“Gaming Disorder” a diagnosis in the ICD-11

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‘Gaming Disorder:’ WHO declares compulsive playing a mental health problem

Not surprising. Computer games have caused addiction-like problems for a couple decades now. Men ignoring their baby, and the baby drowns in the next room because dad is on a gaming binge on the computer. Stories like that.

I spent a lot of time with playing computer games, my family told me I am addicted. My problem was not addiction, but I felt alone. This reality was not worth anything and in computer game I could explore new world, I could have friends ingame. In reality it was impossible for me. Later I stopped playing, when I got the opportunity and started to be interested how it works. I read code, fixed game bugs in DB. Now is my job similar to my earlier hobby.

I don't know maybe I was not really addicted and other people have other experience. But I think if someone spend a lot of time with playing computer games, he has probably different problem than computer games addiction and games are escape from this reality.

I have heard of iDisorder. I wonder if that will ever go in the book? It's with people being too obsessed with their phones and social media.

Where is the difference between game addiction and special interest?

I think with a special interest, you can still choose to quit and do something else. I don't mean you quit permanently but I mean take a break from it just to spend time with family and to take care of your kids and go to work and then do it in your free time. Basically aspies are making this choice to do their special interest and skip out on the important things and avoiding people because of it. Addicts don't have a choice and they get anxious when pulled away from it. That is how people feel with social media if they can't check their messages or their social media page. I had no idea it had gotten that bad. I don't get anxious if I can't do it. Same as for special interests. Yes there are aspies out there who get anxious when pulled from their special interest but maybe they are addicted too . The ones I know do make time for their interests and do other things.

As far as I know, autistic parents don't neglect their kids needs over their special interests. They may set timers and stuff due to executive functioning because they lose track of time and have a hard time with transitions, not because they are addicted. But I doubt they get anxious when they are not with their special interest and there is a difference between it being taken from them and them taking it away from themselves. At least they know they can go back to it when they want to and can.

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Last edited by naturalplastic on 19 Jun 2018, 10:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.

That can be, and often is, true of chemical addictions. They are really caused by some other issue in the person's life.

Though with chemical addictions you seldom luck into a career job (unless you become a dealer) via the addiction. Lol!

Gaming disorder may be recently identified but I could argue it's existence for quite some time. Have a look at "the Zero Sum Bias " on wikipedia.

I have in family one gambler. He is bored, he doesn't have any hobbies. I think nothing enjoy him and for him gambling can be excitement. I think he may have something like ADHD or maybe it's caused his addiction on caffaine, I think he has problems with attention, self-control... He lost a lot of money. When he loses, he regrets it, but he doesn't try solve it. Really I can't understand why his parents do nothing, because he can cause them problems in future if he will indebt.

And second boy doesn't work, he at home plays on computer and watch youtube. He failed with study on high school due to absence. He had few friends, he knows better fit in group of peers than me or my husband. He had some job offers and he rejected it or worse he promissed he will come and then he didn't come when he had to. Then he had some stupid excuses like he had to walk dog. I think he is lazy, his most problem is that he doesn't have to work, parent's let him, they don't try solve it. But I can be wrong.

I spent in game a lot of time, I played it for several years. I played when I could, often all day. Often in school breaks or at lectures at school. When my parents restricted me access to Internet, I was angry or unhappy. But when I needed learn for exam, I learned and when I had more interesting alternative what to do, I could stop playing.

- The first boy is clear gambler and this is worst, because he can make problems not only self but his parents too.
- Is according to you the second boy addicted?
- Was according to you I addicted?
- I didn't have friends before I started with gaming. I lost nothing due to the game, on the contrary it helped me find some friends online, later find job and my husband.
And someone, who had some friends and will lose them because game or don't go into school and rather he plays. If someone can choose stop playing and someone can't, it are two different problems. Is it good, if both can become same diagnosis, if this aren't same problems?
- Or psychiatrists/psychologists distinguish, if gaming is cause or consequence of problems? Will they deal with searching the cause?
- They will diagnose gaming disorder and what they will do then? Chemical addictions - perhaps access should be restricted (but there might be more to be done). But I don't think this is good solution for someone whom the game helps.


It is possible, other cause can be curiosity or impress / integrate into the group of people.

you're obviously not a native speaker of English. Though you're not as bad at English as I am with Spanish (the only foreign language I have any skill in. Lol!). Am still trying to figure out this story you're telling.

One thing though:

There IS such a thing as "gambling addiction". Gambling has long been put in the same category as drugs and alcohol as being analogous to a chemical substance that you can abuse. And there are gambling recovery support groups analogous to AA.

