Many parents already have concerns, but some may now have a new argument for limiting their children’s “screen time”: gaming addiction has been recognized by World Health Organization as a mental health disorder.
The WHO’s International Classification of Diseases (ICD), a reference bible of recognized and diagnosable diseases, describes addiction to digital and video gaming as “a pattern of persistent or recurrent gaming behavior” that becomes so extensive it “takes precedence over other life interests.” The WHO’s expert on mental health and substance abuse, Shekhar Saxena, said some of the worst cases seen in global research were of gamers playing for up to 20 hours a day, forgoing sleep, meals, work or school and other daily activities.
He stressed that only a small minority of people who play digital and video games would develop a problem, but said recognition of early warning signs may help prevent it. “This is an occasional or transitory behavior,” he said, adding that only if such behavior persists for around a year could a potential diagnosis of a disorder be made.
Photo: AFP
照片：法新社
Responding to the decision to including gaming addiction, the Video Games Coalition — an industry lobby group — said their products were “enjoyed safely and sensibly by more than 2 billion people worldwide” across all kinds of genres, devices and platforms. It added that the “educational, therapeutic, and recreational value” of games was well-founded and widely recognized and urged the WHO to reconsider.
The ICD, which has been updated over the past 10 years, covers 55,000 injuries, diseases and causes of death. It forms a basis for the WHO and other experts to see and respond to trends in health. “It enables us to understand so much about what makes people get sick and die, and to take action to prevent suffering and save lives,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement as the ICD was published. The ICD is also used by health insurers whose reimbursements depend on ICD classifications.
This latest version — known as ICD-11 — is completely electronic for the first time, in an effort to make it more accessible to doctors and other health workers around the world. ICD-11 also includes changes to sexual health classifications. Previous editions had categorized sexual dysfunction and gender incongruence, for example, under mental health conditions, while in ICD-11 these move to the sexual health section. The latest edition also has a new chapter on traditional medicine.
The updated ICD is scheduled to be presented to WHO member states at their annual World Health Assembly in May 2019 for adoption in January 2022, the WHO said in a statement.
(Reuters)
許多父母對子女的「螢幕時間」憂心忡忡許久，不過現在他們對遊玩時間限制有了新的理論依據──電玩遊戲成癮已被世界衛生組織認定為一種精神疾患。
世界衛生組織所訂定的國際疾病分類標準（ICD），是醫界對於已辨認且可確診疾病的參考聖經，其中針對數位及電玩遊戲成癮的描述是「一種持續或一再復發沉迷於遊戲的行為型態」，影響生活範圍逐漸擴大，以至於「優先程度超過其他生活興趣」的地步。世衛組織心理健康和濫用藥物部門的專家薛卡‧薩克納表示，在全球研究中，有些最嚴重的成癮案例一天玩電玩多達二十小時，棄睡眠、正餐、工作、學業等日常活動於不顧。
薩克納強調，只有少數玩家會出現這類問題，但也表示，及早辨識警示的徵兆將可協助防止這類問題發生。他指出：「電玩成癮是一種非常態或相當短暫的行為模式，」並補充說，只有在這類行為持續一整年的情況下，才有可能被診斷為疾患。
面對電玩成癮被納入疾病分類標準的決定，電玩產業遊說團體Video Games Coalition表示，它們的產品跨越所有遊戲類型、設備、平台，「世界各地超過二十億人安全而合理的享受」電玩遊戲。該團體也補充說，電玩遊戲的「教育性、治療性，以及娛樂性價值」是有充分根據並且廣泛受到認同，他們強烈主張世衛組織重新考慮此決定。
國際疾病分類標準過去十年來持續增修，目前涵蓋五萬五千多種傷害、疾病，以及死亡原因，是世衛組織與其他專家學者觀察並回應世界衛生趨勢的基礎。隨著國際疾病分類標準發行新版本，世衛組織秘書長譚德塞在一份聲明中表示：「這份分類標準讓我們能深入了解人們生病與死亡的原因，並採取行動預防更多人受苦，拯救更多生命。」國際疾病分類標準也經常被健康保險業者採用，按其中分類核發保險理賠金。
最新的版本稱為ICD-11，是首次完全電子化的版本，為的是讓世界各地的醫生和衛生工作者更容易取得。ICD-11也包括性健康分類的修訂變更。舉例來說，之前的版本將性功能障礙與性別不一致分類到心理健康狀況的章節底下，ICD-11將兩者移到性健康的分類底下。最新的版本還加入一整段全新的傳統醫學章節。
世衛組織在一份聲明中表示：更新後的國際疾病分類標準預計在二○一九年五月的年度世界衛生大會上提供給世衛組織會員國，並於二○二二年一月開始採用。
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