Addicted to Gaming

[Doclector]

I play games for the majority of my spare time, and I have sometimes felt that I may be addicted. But the more I think about it, it becomes clear it's not so much an addiction to gaming as an aversion to the outside world. I see the outside world as hostile, and to be honest I'm not sure how many people would agree with me. So I stay at home most of the time. I'd like to go out, just last night I was invited to a metal-themed night at a local pub, but just the thought of being around so many people, so many judging eyes, so few of which I can trust, made me incredibly anxious.

Thing is, I don't just retreat into gaming. I watch films, I go on the internet, I read books. My best way to describe it, is having a mentality that comes to "anywhere but out there". I do go out though, but only when I deem it necessary and safe enough. I go to college because it is necessary, and I go shopping because I can blend into the background and steer clear of larger crowds, it feels safer than an enviroment like a pub in which many people stay in one place and will be judging everyone else for social worth.

If you could call me addicted-which I don't think I am-I'd say definately it's the hostility of the outside world that ties me to gaming. The question is, how do I rid myself of the permanent defects in myself-how I look, my unusual personality, my little knowledge of how to socalise that it is now far too late too learn-that cause the outside world's hostility towards me? That, I have no idea about.

 

[TomBeraha]

I play games for the majority of my spare time, and I have sometimes felt that I may be addicted. But the more I think about it, it becomes clear it's not so much an addiction to gaming as an aversion to the outside world. I see the outside world as hostile, and to be honest I'm not sure how many people would agree with me. So I stay at home most of the time. I'd like to go out, just last night I was invited to a metal-themed night at a local pub, but just the thought of being around so many people, so many judging eyes, so few of which I can trust, made me incredibly anxious.

Thing is, I don't just retreat into gaming. I watch films, I go on the internet, I read books. My best way to describe it, is having a mentality that comes to "anywhere but out there". I do go out though, but only when I deem it necessary and safe enough. I go to college because it is necessary, and I go shopping because I can blend into the background and steer clear of larger crowds, it feels safer than an enviroment like a pub in which many people stay in one place and will be judging everyone else for social worth.

If you could call me addicted-which I don't think I am-I'd say definately it's the hostility of the outside world that ties me to gaming. The question is, how do I rid myself of the permanent defects in myself-how I look, my unusual personality, my little knowledge of how to socalise that it is now far too late too learn-that cause the outside world's hostility towards me? That, I have no idea about.

The feelings you're expressing suggest a different but still serious issue. You may want to talk to your doctor about the anxiety you feel in social settings. You may need to talk to a psychologist and sort out why it is that you feel judged by your peers when you are "out there". I'd not consider those attributes of yours "permanent" or "defects". It does seem like something you should take care of though, and certainly some medications may help alleviate the problem. Be leery of benzo's however, in my extremely amateurish opinion those things are terrible and ruin lives. However a lot of anti-depressants can help with those kind of feelings for some people (talk to your doctor - you may or not be one of them).

Best of luck to you, hope you feel better about yourself soon.

 

[matt1256]

Being a gamer myself, I can understand long hours playing games you enjoy. Gaming becomes a problem, in my opinion, when it begins to interfere and degrade your real-world commitments. I've experienced gaming addiction from the other foot, and it almost destroyed my relationship. She got in to an MMO and it took over everything. Wasn't looking for a job, neglected the relationship, wasn't eating dinner at the table, basically woke up and went to the computer, played until bedtime. Often playing long beyond bedtime, only making it to bed shortly before I had to get up for work. Eventually it was the game or me and thankfully the massive fight (spanning several days) that occurred resulted in the discarding of the game. That wasn't easy either, there were always excuses to come back and play, including "friends" (all men) she made online urging her to come play or to move to their city.

tl;dr: Gaming addiction is very real, but it doesn't tie in to number of hours, it ties in to how it affects what is really important.

 

[kouriichi]

Oh yes, because football ((both kinds)) isnt an addiction? Spending countless hours watching it on tv, spending hundreds to THOUSANDS of dollars to go see a bumch of people eather kicking or running a ball around a field for an hour. Not includeing to cost of the over priced consessions which could possible be ANOTHER hundred dollers.

What about cars? Nobody could possibly be addicted to motorvehicals! Chroming out theyer pipes and hubcaps, spending thousands of dollars on paint jobs, decals, leathers seats and mini LCD TVs. Nope. Cars Deffinitly arnt an addiction.

Little porcline figerines? OH DEAR LORD! How could i even bring those up! Theres no way those $300 a piece "collectors" porcline figerines could ever be considered an addiction! I mean, its not like if you were to touch one, the collector of them wouldent leap across the table and rip both your nipples off in an enraged state!

