While netizens might be quick to link efforts to treat this newly-recognized disorder to past controversy, the new clinic at one of Beijing’s biggest psychiatric hospitals appears to offer something quite different from shock therapy.

China has a complicated history when it comes to treating gaming or internet addiction. Doctors in the country were treating people with game addictions long before the WHO had even introduced the issue to its agenda. Yet one doctor in particular has tainted the industry in the eyes of many.

The treatment reportedly involved sending a current of more than 10 milliamperes through his patients’ fingertips and temples. Yang was also said to have prescribed patients with psychotropic drugs during the four-month treatment program.

This revelation sent shockwaves through China, with the country’s Ministry of Health eventually banning the use of shock therapy on internet addicts. While some of Yang’s patients voiced support for his unique treatment, many others said the pain was unbearable and inhumane.

Even though Yang’s methods might not be making a comeback, the new Beijing clinic and the WHO classification probably aren’t going to change Chinese society.

When asked about the impact of the new WHO classification, University of Hong Kong professor Cecilia Cheng said it will mostly raise public awareness around excessive gaming without causing a big impact on the gaming industry or eSports.

Tackling this issue, though, requires getting to the root of addictive behavior lest people replace one addiction with another. It’s not just about gaming.

“Personally I don’t think this act [by the WHO] is a measure to combat the timely problem of gaming addiction because gaming addiction is only one type of behavioral addiction (other examples are pathological gambling or shopping)," she wrote in an email.