I am not a mental health care professional. But in my amateur opinion the first guy does sound like he is addicted to gambling. And its not impossible that he is ADHD. ADHD folks are often into thrill seeking.

The second boy does have problems. Whether its game addiction, or what, I don't know. Both families might benefit from professional help.

I had a therapist send me into dissociation at suggesting I spend too much screen time upon seeing me happily playing my Nintendo Switch. I'm not seeing them anymore. It made me think if they're going to validate the notion video gaming is as bad as doing hard drugs, what will I do?

I decided I'm going to have to lie to anyone in psychology I see now. I enjoy reading, I enjoy walking. It brought me back to school when I realized lying was a means to keeping myself safe from adults trying to control me.

I'm an adult, I can say f**k you and walk away from people. What worries me is children like I was growing up feeling they should be ashamed, even fearful of something that for 99% of people makes them happy, feel pride, feel a sense of acheivement. People who a good majority of are socially anxious. It's a new means of punishing people who aren't perfectly functioning imo.

I cried for a straight week at the thought that I'd be made to not play games or use the net. That my behavior would be used as a excuse to control me for my own good. People wonder why people are shy and withdrawn. They've had too many people see this thing that makes them happy, let's use it to manipulate and make them feel powerless.

My therapist the one who gave me trouble about screen time, asked why I'm not more open. I was happy and relaxed, then they took advantage of that. Of my vunerability, of my not for once being hypervigilant. I was put back in the same place I was in high school, let your guard down and get abused.

My point, this creates more damage than it helps. Breaking a community of people who would otherwise be isolated, breaking people who are using gaming to cope. All because hysterical parents are having over the top "LOOK A GIANT ANT IS TAKING OVER THE CITY!" reaction to their child not looking up from their phone.

The answer is not to punish the users of technology, it's to bring the former generation into understanding it. And let me tell you from personal experience, having things taken from me to teach me a lesson only taught me others can hurt me whenever they want. That I was to be made helpless for even innocent mistakes. That begging and pleading had no effect, crying did nothing. Sleeping from the exhaustion of it all.

I don't know what anyone thinks will be gained from teaching children happiness and enjoyment are things to be controlled, only accepted as certain forms. A new generation growing up learning telling the truth gets you punished, lying is a means of survival.

I have CPTSD from being punished to a point of learned helplessness in high school. All putting limits on my enjoyment and calling me addicted will do is make me hypervigilant and frightened. Then those will be used as more evidence that which brings me happiness should be kept from me. We're living in a dystopia suggesting doing hard drugs is as bad as having a hobby. Will it take dead children who resorted to overdosing for them to realize maybe enjoying technology isn't so bad? I hope not.

I wouldn't compare it to the same as doing drugs or boozing really hard but I guess its like anything else if it puts a dent in your normal life to where you aren't functioning as well as you could then it becomes an addiction. I would say this diagnosis came about 12 years too late for me as I was addicted to online gaming at a point. I would beg to suggest that mine was minor considering I didn't totally neglect my hygiene and even still exercised regularly but I wasn't working or going to school and practically shut myself out from the world which most people would say is unhealthy.

I was like this for about 2 and a half years and then the guild I was in kinda disbanded because everyone at the time was in collage going on their last year. As if they weren't busy enough, at one point we all changed servers because the original server we played at went down and from that we lost members as well. Its kinda funny to think back on because I was practically the "resident shut in" and everyone knew me as a shut in which was kinda bad ... xD

I think the worse thing back then was the fact that my family enabled this behavior of me and didn't really try to stop me. At one point where I was trying to make max lvl on one of my in game character I did neglect some hygiene practices for about a week and when it was bad was 2 weeks and it was summer AND we didn't have central air at that point AND I still exercised regularly so go figure all that o-o

I guess long story short I did end up getting out of that on my own which was a good thing. I don't ever return to online games knowing that I do have that addictive tendency towards that genre of games. Though I guess its ok as long as I don't get with a guild of folks who either has a lot of time on their hands or are a really big guild that's very active in game.

Thank you, LavenderLilac. You described very well, what I tried explain. Computer games can help someone like us. I also think that it ("gaming disorder" diagnosis) can harm to someone rather than help.

Last edited by Nira on 22 Jun 2018, 4:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Back in the pre computer Seventies I designed a sophisticated game the simulated naval warfare of World War II. And playing the game I myself designed became quite addictive. It involved hex sheets and markers representing ships, multiple dice,tables,etc. All manual, no computers. Very user Unfriendly. But still it sucked me in. How addicting was it? Years after I controlled the wargame habit I made friends in low places who persuaded to try substences like coke and crack. Never got in the habit of using those things. So in a sense my war game was "more addicting than crack". That's part of why I never took an interest in this younger generation gaming culture.