THERE was a time the safest place for children to be in was home.
Parents used to fret about their kids being outside the house and exposed to many physical dangers. So long as they are indoors, no harm could come to them.
Now they don’t even have to get out of their rooms to face some real danger. They may just be sitting in front of their computers, playing a game—but they might be developing a debilitating, life-changing mental condition.
In fact, this has become such a concern that the World Health Organization is including gaming disorder in its 11th edition of the International Classification of Disorders. This most recent edition of the ICD will be published middle of the year; the last one was issued in 1992, the BBC reported.
Gaming disorder is defined in the draft as a “pattern of gaming behavior (digital gaming or video gaming) characterized by impaired control over gaming, increasing priority given to gaming over other activities to the extent that gaming takes precedence over other interests and daily activities, and continuation or escalation of gaming despite the occurrence of negative consequences.”
The behavior pattern must be so severe as to have significant impairment in personal, family, social, educational, occupational or other important areas of functioning. For the disorder to be diagnosed, these symptoms must be evident for at least 12 months. The period may be shorter if the symptoms are severe.
Predictably, the gaming industry has registered its protest, claiming that at best the research on prevalence of gaming addiction is inconclusive. Industry bodies like the US Entertainment Software Association and UK Interactive Entertainment say they are concerned about the evidence that the WHO is using to base this potential classification on.
Still, the matter raises too much of a concern; it cannot simply be ignored.
Meanwhile, in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the fifth edition of which was published in 2013, Internet gaming disorder is listed as a “condition for further study”—not yet officially recognized. Many psychologists and psychiatrists refer to the DSM.
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Rudin and Cel Gonzales run the One Algon Place Foundation in Cabuyao, Laguna. The center rehabilitates those suffering from drug addiction, gambling addiction, and increasingly, gaming addiction.
In fact just in the first three months of the year, they counted more than 30 “students” brought to them for treatment. Most of them are between the ages of 14 and 21.
Rudin Gonzales mentions examples from other countries such as a married couple in Korea who left their infant child to play a game, only to return to find the child had starved to death. There are also instances where players have died for their refusal to even stand up and leave their computer to attend to stretch their legs, sleep, or attend to their bodily functions.
The games just do not end. While a sense of satisfaction accompanies other, earlier games—think of Super Mario getting to the princess and reaching the castle—most of today’s online games just keep amping up the excitement such that a player does not know when or how to stop.
Jimmy, a 15-year-old ninth grader who plays League of Legends, describes what it is in the game that appeals to him. “It’s a 5×5 multiplayer online battle arena where your team must destroy the other teams’ nexus before they destroy yours,” he says. The enemy’s nexus, which he describes as some sort of heart, determines whether a team wins or loses the game.
Jimmy says what may be addictive in the game is the ranking system. The “ranked games” can only be unlocked by players who have reached Level 30. “Players here are much more competitive, and the process is long and complicated before you can get to the next rank.” As a diamond-ranked player, he is better than the average LOL gamer, who hovers on the silver level.
The players “get toxic” with each other, he says, because they want to prove they are better than the others. “It’s ridiculously time-consuming so when you look at how much time you have spent playing, you will become sad because you think of plenty of better things you could have done with your time.”
“I would not think of myself as an addict, but sometimes I find myself thinking about the game even when I am doing other things,” Jimmy says.
For practical purposes, the Gonzaleses use the 36-hour a week benchmark to ascertain whether a particular “student” needs drastic intervention. So if your kids plays games more than five hours every day, then perhaps you should start worrying.
How exactly is intervention done?
First, assessment. Case handlers talk to the student, and find out their history or background. Almost always, the lack of impulse control can be traced to relationship or value issues within the family.
Second, the provision of structured activity. “Gaming addicts disregard the fact that they have to do certain things with regularity, and at relatively fixed times of the day. These are activities like eating, taking a bath, studying,” says Cel.
“Instead they bring their food to their computer tables so they can still play while eating, completely disregarding the opportunity to bond with family through meals.”
In rehab, the “students” are given a schedule for their activities so they attain some sort of normalcy in their routine.
Third, the students are made aware of the effects of what they are doing, not only in their own lives but in the lives of those around them. They are also made to see medical doctors who determine whether they should be given medication—or be taken off them.
Finally, there is a dialogue with families or guardians. It’s always a community, Rudin says.
The length of treatment depends on the willingness of the student to kick the habit, and the support they get from families. Sometimes the program can go on for as short as one or two weeks, even as they must still regularly report their progress to Algon. Most important is the decision on whether or not to be allowed to go online. Cel believes total deprivation may also be harmful so regulated activity should be acceptable.
Ultimately, the online gaming is an impulse control issue like other addictions, the Gonzaleses say. It all begins at home—how they are guided into performing tasks regularly and with discipline, and how to entertain themselves, all in moderation.
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