ビデオゲーム中毒は精神障害！？

「ネット・ゲーム中毒を精神障害と分類」－米学会が推奨
という見出しを見て、アメリカもいい加減な「学会」が多いからなー、と読み流しそうになったのだが、学会というのがAMA(American Medical Association)というメジャーな医療関係学会であることに気が付いてびっくり。

よくよく読んでみれば、過度のビデオゲーム中毒に関する注意だった。
考えてみれば、アメリカのゲームマニアと言えば、そりゃーもうマニアックなわけで。
いや、日本のゲームマニアだって、すごいのはすごい。
日常生活を送る事に支障をきたすようなのめりこみ方をするとか、ゲームの暴力性にアテられて異常に傾倒するというのは、そりゃ精神障害だろう。
やりすぎはいかんと。そういう事らしい。

参考までに、提出されたreportのCONCLUSION：

CONCLUSIONS Video games have been a part of American culture since the late 1950s. Despite their initial marginalization, these games have rapidly evolved to become part of mainstream American culture. Their prominent role in the lives of American youth has led to increased public scrutiny of the effects and potential harms of video game usage. As with most other forms of media, video games do have a potentially positive role, especially in the health care and health education sectors. However, parallel to the trend of most other media forms, the largest and potentially most lucrative use of video games is in the form of entertainment. Unfortunately, the industry’s predisposition toward age-inappropriate imaging and marketing techniques has led to concerns about untoward side effects, ranging from physical symptoms such as seizures and tendonitis, to socially maladaptive behaviors such as increased short-term aggressiveness and overuse syndromes. Although there are some indications of a connection between the content of video games and aggressive and addictive behaviors, more research is needed in this area. Federal and state governments have attempted to regulate access to age-inappropriate content. Legislation has the potential to be a powerful tool in this arena; however, the history of legislative attempts to control depiction of violence in video game has been largely unsuccessful, with much of the proposed legislation stalled or failed entirely secondary to potential infringements on First Amendment rights as well as aggressive lobbying from the entertainment industry. Lastly, although a rating system has been developed by the ESRB, concern continues about how effective this system is in alerting parents about the violent nature of video games marketed to children and adolescents.