Yes, videogames and drugs are the only addictions out there that we have to worry about.

 

[Tim Latshaw]

So unbelievably generic.

The negative consequences to "obsessive gaming" fits any addiction. Feels like he's just listing the incredibly obvious things we already know :|

What else would you like to see discussed? If you have anything, why not write to Dr. Mark asking him to discuss those specific tenets? He seems quite open to any sorts of questions.

 

[SolaceAvatar]

I honestly think that calling it 'addictive' is an intentionally manipulative choice of words. Addition requires withdrawal symptoms, and throwing a tantrum because you can't do the thing you like doesn't count. A more accurate, and almost equally negative word would be 'obsession', but of course no one dies over an obsession with heroin, so that just doesn't have the same emotional punch.

 

[nitro27]

Oh yes, because football ((both kinds)) isnt an addiction? Spending countless hours watching it on tv, spending hundreds to THOUSANDS of dollars to go see a bumch of people eather kicking or running a ball around a field for an hour. Not includeing to cost of the over priced consessions which could possible be ANOTHER hundred dollers.

What about cars? Nobody could possibly be addicted to motorvehicals! Chroming out theyer pipes and hubcaps, spending thousands of dollars on paint jobs, decals, leathers seats and mini LCD TVs. Nope. Cars Deffinitly arnt an addiction.

Little porcline figerines? OH DEAR LORD! How could i even bring those up! Theres no way those $300 a piece "collectors" porcline figerines could ever be considered an addiction! I mean, its not like if you were to touch one, the collector of them wouldent leap across the table and rip both your nipples off in an enraged state!

Yes, videogames and drugs are the only addictions out there that we have to worry about.

... Who are you responding to? I've read all the comments, and the article, and I see nothing that contradicts you. This seems a bit aggressive for such a random comment.

 

[kouriichi]

Oh yes, because football ((both kinds)) isnt an addiction? Spending countless hours watching it on tv, spending hundreds to THOUSANDS of dollars to go see a bumch of people eather kicking or running a ball around a field for an hour. Not includeing to cost of the over priced consessions which could possible be ANOTHER hundred dollers.

What about cars? Nobody could possibly be addicted to motorvehicals! Chroming out theyer pipes and hubcaps, spending thousands of dollars on paint jobs, decals, leathers seats and mini LCD TVs. Nope. Cars Deffinitly arnt an addiction.

Little porcline figerines? OH DEAR LORD! How could i even bring those up! Theres no way those $300 a piece "collectors" porcline figerines could ever be considered an addiction! I mean, its not like if you were to touch one, the collector of them wouldent leap across the table and rip both your nipples off in an enraged state!

Yes, videogames and drugs are the only addictions out there that we have to worry about.

... Who are you responding to? I've read all the comments, and the article, and I see nothing that contradicts you. This seems a bit aggressive for such a random comment.

Oh, me? Im responding in general.

Forive me if im over reacting alittle bit, but all this crap about, "Media Addiction" has been giving me massive headaches. Yes, videogames arnt "good" for people. But they definitly arnt "bad" eather. My uncle, who is 50, started playing racing games because he likes cars. Not only has his typing speed gone up significantly, but he seems all around more responsive. He drops stuff less, reads faster, and even seems to be a bit more lively.

They talk about videogames like theyer the devils work, and how it turns children into killers. When i was growing up, all i played as mortal combat and similarly violant games. But i ended up being a pacifist. Videogames gave me something to do insted of run the michigan streets like the rest of the kids and get hooked on drugs or dragged into gangs.

There are REAL medical problems out there we could be spending research money on, insted of pointing out that children shouldent be playing 18+ games. Ofcourse they shouldent. Theyer labled 18+ for a reason!

 

[Zanaxal]

People can get addicted to anything. Its not the medium that is the colprut most cases but the mind of the person doing them.

Video games are however a ready accessible medium for anyone and legal. So there will always be someone who will use it to the point of overdoing.

The other addictive mediums are usually readily available or legal. (Tobacco, Adrenaline giving sports, Alcohol, Drugs, Gambling, porn.)

There are other legal ones like soda, fast food, sex, over counter drugs, Internett, Internettchat, Facebook etc.
Some people can even become item horders, animal horders(pretty common on the animal planet) etc.

I for one see some mmo's as nothing more then a time-sink with rewards of achievements. Which are a total waste of time.

People can pretty much become addicted to anything. But banning it for a entire populus just because of some noobs and their noob parents is not acceptable.

