World Health Organization says transgenderism no longer a mental disorder, video game addiction is

Transgenderism is no longer classified as a mental disorder, according to the World Health Organization — but video game addiction is, according to a new report.

What are the details?

On Monday, the agency issued a new memo concerning ICD-9 diagnosis coding for medical professionals.

In its latest edition of the International Classification of Diseases, "gender dysphoria" — or transgenderism, in layman's terms — is not listed as a mental disorder any longer, but as a "gender incongruence," which has also been moved out of the mental disorder category.

The organization now considers gender dysphoria to be a "sexual health" condition.

The report notes, "The rationale being that while evidence is now clear that it is not a mental disorder, and indeed classifying it in this can cause enormous stigma for people who are transgender, there remain significant health care needs that can best be met if the condition is coded under the ICD."

You can watch and listen to more about the organization's classification in the video below.

Wait, so what exactly is gender dysphoria anyway?

According to the American Psychiatric Association, gender dysphoria is "a conflict between a person's physical or assigned gender and the gender with which he/she/they identify."

The association adds that "People with gender dysphoria may often experience significant distress and/or problems functioning associated with this conflict between the way they feel and think of themselves (referred to as experienced or expressed gender) and their physical or assigned gender."

Treatment options for gender dysphoria include "counseling, cross-sex hormones, puberty suppression, and gender reassignment surgery."

What has the organization previously said about video game addiction?

The organization's 2018 International Classification of Diseases considers video game addiction as a mental disorder, and is due to an "addictive disorder."

For patients to qualify for the disorder, playing video games must cause a person “significant impairment in personal, family, social, educational, occupational or other important areas of functioning.”

According to the organization, "Gaming disorder is characterized by a pattern of persistent or recurrent gaming [behavior] ... which may be online ... or offline, manifested by: 1) impaired control over gaming (e.g., onset, frequency, intensity, duration, termination, context); 2) increasing priority given to gaming to the extent that gaming takes precedence over other life interests and daily activities; and 3) continuation or escalation of gaming despite the occurrence of negative consequences."

"The pattern of gaming [behavior] may be continuous or episodic and recurrent," a report added. "The gaming [behavior] and other features are normally evident over a period of at least 12 months in order for a diagnosis to be assigned, although the required duration may be shortened if all diagnostic requirements are met and symptoms are severe."