https://www.danya.com/dlc/bup/pdf/Dependence_DSM.PDF
5. A great deal of time is spent in activities necessary to obtain the substance
What's the cut-off for a "great deal of time"? Is driving an hour each way to play at a golf course you like enough to classify it as an addiction?
6. Important social, occupational, or recreational activities are given up or reduced because of substance use.
Who determines what is "important" enough to classify it as an addiction? Occupational is a bit easier because if you quit your job just to play a video game (and not because you hate your job and had a high likelihood of quitting it for another reason, it just so happens you also play video games) then I can see the argument. What is an important social or recreational acitivity? Oh I decided to stay home and play video games (or smoke weed ala substance addiction) instead of go meet the guys from work at the bar, I must have a problem!
4. There is a persistent desire or unsuccessful efforts to cut down or control substance use
Only the person themselves can say whether or not they are actually attempting to cut down on the use of something (and people suck at self-control in every area, just look at dieting).
This thing only has 7 and most of the others couldn't be related to anything other than substance abuse (tolerance etc.).
My main point is: If there is not an actual physical withdrawal effect, all it means is that someone likes one thing more than they like other things. If that classifies a mental health issue then
literally everything constitutes a mental health issue.
while i appreciate your hesitation to identify it as a mental health issue... the fact of the matter is that smarter men than you and i HAVE ALREADY identified it as a mental health issue.
i'll attempt to address some of your points.
4. simply put, wanting and/or trying to quit but you can't. it's really easy for someone who doesn't understand addiction to just say, "if you REALLY wanted to quit, you would." same way someone who doesn't understand depression would say "just cheer up!" some kid who gets his first DWI and tells everyone he wants to quit doesn't really qualify for this because we all know better. he really DOESN'T want to quit, he just doesn't want to get caught. a mother who is facing jailtime and getting her kids taken away because she shot up in the car while they were in the backseat? she doesn't WANT to keep doing that. she doesn't WANT to be in the situation she's in. she knows that everytime she uses, heck, everytime she even THINKS about using, she's literally risking everything she has but does it anyway... she qualifies for 4.
5. the site you quoted missed the key parts of this, but that's okay because most people do. "excessive amounts of time are spent USING, RECOVERING from use, or OBTAINING the drug (or habit or whatever it is). let's say you go out and drink everynight. is that excessive? it's every night right? that would "seem" excessive right? what if it's only for an hour? well... that's less than 5% of your day. by very definition that's not excessive. oh, but what about OBTAINING? and RECOVERING from using? i knew a guy who drank every night with his friends. for about an hour or so. not a lot of time actually drinking respectively. but he'd wake up in the morning hung over, spend all day at work miserable until one of his buddies would say "hey, where we going and who's driving?" then he'd sit and count the minutes until he could get done with work, take care of house stuff and then go out. THAT is what i would call excessive.
6. clearly put, the person themselves decides what's important. i might say, it's important that you vote, but you might say, no it's not. screw that noise i'm going drinking. clinically, i can't count that because YOU didn't think it was important in the first place. but if you say to me, i missed my dad's funeral because i was drunk... i just couldn't see him... well, that's a different story.
as to your other point about the other ones not counting, i can assure you, they do. sure, there is a section on "pharmacological effects" (tolerance and withdrawal) that are not going to have any place in the discussion, but things like "hazerdous use/using in dangerous situations" sure counts. what about all those dudes in china who keep dying in internet cafes because they stop eating? stop drinking? what about "continued use despite physical or psychological side effects such as depression," what about "cravings?" yeah you're not craving a line of coke, but you can't stop thinking about how cool it would be to make a skyrim mod that let's you be a unicorn.
my point is that the wording needs to be adjusted and certain things don't make sense in the context of video games, but not nearly as much as you want and even then, the things most people think are incredibly important, aren't. you know how many times i hear people say "i'm not an addict because i don't have withdrawal. guess what, most cocaine users never experience withdrawal. but also guess what, that headache you get in the morning that isn't really that big of a deal but it's there anyway? that attitude you get until you get your morning cup of coffee? that's caffeine withdrawal.
just because you have withdrawal doesn't need you need to go to treatment.
