As of June, gaming addiction will be seen as an official disease. This leads to great division among scientists. Professor Jeroen Jansz (M&C) is afraid gaming might be demonized, he says in the Dutch newspaper Trouw.
The clinical world is mostly enthusiastic about the fact that the World Health Organization (WHO) from the UN is planning to acknowledge gaming addiction as a disorder. But in the scientific world, not everyone is too happy about this plan. According to the Dutch newspaper Trouw, researchers cannot agree on if playing games leads to an addiction.
A group of 33 scientists has warn the WHO to be careful with the diagnosis of gaming addiction. They say better research into this subject is needed, for example on the long term effects of gaming. Critics also state that there should be less societal panic. Games cannot, like alcohol and drugs, be seen as poison for children.
Positive effects
Jeroen Jansz, who has researched games since the nineties, agrees with these scientists. "I am afraid this form of pleasure will demonize, whilst there is derived a lot of pleasure from games", he says in Trouw. According to the professor in media and communications parents should be held more responsible for this matter.
- More information
Read the whole article (in Dutch) on the website of Trouw.