TRACYKING/SCEPTICALANALYSIS
OPINION
Gamer and science enthusiast Tracy King dissects the evidence and statistics behind popular media stories surrounding tech and gaming @tkingdot
T
ablesareturning.Whilegaminghasbeena
mainstreamhobbyfordecades,it’sneverbeen
officiallyendorsedbytheWorldHealthOrganisation
before.Quitetheopposite,infact.I’vehadmorethanone
rant about‘gamingdisorder’andtheWHO’srolein
overmedicalisingandstigmatisinggamesinthiscolumn,so
this newmoveisquitea shock.
In 2018,theWorldHealthOrganisationdeclared‘gaming
disorder’tobea real,diagnosablecondition,despiteplenty
of evidenceagainstit,andthepleasofacademicsfor(atthe
very least)moredatabeforemedicalisinga hobby.
As I wroteatthetime,‘ifsomeoneis obsessed
with DoctorWho,forexample,theyare
not givena specialdiagnosisofTelevision
Disorder.If theylockthemselvesawaytopaint
miniaturesorcollectElvismemorabiliaorwork
on theirtrainset,they’renotdiagnosedwith
HobbyDisease’.
Despitegamingdisorderbeinganextremely
dodgy inclusion to the diagnostic manual, the WHO went
ahead anyway. But that was before a global pandemic locked
us all in our homes.
Children need entertainment all day. The solution? Games.
Adults need escapism. The solution? Also games. Minecraft is
educational but also an extremely comforting world in which
to disappear and – crucially – control, in a time when none
of us has much control over our real lives.
Likewise, online gaming is seeing a huge boom as an
alternative to going out and seeing friends or family. Rocket
League or Call of Duty are pub alternatives for everyone now,
instead of just those of us who were always stay-at-home
gamers. In fact, the industry had its biggest March sales in
over a decade.
It’sveryclearthatgamingis not– aspreviouslyimplied by the
WorldHealthOrganisation– ananti-socialactivity,butsimply
a formofentertainmentthat– unlikeTVorbooks– offers
control.It’stheclosestanaloguetotherealworldavailable.
AsthoseofuswhochallengedtheWHOsaidrepeatedly, the
benefitsofgamingclearlyfaroutweighanydocumentedharms.
What’ssurprising,though,isthatnowthere’sa pandemic, the
WorldHealthOrganisationseemstoagree.
It’ssupportinganindustryinitiativecalled#PlayApart
Together,whichaimstousegamingnotonlyasanalternative
togoingoutside,butalsoa waytopromotesocialhealth
messagingsuchashandwashingand social
distancing.FirmsfromBlizzardtoTwitch have
signedup.SeeingRayChambers,the WHO
ambassadorforglobalstrategy,tweetpositively
aboutgamesissurreal.
I don’twanttopunishtheWHOforit, but
honestly,youcan’thaveit bothways.If prolonged
gamingreallydoescausegamingdisorder, then
thee WHO has no business encouraging the population to game,
any more than it should be endorsing alcohol. It would be deeply
unethical and by its own standards, dangerous. It would commit
large numbers of people to come out the other side of this
pandemic with a brand-new addiction to video games.
Clearly the WHO wouldn’t want to do that, so I can only
conclude that it’s wrong about gaming disorder and it knows it.
I’ll look out for a revision of the classification. In the meantime,
hooray, we’re officially sanctioned by the WHO!
We can be gamers without stigma, no longer seen as
basement nerds but superheroes here to save the planet from
boredom. Or maybe my imagination has gone a little haywire,
it’s been a long lockdown. But at least we have games. Stay
safe, stay gaming.THE WHO ENDORSES GAMING
But didn’t it also classify ‘gaming disorder’ as a real, diagnosable condition?
Tracy King awaits a revisionOnline gaming is seeing
a huge boom as an
alternative to going out
and seeing friends