Britain’s National Health Services (NHS) is going to fund the world’s first Internet Addiction Clinic according to reputable news outlet The Guardian. The news come only a few days after the World Health Organization (WHO) listed “gaming disorder” as a mental illness which is going to be added to the International Classification of Diseases or in short, ICD-11.
The planned new clinic will be run by the Central and North West London NHS foundation trust and is going to focus on “gaming disorders” in the beginning but plans to widen the spectrum of mental illnesses to other forms of Internet-based addictions.
Henrietta Bowden-Jones, founder of the new clinic and psychiatrist herself told The Guardian in an interview that “We are unlikely to witness an epidemic of young players with an addiction to gaming but for the ones who do struggle, the Centre for Internet Disorders will be a life-changer.” Easing possible concerns that fans of video games will soon be diagnosed en masse with gaming-focused mental illnesses by their Doctors.
While the venture of the WHO into newly created mental illnesses is a commendable effort, their recent decision to add “gaming disorder” into the newest ICD11 catalog, led to a unanimous opposition of major gaming industry organizations. They released a joint statement shortly after the WHO’s decision, which states their concerns about the scientific credibility. , In an attempt to back up their opposition, the statement also cites that scientists from major universities around the world oppose the inclusion of gaming disorders in the ICD-11 and claims that the gaming medium has proven its worth in a therapeutic and educational form already.
On a grim possible outlook, the leading gaming industry groups end their statement with,
To classify gaming as a disorder under the mental health and addiction category of the ICD-11 list will create moral panic and may lead to abuse of diagnosis as the inclusion is not based on a high level of evidence, as would be required to formalise any other disorder.
A relatively new medium like gaming brings more than just opportunities with it. Dangers like addiction and gambling have been witnessed around the globe. Nonetheless, an inclusion into the ICD-11 could lead to a new way of how medical professionals approach and diagnose patients with a “gaming problem”.
The WHO will have until May of 2019 to finally approve their new list, containing gaming disorders for the first time.
