The World Health Organization (WHO) has officially recognized "game disorder", which makes daily life difficult due to overplaying of games, as an international disease. With the spread of smartphones, etc., the problem of game dependency becomes serious, and the concern for harming health is intensifying. It is regarded as the same mental disorder as gambling addiction etc., and supports treatment research and understanding of the number of patients in the world. It will be effective from January 2022.
WHO added a game disorder to the latest edition of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD), which shows the names and symptoms of diseases in 18 years. Approved on the 25th at the annual general meeting held in Geneva, Switzerland. The ICD is referred to by medical institutions and insurance companies in the world as guidelines for diseases.
According to the WHO, (1) can not control the time and frequency of playing games by themselves (2) give top priority to the game (3) continue even though the problem is happening-and so on for more than 12 months. If there is a serious failure, it may be diagnosed as a game failure. When it becomes a game disorder, problems such as being unable to get up in the morning or hitting a thing or a person appear.
The WHO expects therapeutic research to move forward as the basis for diagnosing disease is clear. Accurate statistical data such as the number of patients can also be collected, which helps to grasp the situation in each country and region. Patients will be able to focus on treatment without having to work or school. It is up to the governments of each country to decide whether they will be eligible for insurance treatment payments.
The WHO's recognition as an international disease may affect the content development of game companies. Globally, there are still few specialized medical institutions that can cope with game disorders, and the establishment of a treatment system is likely to be an issue.
Although people who are having a negative impact on health and social life are still considered to be a part, game dependency is a social problem in each country. According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, in Japan the number of middle and high school students suspected of having a pathological Internet dependency including online games has doubled in the past five years to an estimated 930,000. In Korea, there was a fatal accident due to overplaying of the game in 2002.
Some WHO member states were cautious that "it is difficult to prove the cause-effect relationship between game and dependency, and disease recognition is premature", but many countries have urgent measures for prevention. I determined it was necessary.
The popularity of games is increasing worldwide. According to the Dutch research firm Nyzu, the global game market is expected to reach $ 134.9 billion (approx. 15 trillion yen) in 18 and expand to $ 174 billion in 21.
It is estimated that 165 million American adults play video games on a daily basis, which is 65% of the total. In recent years, online games have become widespread, and there are many contents in which users repeat charging and continue for a long time.
Now, gaming disorder is disease
