After ADHD, another mental disorder for kids – Gaming!

Those who follow my blog already know my ten-year old son is a gamer, who spends a lot of time either playing or studying game-related videos and wikis. According to the World Health Organization, that's an addiction that needs to be cured. On the other hand, if my son wakes up tomorrow and announces he wants to be a girl, I should be totally cool with that and sign him up for puberty blockers. Nothing to worry about, according to the same WHO. Am I the only one who sees an agenda at work here?
As a parent I am very much aware of the fact that my child spends too much time online and it's one the few things we ever argue over. I also know the main reason for his behavior is lack of enough interesting things to do. Tomorrow we're planning on going to the pool and he can hardly wait – not being able to play won't be a problem. Likewise, going to the classes he enjoys has never been a problem. I might even be able to have him come out for a walk later on. However, my son is lucky to be unschooled and as such he has enough time to do whatever he wants.

I am afraid the main victims of this decision to classify gaming as a mental disorders are young children. WHO officials say that this decision is most helpful to teenagers and young adults who are reluctant to seek help. I very much doubt that, as teenagers are old enough to say 'No, I don't want to go to no doctor so leave me alone'. Younger children don't have that luxury.
Imagine little Timmy coming home after six boring hours spent in the classroom. And now little Timmy would much rather play a few games instead of sitting down to do his homework for a couple of hours. At this point, little Timmy's mother will say to herself the child has a mental disorder and the doctor will congratulate her for being such a concerned parent and will write her a nice prescription. The happy pills will help little Timmy focus on important things, like homework.
If you think I'm exaggerating, believe me I'm not. A friend of mine once complained to me her son would much rather waste time playing with his Legos than doing his homework. Lego, not even video-games.
Just think how many people have fallen for the whole ADHD scam – the kid won't stay still in class? He's obviously ill and needs some meds. Just like little Timmy who got a B on the test paper because he spent a whole hour playing some stupid game!
According to the OMS, doctors will be encouraged to 'identify' this problem, which, again, we've seen before with ADHD, up to the point that if one country doesn't have at least 5% of children diagnosed with ADHD, that's a cause of alarm for authorities. In my country we've even had campaigns to identify ADHD candidates in schools. In a couple of years we'll see the same thing with gaming.
I don't know if classifying gaming as a 'mental disorder' will be of any help for the proverbial loner wasting his life in his mother's basement, but I bet it will result in huge numbers of children hooked on dangerous pills to cure them of being kids and wanting to play.

Images are my own - with the little gamer having fun in the sun!

Thanks for reading