Web And Game Addictions Might Become Official Disorders

[vansau]

Web And Game Addictions Might Become Official Disorders

If an Australian psychiatrist and his team have their way, your online addictions may be labeled "pathological internet misuse."

We've all heard talk of people being addicted to the internet and videogames, but usually this is a figure of speech. However, a psychiatrist out of Australia - and a team of other mental health professionals - is trying to get "pathological internet misuse" saddled as an official mental disorder.

"Pathological internet misuse" sounds like it's a label for illegal activities that include, I don't know, committing identity theft or something. Instead, according to News.com Australia, Psychiatrist Philip Tam is reportedly one of several psychiatrists who's being flooded with requests from parents to help their children who are addicted to spending time online:

"International mental health experts are considering including 'video game addiction and internet addiction' in the next edition of globally recognized Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 'to encourage further study'. The exact term they are using is 'pathological internet misuse.'"

Although there aren't any specific numbers given, it's implied that a majority of mental health professionals support this move.

The story includes a testimonial from a mom who claims her 13-year-old son is so addicted to World of Warcraft that he's skipped school and "violently resists" all attempts to get him to stop playing the game (including punching holes in the walls). Apparently nobody told this woman that she's the parent in this situation.

My favorite part of the story, though, is when Jocelyn Brewer (a part of Tam's "expert group") states that "girls also could 'become obsessed with Facebook'." I didn't realize that Facebook addictions were gender exclusive.

Source: <a href=http://www.news.com.au/technology/teens-hooked-on-computer-games/story-e6frfro0-1226207597115>News.com via <a href=http://www.gamepolitics.com/2011/11/28/australian-psychiatrist-wants-039pathological-internet-misuse039-classified-addiction>GamePolitics


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[Riobux]

Personally, I have no problem with the move. Addiction to the internet or computer games are a real thing, but this needs to be assessed with absolute caution. The problem with the psychitrist in question is they're likely to needlessly be harsh with the label (e.g. 1+ hour per day). The key part of it being a disorder is it needs to actually have a significant negative affect on the individual's life. So concluding that someone who plays games from 6pm until 2am every night is an addict may be inaccurate if he/she is able to keep a job, social relations and other things. It's really like alcoholism, but I get the distinct feeling that it has a poorer understanding.

 

[Baresark]

So, there was a study conducted one time. There were 9 people of various backrounds (3 psychologist, 1 psychiatrist, 1 painter, 1 pediatrician, and the others escape me) who went and saw a mental health professional saying they heard voices. 8 of the were diagnosed with Schizophrenia and 1 with some form of Bi-polar disorder. This was a lie, they were testing a subject called Determination Bias. So, as part of their little experiment, when they were all committed to psychiatric wards for an indeterminate amount of time, they all stopped displaying the fake symptoms.

Here is where this is relevant here: No matter what they did, it was recorded as part of their mental illness, no matter how normal the activity was. One guy wrote in a journal, as he had done for years, and the nursing station recorded it as "engaging in writing activities", which is a symptom of his fake mental disorder. Another patient became angry when he was mistreated by a nurse and that was treated as part of his their mental disorder. Despite them not displaying any of the fake symptoms and resuming their normal activities, they were never uncovered as fakes by the doctors, though the real patients knew they weren't really supposed to be in there. None of the group were diagnosed as a danger to themselves or the public and stayed an average of 19 days before release.

Later, the doctors were approached about this and simply believed they were lied to about the fake patients, disregarding what they had been told as preposterous and a lie. You see, whenever someone has developed a bias (such as with the case of their fake mental illness), all activities then become a symptom of that bias.

What this means is simply that if they were to be allowed to name an actual mental illness like this, when you were in their sights, you would never get away. These parents are stupid and obviously look forward to their children being diagnosed with a disorder that will follow them forever. Good job parenting, parents. You might as well just sign your kids to be wards of the state at birth, and stop all that pesky posturing that you care about your kids and their future.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Twats.

Sorry, I should qualify that statement. Apart from the fact that there isn't even a Trans-Atlantic definition of some forms of mental health, Schizophrenia still doesn't have a set definition - only a variety of potential symptoms - despite being known in all parts of the world, Games cannot addict (as they don't directly alter brain chemicals) - they can only be compulsions (Thanks @Extracreditz), apart from the fact that most Australians aren't allowed to choose their own forms of internet usage thanks to the Great Australian Firewall and their adamant demand that adults are incapable of choosing their own types of entertainment - although Violence, Sexuality and Drug taking are perfectly allowed in all other forms of media, apart from the fact that the internet is a connection between computers and has no relation to humans apart from whether they are online or not, apart from the fact that misuse is so open that it defies definition, apart from the basis of a law being on the second hand account of a single unqualified example (which even Freud steered clear of), apart from the fact that they are defining internet and video game addiction as different facets of the same addiction without defining the differences between them, apart from the fact that the "flood" has one example, apart from the fact that videogames have been proven repeatedly to calm + provide support for those people coming out of mental ill-health, apart from the fact that- of the billion game players in the world today - there are single figure cases of this "illness", and finally, apart from the fact that there are some serious conditions (like ADHD, Aspergers, Autism, Schizophrenia, S.A.D, Manic Depression) that still aren't getting the treatment that their sufferers deserve and that false-positive cases - which this ruling would certainly increase - have been proven to lead to actual mental health cases developing in perfectly normal people: there are health professionals that seek to add a definition that they can charge for, without any research into the causes, symptoms or cure of the same.

Stop trying to use your own ignorance as justification for taking choice away from perfectly healthy Australians. You twats.

 

[The Random One]

The jokes in the newspost would be funnier if the reason these are being considered was because a bunch of people couldn't control their kids, as opposed to the fact that psychology as a field has been in a decades-long quest of identity and can't nail down what should and shouldn't be a mental illness.

