Brush the screen! ＂Game addiction＂ is listed as a mental illness, and this time we can’t just look at the curative effect.
CCTV News:The World Health Organization has released the latest edition of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11), and one of the most concerned measures is to formally include "Gaming disorder" as a mental illness and bring it into the medical system. It can be seen that with the popularity of smart phones and tablets, game addiction continues to spread and has become a problem in all countries of the world. Solving this problem is also of great significance.
Is "addicted to playing games" a disease?
Perhaps many people have thought about this issue. Some people want to quit the game, but they can’t extricate themselves, and continue to indulge while scolding themselves; Some parents are worried about their children’s addiction to games and take various measures to send their children to an internet addiction school. Most people think that this is weak willpower and needs restraint. Few people associate "game addiction" with diseases with specific symptoms in physiology and psychology, such as "smoking addiction" and "drug addiction". Now, WHO lists "game addiction" as a formal disease and defines its symptoms:
1. Playing video games uncontrollably (frequency, intensity and length of playing video games should be taken into consideration);
2, more and more often put video games before other life interests;
3, even if there are negative consequences, continue or increase the time of playing video games.
In addition, it is worth noting that the World Health Organization is also very strict about the conditions for diagnosing "game addiction". The behavior pattern of the parties must be serious enough, and it has caused great damage to individuals, families, society, education, work or other important aspects, and it usually lasts for at least 12 months before the diagnosis can be made. But it also shows that if the symptoms are serious, the observation period before diagnosis can also be shortened.
Who’s definition of "game addiction"
With the diagnostic criteria, it means that doctors will treat "game addiction" as a formal diagnosis result in the future, and then prescribe prescriptions and provide treatment plans. More researchers will also collect and analyze relevant data according to this category to promote the emergence of new treatments.
At the same time, the World Health Organization also clearly pointed out that only a small number of people who participate in digital or video game activities are affected by game obstacles. However, people who participate in the game should be alert to the time they spend in the game activities, especially when they are too busy to take care of other daily activities, and be alert to any changes in physical and mental health and social functions caused by the game behavior pattern.
In China, the Yang Yongxin will make a comeback?
Entering "game addiction" into the search engine will lead to a series of shocking social events: Xiao Liuwo, a 17-year-old Guangdong youth, suffered from a cerebral infarction after playing online games for more than 40 hours in the dormitory; A 13-year-old boy from Hangzhou jumped from a building after being reprimanded by his parents for playing "the glory of the king", causing multiple comminuted fractures. When he was taken to the hospital, he was also required to log in to a mobile game account. A 23-year-old woman from Cili, Hunan Province was brutally killed by a 15-year-old junior high school student who was addicted to violent online games and wanted to experience the pleasure of killing people in reality. ……
Minors seem to have become the hardest hit areas of game addiction, and the negative effects of these extreme cases have been maliciously amplified. Therefore, the "electroshock therapy" of Yang Yongxin and the "school for abstaining from internet addiction" such as Yuzhang Academy are rampant all over the world, covering up and even praising the abuse of young people such as detention and electrotherapy. Fortunately, such cruel, tyrannical, contrary to modern medicine, and actually rich behavior was finally exposed, and its practice and reputation have been denied among the general public.
Then, this time, who lists game addiction as a "disease", will the influence of games on people be demonized again? What needs to be recognized is that "game addiction" and "love to play games" are two concepts, just as drinking addiction is also a mental illness, but this does not mean that there is a problem with drinking itself, and the problem is addiction.
In recent years, some schools have set up e-sports majors one after another, and the e-sports industry in China has entered an explosive period, and e-sports has also become an officially certified sport of the International Olympic Committee … There is no contradiction between the public’s acceptance of online games and the classification of game addiction as a "disease". In the meantime, the normative role of the system is particularly obvious. As early as 2005, China issued the first "Online Game Anti-addiction System Standard"; In September 2016, the National Internet Information Office drafted the Regulations on Network Protection for Minors (Draft for Comment); In January 2017, the Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council publicly solicited opinions on the Regulations on the Network Protection of Minors (Draft for Review); In December 2017, Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China and other eight ministries and commissions jointly issued the Opinions on Strictly Regulating the Management of Online Game Market, and the relevant legal systems in China are constantly improving.
If it is a disease, it must be cured!
In response to this revision, many netizens expressed their support, believing that it will help popularize the concept of Internet addiction and let people face up to their own problems.
User comments screenshot
Some netizens also questioned how it was "sick" when it was good.
User comments screenshot
Although it is controversial that game addiction is classified as "mental illness", in terms of academics, experts have already started research on game addicts. Zhang Jintao, the research group of the State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning of Beijing Normal University, pointed out in the research paper "Brain Mechanism of Abnormal Negative Emotion Processing and Regulation of Online Game Addicts" that a large number of clinical studies and practices have found that online game addicts have a high comorbidity rate with emotional problems such as depression and anxiety. In addition, the lack of ability to adjust negative emotions is also a problem that many online game addicts often report in real life.
The experiment shows that online game addicts all show the passive mode of activity in subcortical areas (such as amygdala) and cortical areas (cingulate cortex, lateral prefrontal cortex) when processing negative emotional stimuli and adjusting negative emotions.
Screenshot Source: official website, State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University
This study shows that online game addicts show a similar pattern of neural activity to substance addicts in processing and regulating negative emotional stimuli, suggesting that this phenomenon of neural passivation in processing and regulating negative emotional stimuli is not entirely the effect of taking addictive drugs, but related to addiction itself.
In other words, there is no doubt that "game addicts are suffering". It is very important to classify "game addiction" as a disease, so that they can be placed and treated more pertinently and properly.
The greatest significance of WHO’s adjustment this time is to remind us to abandon any improper so-called "treatment" means in the past and help people who are addicted to games out of trouble in a more standardized way. This is the progress of our understanding and science. (Text/Dai Mengmeng)