Interesting how they mention online poker. When talking about gaming addiction, online card games almost never come up.
Playing Videogames is Like Snorting Coke, Says Therapist
- Thread starter Andy Chalk
- Start date
Gaming addiction can be quite real and have devastating effects on a person's life; so, I don't think it's something people should poo-poo too quickly. However, I will agree that it is not in the same class of addiction and abuse as cocaine, meth, or other such substances, and some of these people decrying video game addiction as a plague and scourge really need to reassess reality. Those named substances are life-threatening by the action of the drug itself, rather than just you neglecting your life, as is the case for gaming addiction. Also, those substances have a high probability of addiction independent of the person; whereas, gaming addiction usually depends on the psychology of the person. Usually a person addicted to gaming has some other real cause for the malady, social situation, depression, or just an inability to cope with real-life. Fixing this underlying cause can usually fix the addiction.
Gaming addiction is probably closer to alcoholism only for the psychological and social effects rather than the physiological effects; any physiological effects of gaming addiction are related to simple neglect of the body rather than action of a toxic substance such as alcohol. Similar to the case of alcoholism, some people are affected, while others are not.
Also, not necessarily does one become addicted to any kind of game. Some games may lure the person into addictive patterns while other games do not(speaking from personal experience, as I've recently broken from my own addictive pattern with MMOs, but I don't obtain the same addictive behavior with any other kind of game). This suggests to me that gaming addiction is a weaker kind of addiction that has to treated a little differently from other addictions.
I will also agree with the sentiment that, in our society, we need to stop trying to pin blame for our actions on everything outside ourselves. We are each personally responsible and accountable for our every action. At every moment in life there is always a choice, good or bad; even during those moments when it seems there is no choice, there really is a choice(you just may not like it, but one always exists). The best statement I know of on this(please don't flame me for pulling religion into this; I'm just trying to make a point) is Christ's words that sin comes from within, not from without. This is not something to become depressed over, it's just simply reality. You accept it and move forward with life, making choices based on your desires, morals, and ethics as you go.
Gaming addiction is probably closer to alcoholism only for the psychological and social effects rather than the physiological effects; any physiological effects of gaming addiction are related to simple neglect of the body rather than action of a toxic substance such as alcohol. Similar to the case of alcoholism, some people are affected, while others are not.
Also, not necessarily does one become addicted to any kind of game. Some games may lure the person into addictive patterns while other games do not(speaking from personal experience, as I've recently broken from my own addictive pattern with MMOs, but I don't obtain the same addictive behavior with any other kind of game). This suggests to me that gaming addiction is a weaker kind of addiction that has to treated a little differently from other addictions.
I will also agree with the sentiment that, in our society, we need to stop trying to pin blame for our actions on everything outside ourselves. We are each personally responsible and accountable for our every action. At every moment in life there is always a choice, good or bad; even during those moments when it seems there is no choice, there really is a choice(you just may not like it, but one always exists). The best statement I know of on this(please don't flame me for pulling religion into this; I'm just trying to make a point) is Christ's words that sin comes from within, not from without. This is not something to become depressed over, it's just simply reality. You accept it and move forward with life, making choices based on your desires, morals, and ethics as you go.
There is no such thing as a gaming addiction. Gaming addiction is just a symptom of an underlying cause. You do not treat the symptoms, you treat the cause. Treating the symptoms will get you up to a point, but most of the times they reappear.
More of a Pot addiction, you want it more than you need it.
I have a cone of bud roughly about once every two weeks and play 1-2 hours of video games a night after I get back from my course after living my day on a healthy balance of a good diet and regular excersise.
I have a cone of bud roughly about once every two weeks and play 1-2 hours of video games a night after I get back from my course after living my day on a healthy balance of a good diet and regular excersise.
What are these "signs of addiction"? I'm willing to bet that these "signs" are just the fact that the subject wants to play videogames. That's called a hobby. A kid wanting to play football all the time would not be called "addicted" because it's socially accepted. Noone wants to disrupt the status quo, and videogames aren't yet in the status quo. Films, sports and TV are, so noone really bashes them much anymore, at least not generally, as the videogame industry so oft has to put up with.
A statement like this doesn't even make me angry. it's actually quite funny.
It's like having a drunk guy pulled off the street at random and having him explain the Zelda timeline. You gotta laugh every time they say something stupid.
It's like having a drunk guy pulled off the street at random and having him explain the Zelda timeline. You gotta laugh every time they say something stupid.
I did a bunch of coke on Sunday night. Then I went home and played Super Mario Galaxy 1. However, i was not nearly as trashed. This story is very untrue.
Video games MAY BE addicting as arcade games are; or as the world is, people will always try to progress and get better--World of Warcraft, Runescape, etc. Everything in the world can be considered an addiction of just 0.00001% and yet it's still an addiction! I play video games to relax and rarely play for more than 6 hours a day (SPREAD THROUGHOUT THE COURSE OF THE DAY!), and the only time I ever get frustrated is when I'm playing the game Killing Floor the "Co-Op Survival Horror" online game, and my teammates don't even save me...Yeah real nice co-op! But anyway so yeah video games aren't as addicting as chocolate, sugar, sex, drugs themselves...If people wanna believe that video games are as addicting as doing coke while banging their girlfriends, then so be it, but let them live in their little drug-addled fantasty worlds okay =D?
