theSovietConnection said:
But what about the gamer that takes every possible step to prevent from removing himself from the main source, as you say. What if a stash isn't needed because they just don't stop unless absolutely necessary, and even then there are examples of people who game themselves to death. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4137782.stm]
That isn't gaming himself to death. That's basic ignoring his body functions. People have been doing that since time immemorial. If you game past your insulin treatment, and you're diabetic, the diabetic seizure won't be caused by the game, will it?
Most people agree gambling is addictive, so can't video games be as well?
It's a different field of addiction though. Addiction primarily stems from the body needing to continue it's vice which shorts out the body. Gambling and gaming are vices, sure, but they're not addictions as much as they're the symptom of a higher mental crisis, I.E. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
If you treat gaming as an addicting substance, then you have to treat any pleasurable substance as an addicting substance, which, at the last count, included a good portion of living.
Gambling differs in that there is a specific trigger (to whit: money) which causes the rise in dopamine (the "high") and the deterioration in performance (the "low" - from losing). Gaming doesn't cover that as there is no specific trigger relevant to all addicts. Take an "addicting" game like
Starcraft, for instance. What drives you is the wish to be rewarded, but unlike gambling, that wish can be completed multiple times and on multiple formats. That means it's less of a stimulus and more of a symptom of a larger dysfunction of the brain.
All of the "deaths" from gaming have been from individuals in poor health who have pushed their bodies past breaking point for the competitive element, rather than any set stimulus; that means it's a learned behaviour pattern rather than an induced behaviour pattern.
Treating the "addiction" will only remove the symptom, rather than the root cause. Our
Starcraft gamer will probably be bored stiff with
The Sims, but a poker addict will jump at the chance to play roulette.
Addiction is primarily a deterioration state, gaming can easily be development state - let's face it, we all play games when we're learning. What we need to treat is the OCD response that leads to game focussing, rather than the games themselves.
Like I said before, look at the "normal" individuals who imbibe dangerous amount of toxins, suffer violent mood-swings, dress up in strange ritual dress and are unable to rationalise it - just because their country is playing in a big tournament.
Cognitive therapy rather than substance therapy. Most of these people who die have already suffered from extreme cycles of stress and it may be that the game is helping them cope, rather than deteriorating their life.