Emarian

The American Medical Association will be deciding this month whether or not to recommend that video game and Internet addiction should be included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, reports the Wall Street Journal on its Health Blog.

The House of Delegates, the AMA's decision-making body, will vote on the issue later this month. If they do decide that excessive gaming constitutes a mental disorder, the decision will then be passed upwards to the American Psychiatric Association, which has the final say on these matters.



The decision to vote on the issue comes from a recommendation made by Mohamed K. Khan--chairman of the Council on Science and Public Health--in a ten-page report entitled "Emotional and Behavioural Effects, Including Addictive Potential, of Video Games."

Khan writes that "although video game overuse can be associated with any type of video game," the most common to exhibit signs of addiction were players of massively multiplayer online role-playing games such as World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy XI or EverQuest. He stated, "Current data suggest these individuals are somewhat marginalised socially, perhaps experiencing high levels of emotional loneliness and/or difficulty with real-life social interactions. Current theory is that these individuals achieve more control of their social relationships, and more success in social relationships in the virtual reality realm than in real relationships."

The report states that video game overuse most closely resembles the behaviours associated with pathological gambling. Alongside adults, dependence-like behaviours were also said to be found in children, although it was unclear whether gamers experienced traditional 'withdrawal symptoms' when unable to play. The report reads, "Some excessive users do not exhibit any 'cravings' for the games if they are unavailable, while other users insist they cannot reduce the time they spend on the games."

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"The only journey is the journey within."
- Rainer Maria Rilke

"A ferocious dictator moves countries. A true leader moves continents." -Robert Bernard

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Bitey

Well that is a big load, and anyways sure the games are addicting but it's not like heroin addiction or cocaine so I don't see what the big fuss is all about. Sure people spend most of their time playing the game but who cares!? As long as they aren't breaking the law, paying their taxes and bills, then what ever. It's a democracy we live in and some people seem to forget that.

Emarian

'Nuff Said.

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"The only journey is the journey within."
- Rainer Maria Rilke

"A ferocious dictator moves countries. A true leader moves continents." -Robert Bernard

Do Not Click This Link

Random Turnip

Haha lol, i think iv suffered this with Championship Manager, its a crap game, but seriously, never play it, you'll need to go to rehab!

My brother seems a tad obsessed with Runescape aswell

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steph

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