"One 49-year-old mother who wished to remain anonymous bought Call of Duty for her son but realized only in hindsight what an impact it had on him. "Now that I look back on it, it's like I went out and bought him his first shot of whiskey," she said."
Gee I wonder why she wanted to remain anonumous. >_____> I bet you ANYTHING, the kid was probably under 13, if not ATLEAST under the "recommonded" age.
Anyway, everything "good" is adicting. That's why everyone needs balance, and why there needs to be "good" and "bad". Kinda nice there was mention of Facebook, since it honestly isn't a game, but it's still "adicting" to some people. I bet anything, the mentions of the "addiction", like th eone where the kid played nonstop for 24 hours, the parents didn't care, and let him do that.
My opinion, it isn't the video games that's the problem, it's the parents and the home situation that does the damage. If parents aren't parents, if they don't teach right and wrong, and if they don't regulate and make sure the kid knows right and wrong, then that's how you get most of the gun weilding idiots who in turn, get everyone to blame the games, when it was the jackass who did it, and the parents are "oh, we didn't do anything. it was the game who influenced him". Now, you can be influenced, but the key thing is, IF YOU ACTUALY GO ON THOSE INFLUENCES. >_>
Now, granted, not all parents are bad. My 11 year old brother, and my 10 year old nephew play MW2, and Uncharted respectively. They aren't violent, rude, disrespectful children. Just the oposite. Why? Because they know it isn't real, and they know right and wrong.
Gee I wonder why she wanted to remain anonumous. >_____> I bet you ANYTHING, the kid was probably under 13, if not ATLEAST under the "recommonded" age.
Yea, ususaly if someone gets wraped up in anything, weather be work, getting away from home, "addiction", etc etc, there's ususaly something else that isn't obvious.AndyFromMonday said:
Anyway, everything "good" is adicting. That's why everyone needs balance, and why there needs to be "good" and "bad". Kinda nice there was mention of Facebook, since it honestly isn't a game, but it's still "adicting" to some people. I bet anything, the mentions of the "addiction", like th eone where the kid played nonstop for 24 hours, the parents didn't care, and let him do that.
My opinion, it isn't the video games that's the problem, it's the parents and the home situation that does the damage. If parents aren't parents, if they don't teach right and wrong, and if they don't regulate and make sure the kid knows right and wrong, then that's how you get most of the gun weilding idiots who in turn, get everyone to blame the games, when it was the jackass who did it, and the parents are "oh, we didn't do anything. it was the game who influenced him". Now, you can be influenced, but the key thing is, IF YOU ACTUALY GO ON THOSE INFLUENCES. >_>
Now, granted, not all parents are bad. My 11 year old brother, and my 10 year old nephew play MW2, and Uncharted respectively. They aren't violent, rude, disrespectful children. Just the oposite. Why? Because they know it isn't real, and they know right and wrong.
My first off-the-cuff thought: and games are so much cheaper and less physically debilitating than cocaine! AWESOME!
After the first surge of silliness and snark wears off: if what Mr. "Expert of the Moment" means is that doing pleasurable things is similar to doing other pleasurable things, then well, duh. It's quite possible that you would make similar "findings" about people, say, watching sports, or having sex, or eating ice cream with hot fudge sauce, but that's not where Mr. EotM chose to poke his nose, now was it?
I recognize that it's possible for some people to get involved in video games to the point that it's bad for them- for their health, their mental state, their social life. But I also recognize that it's entirely possible for video games to simply be a fun thing that you do, a part of your life, another social outlet, a, dare I say it, recreation. And that's not something you can really say about cocaine.
At least, not say and be taken seriously. Which is I believe where we came in...
After the first surge of silliness and snark wears off: if what Mr. "Expert of the Moment" means is that doing pleasurable things is similar to doing other pleasurable things, then well, duh. It's quite possible that you would make similar "findings" about people, say, watching sports, or having sex, or eating ice cream with hot fudge sauce, but that's not where Mr. EotM chose to poke his nose, now was it?
I recognize that it's possible for some people to get involved in video games to the point that it's bad for them- for their health, their mental state, their social life. But I also recognize that it's entirely possible for video games to simply be a fun thing that you do, a part of your life, another social outlet, a, dare I say it, recreation. And that's not something you can really say about cocaine.
At least, not say and be taken seriously. Which is I believe where we came in...
Lol. I do wish people would think through the implications of what they say sometimes...DividedUnity said:
Because you basically said "It's a person's own fault for not having the self-control needed to have any self-control."
But whatever. Having self-control is like having good eyesight.
Some people have it, some people need glasses to be able to see anything, and some lie inbetween.
A comment like this is like saying having bad eyesight is your own fault. In a sense, it is. But what can you do about it? Nothing. You can wear glasses, which helps 'correct' the problem, but it still doesn't change the fact that without them you can't see worth a damn.
Unfortunately, we somehow accept certain kinds of defects from people, but not others.
Why the difference? I guess a presumption of people having 'control' over certain aspects of who they are, and not others.
But is that in any way fair? Can I change the way my mind works any more easily than I can change how tall I am?
Nothing is entirely impossible to change, but nor is it always a simple thing to do so...