Mental health enters a new frontier

As children across China have begun their summer vacation, many parents are bracing for a familiar battle: competing with smartphones and video games for their children's attention.

That anxiety is precisely what Pixar's latest animated blockbuster Toy Story 5 captures in one memorable scene. A group of toys climbs onto rooftops and peers through windows, only to find children in every home glued to screens, their thumbs constantly scrolling while the toys sit forgotten in the corner.

For many Chinese families, that fictional scene feels increasingly close to reality.

To help parents cope with the challenge, Beijing Huilongguan Hospital — the first hospital in China to establish a family-oriented ward dedicated to treating gaming disorders — published a science-based guide on its official WeChat account on July 2, encouraging parents to read it before the summer break.

The move reflects the growing recognition of excessive gaming as a mental health issue. In 2018, the World Health Organization released the 11th revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11), recognizing gaming disorder as a behavioral addiction.

According to the WHO, the ailment is identified as a condition that must be severe enough that it results in significant impairment to a person's functioning in personal, family, social, educational, occupational, or other important areas, and would normally have been evident for at least 12 months.