 

[Lightslei]

Is it bad I both support and disagree with this sentiment at the same time?

 

[Creator002]

I wonder how they would classify "pathologic misuse". Does it concern how many hours a day your on it or a more classic "need your fix" behaviour? If it's the former, I could have a mental illness. Yippee?

 

[Lightslei]

Isn't "pathological internet misuse" another name for a chronic masterbater?
Or MW3 multiplayer?

Is it bad I both support and disagree with this sentiment at the same time?

Depends. Can you explain why?

My sister used to have a drug addiction. As far as I'm concerned I used to have an addiction to gaming. My reaction when I stopped playing games, was similar to her when she went through drug withdrawal although I guess that sounds insane. In a way I believe people can become completely dependent on technology, and when we let it get to the point where we basically use it as our tool to survive, escape, feel good, etc, it becomes hazardous to our own health.

I disagree because half these people trying to prove the "OMG TECHNOLOGY IS EVIL PEOPLE" don't have half of a clue as to why people end up in those situations. On top of that, I haven't seen many studies that are done properly regarding technology addiction, and I feel that they are going to over-classify, especially if it's coming out of Australia.

Although I'm probably biased since I agree with programs like reSTART.

 

[MegaManOfNumbers]

I think the validity of this study is automatically disproved when the title called it "Web and Game ADDICTIONS". Goddrunkendammnit, addiction means the physical alteration of the human brain to prevent the individual from functioning properly without the substance that altered it.

What they should call it is COMPULSION. Last I checked, the internet doesn't physically enter your body and forces you to live off it. No, it just fucks up your eyes if your near-sighted... like me.

Video games can't make someone addicted to it either. Its like saying that a movie buff is addicted to movies. IT. DOESN'T. WORK!!!!!

 

[esperandote]

I can see where they come from, on the other hand parenting should fix those problems, and on the other other hand, parenting should also prevent drugs.

 

[BrotherRool]

Well anything can be addictive and considering games and the internet in general are specifically designed to keep you feeding on them, I don't think it surprising videogame addiction can be a big thing. The extra-credits dude not only agrees that it exists but was a sufferer himself. So why not help them?

And when a kid is smashing holes in the wall it's cool to blame it on the parent, but at the end of the day thats abnormal behaviour that most parents don't have to deal with, people have to take responsibility for their actions at some point and most importantly, whatever the reason, that kid (and his parents) need help and should be given it

 

[theheroofaction]

So, the new addiction is internet huh?

Yes this has happened way too many times before.
Most recently was television and, less famously, radio.
Knowing this, I can guarantee that, at some point, many parents started growing concerned that their kids are spending way too much time reading, or that maybe their son goes to art galleries too much, or that their child is listening to those street performers much more than he/she should.

 

[ZeZZZZevy]

Weird. I just heard a lecture today in gen psych about psychological disorders and how their classifications become "official"

You know what I find wrong with this? Their label is atrocious. Anyone who is uninformed will assume you're doing something illegal or inherently wrong, not what they're trying to express (which isn't even necessarily correct, as others have already pointed out)

seriously? If this must be classified come up with a better name, otherwise you're actually going to ruin the lives of the people who are "diagnosed" with this.

 

[Orange12345]

This study sounds a little shady, all the jobs of the participants start with the letter P..... (jking)

 

[Orange12345]

Baresark:

"So, there was a study conducted one time. There were 9 people of various backrounds (3 psychologist, 1 psychiatrist, 1 painter, 1 pediatrician, and the others escape me) who went and saw a mental health professional saying they heard voices. 8 of the were diagnosed with Schizophrenia and 1 with some form of Bi-polar disorder. This was a lie, they were testing a subject called Determination Bias. So, as part of their little experiment, when they were all committed to psychiatric wards for an indeterminate amount of time, they all stopped displaying the fake symptoms.

Here is where this is relevant here: No matter what they did, it was recorded as part of their mental illness, no matter how normal the activity was. One guy wrote in a journal, as he had done for years, and the nursing station recorded it as "engaging in writing activities", which is a symptom of his fake mental disorder. Another patient became angry when he was mistreated by a nurse and that was treated as part of his their mental disorder. Despite them not displaying any of the fake symptoms and resuming their normal activities, they were never uncovered as fakes by the doctors, though the real patients knew they weren't really supposed to be in there. None of the group were diagnosed as a danger to themselves or the public and stayed an average of 19 days before release.

Later, the doctors were approached about this and simply believed they were lied to about the fake patients, disregarding what they had been told as preposterous and a lie. You see, whenever someone has developed a bias (such as with the case of their fake mental illness), all activities then become a symptom of that bias.

What this means is simply that if they were to be allowed to name an actual mental illness like this, when you were in their sights, you would never get away. These parents are stupid and obviously look forward to their children being diagnosed with a disorder that will follow them forever. Good job parenting, parents. You might as well just sign your kids to be wards of the state at birth, and stop all that pesky posturing that you care about your kids and their future."



This study sounds a little shady, all the jobs of the participants start with the letter P..... (jking)

 

[dragongit]

Oh Australia... you and your goverment's hatred for Videogames...

 

[Beautiful End]

*Takes deep breath*

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Okay! While I admit that video game and internet addiction could easily be considered a mental disorder, I can see the media making a big deal out of this. Think about it: Smoking, drinking and so on are considered addictions and some people frown upon those (Myself included). Now, video games aren't that bad, if you ask me (Well, I guess it depends on the person). But just wait until this becomes an official disorder. People will see video games as dangerous as drugs. Stupid parents will rally against video game retailers and then shit's gonna hit the fan. We think we got it bad right now? Well, I don't wanna see what would happen if this becomes a reality.

I just hopes people dismiss this as they did with TV.