The World Health Organisation has continued the process of classifying "gaming disorder" as a new mental health condition as part of the recently published 11th edition of the International Classification of Diseases.
In an online Q&A that was shared earlier this year, gaming disorder was defined by the WHO as "a pattern of 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 classification, which if unchallenged will be made official next year, is designed to raise awareness and hopefully help facilitate increased support for those who find themselves overly dependent on the escape offered by video games, especially when that dependence becomes problematic to their every day lives.
As is often the way with these types classifications, not everybody is convinced. Speaking to CNN, psychologist Anthony Bean thinks "it's a little bit premature to label this as a diagnosis," adding that the definitions are too broad. Bean thinks that a lot of the people he encounters are actually using games "more as a coping mechanism for either anxiety or depression."