AMA Debates Adding "Game Addiction" To List of Psychiatric Disorders

Needless to say, we thing this is remarkably unintelligent. See our quote from Wired Magazine at the end.

From the Star Tribune of Minneapolis - St. Paul

Blame it all on video games:

[...] The American Medical Association (AMA) is considering whether to formally classify video-game addiction as a legitimate psychiatric disorder, the Associated Press reported Thursday. The nation's leading doctors' group could vote on whether to add video-game addiction to a widely used mental-illness manual at a national meeting this weekend in Chicago, a move that would raise awareness about the issue and make it easier for patients to file insurance claims for treatment.

The debate among AMA members is expected to be heated. For starters, there's not even agreement that playing hours and hours of the latest game for Xbox 360 or Nintendo Wii or a multiplayer online role-playing game such as "World of Warcraft" is a true addiction, similar to dependence on alcohol or drugs.

"I think we always have to be cautious about overpathologizing behaviors that are trendy, age-specific or generational before we want to get everyone into therapy for it," said Dr. Jon Grant, a psychiatrist at the University of Minnesota Medical School. He specializes in studying and treating addictive behaviors in adults.

There's a lot to consider before heavy video-game use is called an addiction, he said. Players, including younger ones, may turn to games out of boredom, depression, loneliness and more.

"Is it a problem, or is it the symptom of a problem?" Grant said. "I don't know if we actually know that yet."

[...]

Addiction or disorder?

Andy McNamara, editor-in-chief of Minneapolis-based Game Informer magazine, said the AMA's actions are another sign of how video games are misunderstood.

"The simple fact that society calls too much gaming an 'addiction' and too much eating a 'disorder,' gives you an idea how the video-game industry is treated by the people who simply don't understand it," he said.

Walsh was careful to point out that what he calls video-game addiction affects only some people.

"I'm not suggesting that everybody who plays video games gets into trouble with them," he said.

Some players do see potential pitfalls in playing too much of games such as the immensely popular "World of Warcraft."I play this game actively and can attest to its addictive properties," said Sean Carter, 31, a Denver technology manager who commented through the Star Tribune's website. "The social interaction and forced cooperation with other live players combined with the open-ended story line can easily draw you in. It's a great example of the digital world replacing real life."

Although Walsh and the University of Minnesota's Grant differ on whether video games can generate addiction, they agreed that the AMA's proposal will help raise awareness for further exploration. "But it won't be an answer unto itself," Grant added.

The AMA could vote on the proposal by Monday, but even if approved, it will not appear in the mental-illness manual until the publication's next edition in 2012.

Wired Magazine has the right angle on this:

Honestly, does no one else see how ridiculous this is? Aren't there people who watch too much television? Ride their bicycles too much? Anything with an investment-payoff structure has the potential to be addictive, but it has much more to do with the person, not the thing itself. This isn't going to be much help to anyone -- all it does is further demonize gaming as a hobby and a medium.

If there really is a pathology at work here, the AMA should look harder to find the root cause -- something that's endemic to the human body, not a trendy label based on something that happens to be popular right now. If there's something about this addiction that's specific to electronic games played on a monitor, prove that. With science, and stuff.