Is There a Gaming Disorder? ICD 11 vs DSM 6-7
Claudewell S. Thomas, MD, MPH, DLFAPA, is an established psychiatrist who is currently retired ,, He received his medical degree in 1956 at SUNY Downstate College of Medicine and specializes in social psychiatry, public health psychiatry, and forensic psychiatry. Dr. Thomas was board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry... more
By way of necessary background information, the International Classification of Diseases (mental and physical disorders) is the official disease reference of WHO (the world health organization and part of the U.N.) and is used by most of Europe, the U.K, Canada, and much of South and Central America for the classification of psychiatric disorders. This classification is used by insurers and reimbursers for payment of incurred bills.
The American Psychiatric Association in conjunction with the American Psychological Association and the American Association of Social Workers. The AMA, ANA, VNA, VA, etc. use the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual) from 1 in the late 40s and early 50s to 6-7 now) for the same purpose. Obviously there has to be a major effort made to have the two systems coordinated and maximally identical. Nevertheless, there will be differences in some of the associated symptoms where some will be seen as culturally acceptable in some settings but not in others. In the case of Gaming Disorder, which has already been included in ICD 11 as a disease with parameters for treatment and reimbursement (although with some argument and disagreement), the Americans are much further away.
We may be a nation of believers in rags to riches transformations, although internet games are more popular in Asian countries. However, the implications of the ICD classification being real for American and other youth is that the digital world's demand for proficiency may produce not only supersonic jet pilots but unstable risk indifferent, risk seeking subtypes whose ability to evaluate propitious courses of action may be severely inhibited.
From a purely medical (psychiatric) point of view, anxiety/depression, apathy, addiction and suicidal ideation and actual suicide accompany Gaming Disorder across demographic boundaries and may possibly add up to an All American (but not America First) phenomenon. Whatever constitutes the outcome we can be sure that money will have played a role.
