greedy to care about what they are diagnosing people with? Because parents don't know their own child enough to understand what's going on with them, or are simply too busy  to deal with bad behavior?

Simply put, stop relying on digital babysitters and we most likely won't have this issue. Talk to your kids about what they are playing and be open minded. Don't buy GTA for your eight year old, for the love of God. Set limits on time early on. By setting boundaries (and sticking to them!!) you will form healthier gaming habits for your kid.  

6. I'm someone who plays video games for hours on end if I choose to, but I'm still a pretty-well adjusted adult.

My parents often criticize me for playing video games, but I still go to work almost full time. Still go to school and make decent grades. I hold good relationships and have plenty of friends, IRL and online. I cook, clean, and try to take as good of care of myself as I can. While the disorder isn't limited to excessive time spent gaming, the definition seems to suggest that the excessive time spent leads to aggressive behavior, which is a stupid correlation to make. If there's one thing I've learned in every class I've done data analysis for, or any kind of science at all, really, is that causation does not equal correlation.

Whew! That was a doozy of a rant, but I needed to write what I was thinking and feeling. In fact, why don't we do a petition? Sign it here and tell the WHO that we aren't mentally ill because we love to game.