[Press release] The International Symposium on Various Views on Internet Gaming Disorder > 보도자료

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The challenges of Conceptualizing Problematic

Gaming as a Disorder

◆ The Game Culture Foundation Holds an International Symposium on Various

Views on Internet Gaming Disorder, Sponsored by the Ministry of Culture,

Sports, and Tourism and the Korea Creative Content Agency

◆ Heated Discussion by World Renowned Scholars on IGD Diagnostic Criteria

◆ Pushing Ahead with Joint-Research for Increasing Mutual Understanding

The International Symposium on Various Views on Internet Gaming Disorder, co-sponsored by the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism and the Korea Creative Content Agency, and hosted by the Game Culture Foundation, was held at the international conference room in the National Library of Korea on November 2, 2017.

At the symposium, prominent researchers gathered to discuss the emerging global issue of internet gaming disorder (IGD).

In the first session, leading experts made presentations on major issues regarding diagnostic criteria for IGD. Meredith Ginley, PhD in clinical psychology and postdoctoral fellow at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine, was the first presenter and introduced the DSM-5 concept of internet gaming disorder. Dr. Ginley highlighted the need for the collection of more data on IGD and consistency in its diagnosis.

The second presentation was made by Joel Billieux, associate professor of clinical psychology at the University of Luxembourg and expert in a WHO workgroup related to excessive use of the Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). While explaining that the current draft of ICD-11 conceptualizes Gaming Disorder as a mental disorder, Joel Billieux stated that this would not result in pathologizing healthy gaming nor generate moral panics. Prof. Billieux pointed out that previous research using the DSM-5 criteria for Internet Gaming Disorder overestimated the prevalence rate because these criteria, contrary to the ICD-11 ones, did not use functional impairment as a mandatory criterion. He also insisted that problematic gaming should be considered a public health issue, as there are more and more treatment-seeking individuals displaying functional impairment.

In the third presentation, Dr. Mark Griffiths, professor of behavioral addiction at the Nottingham Trent University, explained that “Internet gaming disorder exists and should be included in DSM and ICD.” Dr. Griffiths, the director of the International Gaming Research Unit, went on to add, “Nevertheless, the prevalence of true IGD cases is likely to be smaller than rates suggested in large-scale epidemiological studies.”

Finally, Dr. Philip Tam from Sydney, Australia, a member of the International Working Group of the DSM-5 committee, suggested in his presentation that when it came to terminology “internet gaming disorder” or “problematic internet use” was more appropriate than “internet addiction.” In his presentation, Tam, a child and adolescent psychiatrist, called for discussions on whether criteria for accurate screening of this complex disorder can be created, and on whether it is right to classify IGD as a mental disorder. He also pointed out that in many cases, there were underlying mental health issues or family dysfunctions and tensions, which preceded the development of IGD and contributed to complexities in treating the condition adequately.

In the second session of the symposium, Dr. Vladan Starcevic, head of the Academic Department of Psychiatry of the Sydney Medical School Nepean, University of Sydney, presided over the panel discussion. The professor raised fundamental questions about problematic gaming and its conceptualization as a disorder. He stressed that “there are problems that are not disorders or nor recognized as disorders for which people seek professional help, such as family conflicts.” He went on to say, “It is difficult to clearly establish the diagnostic threshold and draw the boundary between problematic gaming not representing a disorder and problematic gaming as a mental disorder.”

Lawrence Lam, professor of public health in the Centre for Child and Adolescent Mental Health at the University of Technology Sydney and academic vice president of the Tung Wah College Hong Kong, participated in the discussion on a panel and emphasized that “gaming itself is not a problem, but how to use games matters.” The epidemiologist also insisted that the issue of problematic internet use should be approached from the perspective of public health, rather than as an individual problem.

Doug Hyun Han, professor of Chung Ang University Hospital, was the only Korean panel speaker in the discussion. The child and adolescent psychiatrist explained his experience saying, “I have about 1,000 IGD treatment cases. In those cases, problematic behaviors induced by excessive online game play were caused not just because of games but because of comorbid mental disorders, family problem, and stressful events of adolescents.” He expressed the opinion that IGD diagnostic criteria should deal those comorbid diseases and environmental situation. He expressed the opinion that there should be a very cautious approach in diagnosing IGD as a mental disorder unless a set of perfect diagnosis criteria are developed.

Meanwhile, the Game Culture Foundation planned to build a research council consisting of related scholars from both home and aboard, and conduct a joint international study for the creation of diagnosis criteria for IGD reflecting a variety of perspectives. The second and the third symposiums will be held in the U.S. and Europe, respectively.

Meredith Ginley - Joel Billieux - Mark Griffiths - Philip Tam - Vladan Starcevic - Lawrence Lam

Mark Griffiths - Meredith Ginley - Philip Tam - Lawrence Lam - Joel Billieux - Vladan Starcevic – Doug Hyun Han

Joel Billieux