Macau to adapt diagnostic criterion for video game addiction

The World Health Organization (WHO) has officially included gaming disorder in its list of mental health conditions, after announcing late last year that the addiction would be classified as a mental health disorder to be included in the 11th revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11).

Last week, the organization announced that gaming disorder would be listed under “disorders due to addictive behaviors” in the globally recognized compendium of medical conditions and diagnoses.

The draft will be presented at the World Health Assembly in May 2019, and is scheduled to come into effect on January 1, 2022.

The organization noted in a statement that the disseminated information was an “advance preview” to give countries time to prepare and train people for its implementation.

A diagnostic criterion for video gaming addiction will be published this year, which will be adapted by Macau with minor adjustments in accordance with local conditions.

A consultant at the Health Bureau (SSM), Chen Chan Hang, observed that video gaming addiction in the SAR seems to be less serious than that in the neighboring region, noting that SSM receives an average of three to five cases of children  suspected of having such an addiction.

According to a TDM report, the youngest patient was in junior primary school. “For example, if a person has to go to school for six hours but is unable to do so due to video games, then this is considered an impact on their performance,” said Chen.

“Another criterion is psychological. […] This creates an internal struggle and affects their mental health being,” he said.

The doctor encouraged parents to use video games as a reward to motivate their children to achieve better academic performance.

“If they are not doing well, restrictions should be imposed. This creates a principle of reward and children will work for it,” explained Chen.

He also suggested that more activities should be organized for children and teenagers to distract them from turning to video games.

Earlier this year, a scholar told the Times that the disorder can receive additional clinical and research attention if the addiction has been classified as a disorder.

Brian Hall, associate professor at the University of Macau’s Department of Health, Behavior and Society, previously acknowledged that there is limited data available on video gaming addiction on Macau.

He expressed the hope that there would be more population-representative studies on such issues for locals so that they could be more aware of the true prevalence of behavioral health issues.

“We currently don’t have the data to support these kinds of casual statements – most of the work in the area is cross-sectional,” the scholar said.

The inclusion of gaming addiction as a mental disorder has gathered some criticism from mental health professionals, however WHO has said that the decision was “based on a full review of global evidence, as well as consultation with experts from all regions of the world.”  LV