Most cases it is the person themselves that have just lost touch with reality and whats important.

Did you know mentally ill people have a relatively high likelyhood of addiction?

Every year America spends $13.4 billion and the world spends $96.7 billion on its porn habit..... so about 6yrs that would be africas entire national debt. Now thats some real sad figures.

Don't they know they could get that for free? xD

Video games generate alot of work and also funds the further development of computers. how would the pc market been if not for videogames? I bet the army would be the only ones using it and bothering to develop.

I for one would be happy if they banned obvious "time-sink" material from video games, like achievements and over excessive farm times and days of cooldown just because some person wants to make a buck of the lost souls. Those are the real problems.

 

[re dir]

personally I don't think it really matters what you call it. I was watching day9's 100th daily ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJztfsXKcPQ ), and I remember him saying something along the lines of "I love starcraft, and I love that I love starcraft" If you love something, and can honestly look at yourself, and say "I'm glad I like this, sure there are a few drawbacks, but I've gained more than I've lost, its worth it" then you are golden. Although this might not function as well in extreme cases.

 

[mkline]

So folks, the idea here is that any behavior, not just video gaming, can be considered an addiction if the person can't engage in it in a controlled fashion, and ends up doing harm to themselves as a result. The two ingredients that make addiction are lack of control and harmful consequences. I don't think all video games have this effect on all people, but I do think some video games have this effect on some people, so I responded to the person's question (Is video gaming addiction real?) in the affirmative and I tried to outline what I've seen and experienced of how it looks.

It's never been my intent to imply that all video games are evil and all gamers addicted. In fact, I spend lots of time explaining to other professionals the complex role gaming plays in the lives of many folks these days--because so many are clueless about this. I like drinking beer but I don't deny there are alcoholics. If you love gaming, why would you need to deny some people run into problems with it?

Is it overdramatizing these problems by using the term addiction? I just applied the knowledge I gained from colleagues who work with other behavioral addictions--like sex addiction and gambling. You have compulsive, out-of-control behavior and significant harm as a result.

I truly support all of our rights to enjoy some of the wonderful and amazing games out there, and if you play a lot, episodically, or regularly, and you love it, and you feel it's under control and there isn't significant collateral damage--then game on!

If, on the other hand, it's not under control and the consequences are mounting, take a look at this--try to make some changes--and if you find you can't, seek help.

As noted by an earlier poster, I am eager to discuss whatever issues you guys submit, and this question has been raised repeatedly. If there are other things you're interested in having addressed, send me a comment or question.

 

[Adventurer2626]

I've mulled around this label a bit myself, but I don't think I quite fit the bill. I will admit that I'm probably borderline and it probably wouldn't take a great shove to push me over the edge. I grew up with a love of exploration and experience, both of which, oddly enough, gaming has in spades. It's not that I crave gaming directly, just the desire of adventure that it sates. IRL once you're on your own, traveling and exploring take lots of time and money. There are logistics involved, such as gas, food, hours of operation of places, and time away from work/family/friends, that may become a problem. Not everyone can step off their back porch into wilderness these days. For as much or likely less you can simulate some of these experiences and more by gaming. You can do things that you could NEVER do IRL. That's what makes them so fun and, yes, at times addicting.

It does sound like a match made in heaven but I do realize from time to time that there are some things I can't get from sitting in front of my monitor all day. Also games do eventually get old and you need to find something else to do. Anyways, gaming is my default hobby and my preferred hobby with friends. I fall back on it when I don't have something else to keep me occupied. If I'm kept busy I can forget about gaming entirely but if there is next to nothing to do, then oh how I wish I had a laptop.

 

[Lovesfool]

This is a topic that I am very keenly interested in and have enjoyed the last two texts from Dr. Mark a lot.

I think it is essential that all of us be consious of the reality that video games, our beloved hobby, may in fact lead to addiction. I always double check myself, to make sure that it is still a hobby and that I am gaming because I WANT TO and not because I HAVE TO. Addiction is not always obvious to the person with the addiction.

Judging from myself, I agree that how many hours / day a person plays is not, by itself, sufficient to judge addiction. It is easy to deduce that if someone is addicted he/she will play many hours per day, but it doesn't work the other way around.

The self-check I do is to try and be without gaming for a little while. I check my reaction if there is a power outage on a Saturday morning, when usually I am hope playing, or check my emotions if I am faced with a few days without my PC due to system failure of a trip.

Although I still get very passionate about many games, thankfully, I still find it quite easy and stress-free to replace gaming with a different activity in my free time...

...so I guess I am OK...

...or at least I hope so...