EQ1 - Video Game Addiction Disorder : EQ1 EverQuest 1 News

The issue of whether video games are addictive continues, this time with a volley from a council of doctors who want to add the diagnosis of excessive video game playing added to the list of psychiatric disorders in the DSM, the Diagnostic and Statistical manual for psychiatric disorders.

Not everyone agrees this behavior disorder should have a separate diagnosis, and there will be a debate on whether it should be included at all.

The Associated Press article reports:

"Up to 90 percent of American youngsters play video games and as many as 15 percent of them — more than 5 million kids — may be addicted, according to data cited in the AMA council's report."

But other doctors don't agree that people are addicted to video games:

"Dr. Michael Brody, head of a TV and media committee at the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry ... praised the AMA council for bringing attention to the problem, but said excessive video-game playing could be a symptom for other things, such as depression or social anxieties that already have their own diagnoses.

'You could make lots of behavioral things into addictions. Why stop at video gaming?' Brody asked. Why not Blackberries, cell phones, or other irritating habits, he said."

Classifying something as a psychiatric disorder gives it legitmacy as a specific disease, which can become a political issue. Video gaming could be regulated more strongly if the AMA pronouces it as causing an addictive activity. On the other hand, if there is indeed addiction specifically linked to MMO playing, then insurance companies and others will have to recognize the problem and pay for treatment.

The debate will continue as more and more people begin playing MMOs. My prediction is that despite protests from the entertainment industry lobby (who don't want to have their leisure activity associated with anything harmful) and others, video game "addiction" will end up being considered an actual disorder. If that happens, expect more government regulation and pressure on the game industry from parent groups and others to curtail playing times and styles.