Research/Audience Assignment

New York Times Opinion Article

Title: Video Games Or Another Part Of Life !?
By: Moises Bautista

Video games have cultivated many people’s creative thought process in more ways than one. For as long as I can remember, video games have been a major part of me and how I view certain aspects of my life. My curiosity began with the introduction of Nintendo(Video game company), by my older siblings, and their willingness to be unlike others when it comes to innovating video games and defining the word “fun” for people such as myself.
This year, The World Health Organization(W.H.O) authoritatively added another confusion to the area on substance use and addictive practices in the most recent variant of the International Classification of Diseases referred to as “Gaming disorder”. This highly controversial diagnosis has sparked a debate among gamers and the gaming industry in general.
Parents and guardians shouldn’t be of concern to the most recent addition in “disorder” in relation to your children and in some cases, even your own self-interest.W.H.O shouldn’t have labeled video games in the category of addiction in the first place.
“..the modern meaning of “addiction..” is an uneasy amalgam of several contradictory legacies, “said Ferris Jabr from the New York Times. The way we define addiction as a whole has been a difficult task since it can be labeled from a religious standpoint, that actions go against our morals, and a technological standpoint, that any fixation that is constantly done can be considered an addiction.
Many people enjoy multiple hobbies from fishing to basketball, despite their different ages and sizes. Some have made these hobbies careers and their source of income in rare cases. Even with all these visible similarities to video games, people seem to see only the negative aspects of this one certain hobby, pathologizing and looking down upon it since it seems to stand up among the rest.
The limitations and restrictions that you’ll place on to your children may possibly have some major effect and influence on their point of view towards leisure pursuits and activities in the near future. They are at risk of losing an activity that may have been an activity to get rid of stress and to forget the hardships they are facing in life.
Regardless of whether agreement does inevitably build-up that an excess of video gaming establishes a psychological issue, we still need to acknowledge the psychological research that comes with the viewpoint that videogames have psychologically beneficial instead of being a detriment.

Reddit Post

r/Gaming~ Posted by u/MoisesB   1 Day ago

7.5K Upvotes

WHO has classified ‘Gaming disorder’ as a mental health condition!

Studies find inadequate proof of gaming as a clinical disorder. Instead of being adversely affected by gaming itself, it’s suggested that young people who take part in dysfunctional gaming might be doing as such in an offer to get away from their “underlying frustrations and wider psychosocial functioning issues”.
I suspect this is true for addiction disorders in general. People don’t just suddenly become addicted to alcohol or drugs, it’s an attempt to escape.
I’m for the most part worried over the up and coming age of gamers and how this may impact them. Ordinary children who like gaming but whose guardians won’t approve of it due to hearing about this disorder will not take into consideration that it’s very unlikely that a disordered like behavior will occur.
“variations in gaming experience are much more likely to be linked to whether adolescents’ basic psychological needs for competence, autonomy, and social belonging are being met…”Gaming isn’t the aspect where we should be leaning and worried about but towards the life aspects which makes people have slight differences towards gaming.
I agree that sometimes gaming can be a healthy coping mechanism. I’ve played cathartic games to release stress sometimes, and I’ve also played relaxing atmospheric games during times of sadness to help me relax.
I think there’s a fundamental difference between gaming as escapism and gaming as a harmful addiction. The difference, which I think is true of all addictions, is does it hurt your quality of life? People who are addicted are usually using the addiction to get away from something unpleasant in their life. Hence why a common question in the profession now is not “why the addiction” but “why the pain?”
Each and every one of us has different lifestyles, hobbies and gaming patterns for the most part. We as gamers shouldn’t take this as a threat and a negative aspect to the gaming community. We should use this opportunity to provide them credibility as to why this shouldn’t be labeled as an addiction any more or less than a ‘cleaning’ disorder or a fishing disorder. We can convince guardians and eager politicians all alike that this wasn’t necessary.

Thanks for reading! 🙂

Edit 1: Wow I was expecting such a great reaction from the community.