Blurred Lines

Sophie Lee

English 103

June 28, 2015

Historical Analysis

        No big problem just appears overnight. The same goes for game addiction and the addicts that arise from it. It slowly started with a few people then grew rapidly until it became a global problem. Game addiction seems like something recent, but it has a history full of studies, cases, and diagnoses.

        All disorders start with diagnosis. On June 21, 2007, the world officially diagnosed game addiction as a disorder (Washington Post). Through this diagnosis, it comes to light that game addiction is not something to overlook or something only some people have. By posting that such a disorder exists, it shows that game addiction is a severe health hazard and many people are affected, this includes adults as well as children. “A leading council of the nation's largest doctors' group wants to have this behavior officially classified as a psychiatric disorder, to raise awareness and enable sufferers to get insurance coverage for treatment” (Washington Post). Just the fact that doctors all over the world are agreeing that game addiction should be a psychiatric disorder proves that game addiction is becoming a worldwide threat to people of all ages. This disorder finally became a legal diagnosis on May 25, 2013. “Video game addiction will be acknowledged for the first time in the updated edition of the American Psychological Association diagnostic manual” (CNN). This comes to show how serious game addiction has become. Having the American Psychological Association put game addiction in its manual shows how much this addiction is getting worse by the year.

        Game addiction has also been studied in a wide range of areas, from teens to adults, males versus females, all over the world. In the year 2007, 24% of Korean teenagers were diagnosed with game addiction then hospitalized to try and cure the addiction (National South Korean Youth Commission). In South East countries, everyone is getting worried about this game addiction. So many children have been diagnosed that the countries has to do something. The United States also has their handful. “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” (Washington Post). Just the fact that about ninety percent of our youth play video games is something to worry about. However, adding the fact that fifteen percent, which is more than five million kids, makes it even more serious to the point that the world is taking on this problem.

Then, the video games becoming more popular creates more problems. Recently, the most popular game is War of Warcraft, in 2011, making the top five best selling online game. “In 2013, eight million players immersed themselves in the virtual world of Azeroth clearly demonstrating the game’s mass appeal. The game tailors to most age groups, both sexes, and various player interests and preferences” (NCIB) Having such a large number of players, War of Warcraft is one of the top games in which people get addicted. The fact that it is appealing to a broad audience draws in so many people. Eight million is not a number to be joked around with. With that many people playing, the amount of game addicts that could arouse is unthinkable.