The World Health Organization introduced a new diagnosis into the International classification of diseases:
Gaming disorder
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The definition of gaming disorder is as follows:
Characterized by a pattern of persistent or recurrent gaming behavior
Manifested by -
1. Impaired control over gaming (eg. onset, frequency, intensity, duration, termination, context, etc.)
2. Increasing priority given to gaming to the extent that games take precedent over other life's interests and daily activities and;
3. Continuation or escalation of gaming despite the occurrence of negative consequences
The behavior pattern is of sufficient severity to result in significant impairment in:
personal, family, social, educational, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.
The pattern of gaming behavior may be continuous or episodic and recurrent.
The gaming behavior and other features are normally evident over a period of at least 12 months in order for a diagnosis to be assigned,
although the required duration may be shortened if all diagnostic requirements are met and symptoms are severe.
Many reputable psychological organizations have questioned the decision to list gaming disorder as an official disease
But that's not what we're here to discuss today
I am in no way a psychologist so I'm going to talk about something much closer to me...
...something that I do have experience with: the healing games can do
Most people watching this have probably had that moment where the world was too dark, the sorrow too heavy, and
tomorrow was something that you didn't want to face... and then you switched on a game
You lost yourself in something imaginative or joyful, in another world, living another life
You felt agency
You felt like you had some control, where it felt like there was none before
And when you switched off that game, you felt little bit better and it reminded you that there were things that were still joyful, that still felt vivid
Maybe it even reminded you of the safety of youth...
...playing your favorite game when the biggest worry you had was what you were going to have for lunch the next day
These feelings are important. They're how we put ourselves back together
They're how we stop the spiral
And the fact that some of us choose to turn on a game instead of doing something more destructive is equally important
Unfortunately, while millions of dollars are being pumped into studying the harmful effects of games...
...very little is being done to study how we might use them to improve our mental health
Whether as simple systems of home self-care or as part of a more rigorous clinical environment
Right now, the majority of the studies being done about the positive aspects of games are related to physical things
How DDR might help patients struggling with obesity
Or how Wii games can be used to make physical therapy more palatable for those who need it
They focus on things like how games might help increase a patient's pain tolerance by distracting them from the pain
Or the tried-and-true question of whether games increase physical coordination
And all of these studies are great
They have huge value, but they miss the thing about games that might impact the most people:
that games make us feel okay
And where this is being studied, most of the studies are around custom-made serious games for therapy
Which again, is incredibly useful, and is something we should put more effort into, but it also shouldn't keep us from studying games anyone can pick up off the shelf
Because not everyone has the time or the money to go to a therapist who has custom-built games for what they're struggling with
And if a lot of people are turning to commercial games when they're struggling, we really should understand how they affect us better
We need to look into questions like what games actually leave us feeling more empowered, more satisfied, or just more safe
After all, maybe it's not the best idea to play a MOBA on a terrible day
Heck, maybe it's not the best idea to play any competitive game on a terrible day
But it sure would be nice to know
We need to ascertain what the exact positive effects we can get out of playing commercial games are
And if gaming disorder is real, how do we make sure playing when we're going through things...
...doesn't go from being a crutch to potentially leading us to gaming disorder
Are there certain types of games that are universally better for our mental health...
...or does it vary from player to player?
Does it depend on what you grew up with or what you associate with good things?
Is it all contingent on what you're specifically going through?
Are there times when losing yourself into a deep story-based RPG might be exactly what you need...
...and other times were simply getting into the flow evoked by Guitar Hero or a shmup helps ground you better
These are the sort of questions it would be great to have answered...
...because so much of our community does turn to games when they feel like the rest of the world doesn't understand them
Or when it seems like there are things fundamentally not right with the outside world that they can't immediately fix
With that in mind, it's important, even vital, that we look into any possible harm video games are doing
And if we find they are really doing harm, do everything we can to minimize it
But that's not enough
As one of the biggest applications in the world, games affect hundreds of millions, if not billions of people
We need to look into how they can be used for good and how people are already using them to take care of themselves
As designers, we need to know what good we can do so we can study and amplify it
And as players, we need the tools to use our games to help ourselves heal in the best way we can
Because for many of us, myself included, gaming is not a disorder...
...but a very positive part of our lives that has helped see us through some of the most negative aspects of it
See you next week, everyone
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