What does this mean? In short, it means that doctors would be able to start giving official diagnoses of the condition as well as prescribe medication and other treatments for the specific diagnosis.This move, while important, is not unprecedented. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) already noted “Internet Gaming Disorder” as worthy of further study for potential recognition as a disorder.What this does not mean, however, is that playing games as a hobby or as employment, even for lengthy periods, is necessarily qualified as a disorder. The WHO stresses that in order to be a disorder, the behavior needs to be “of sufficient severity to result in significant impairment in personal, family, social, educational, occupational or other important areas of functioning.”
Regardless, the attention is an important step in the recognition of gaming as a growing mainstream interest, with the good and bad that entails.
