Study: Nearly One in Ten Gamers Shows Signs of Addiction

[Ph0t0n1c Ph34r]

While I suppose this seems a more informed argument against games than others, I'm still skeptical. As was said earlier, a good book can take up more time than expected too. Also, allow me to define recurrent for you:


re·cur·rent   /rɪˈkɜrənt, -ˈkʌr-/ [ri-kur-uhnt, -kuhr-]
?adjective
1.that recurs; occurring or appearing again, esp. repeatedly or periodically.

If you like games, you will think about them regularly, and will also have the urge to play them regularly. If you like sex, you will think about it and have sexual urges. Does that make you a sex addict? Short answer, no. Long answer, are you mentally retarded?

As a side note: people in my life actually do worry about how often I read, but then, I live in the most hick-ass region of Pennsylvania, where bra burnings still occur regularly, so yeah.

Rather informative. You raise a good point. Where in Pennsylvania do you live? I live over near the Jersey border, north o' Philly.Bichin amount of snow.

 

[ssgt splatter]

NO. Really? You can become addicted to video games? I didn't know that. :O
And by "I didn't know that" I mean WHERE THE F*** HAVE YOU IDIOTS BEEN THE PAST 20+ YEARS!?
Did you really need to conduct a scientific expirement for that one? Using the tax payers money? Money that could've been used for finding the cure for cancer or solving world hunger I might add! I mean really, you probably could've asked an 8-year-old on that one!
...
...
Whew! I needed that.

Ok, slow the hell down, there. I know it seems pretty obvious, and yeah everyone who'd think about it for 2 seconds can see the logic in every kind of entertainment being addictive, but this is science. In science you can't claim a theory is fact unless you've conducted a study proving said theory's fact (for the time being). Now I do realise that research conducted in the field of social studies gets a lot of these "Duh, we knew that already!" responses, because everyone's social in this community.

It's indeed a lot different from, say, neurology. You wouldn't just say a neurologist was a dimwitted idiot because everyone knew all along it was pretty obvious that the medulla oblongata was positioned underneath mesencephalon, would you? Of course you wouldn't because not everyone's a neurologist.
Funnily enough everyone does consider themselves a specialist on the field of social studies, which is why people like you think everyone and their grandma already know all about how dogs positively affect family bonding or whatever.

I'm also fairly confident a study like this is mostly done by surveys, maybe a couple interviews. So don't worry, I think your Cure Cancer, Solve World Hunger Study can miss the couple hundred dollars that went into this one.

I also see Matt's already been good enough to clarify the scientific approach. Just felt like elaborating a little.

Yes, ok true that but haven't people done this study/survey like umpteen times already? That's what I'm really ranting about; scientists running the same test/study over and over again.

 

[Chaos Bringer]

I have alot of those problems.

 

[Dioxide20]

If only videogames caused me to lose weight

 

[1066]

Wait, you mean some of the people "addicted" to gaming lost up to 5kg of weight as a result? Does no one else find that counter-intuitive?

Sadly, not so much. Some gamers snack while playing, others will play through meals, or some might lose some muscle. We're talking extreme cases on the last, obviously, to lose that much.

Example: There's a one-handed PS2 controller made for FFXI.

http://gizmodo.com/021028/one+handed-ps2-controller

True or not, the rumour was that it was made because some kids in Japan weren't eating enough as they'd have to put down their conroller. Hence, the free hand.

Again, rumour, take it for what it's worth.

 

[Nikajo]

*stands up*

My name's Liam and I'm a game-aholic

 

[Android2137]

Only 8% ?

I thought there would have been more frankly.

Yeah, me too, considering this comes from Australia.

Recurrent thoughts and urges about playing
Only until I finish or get bored with my current game.
Restlessness and irritability when not playing
GRAWGH! HULK NO PLAY VIDEO GAME! HULK MAD! Eh no.
Repeated unsuccessful attempts to cut back
They are repeated, but I wouldn't call them unsuccessful. There's this little thing pops up frequently in my life. They're called "deadlines".
Studies or work negatively affected
Deadlines deadlines deadlines.
Problems in "significant relationships"
What? You mean like "romance"? HAH! I don't have and don't want a boyfriend! As for family, sure. Mom had to hide the gameboy for a while when I was in Jr. High because I played too much. And I got my sister addicted to video games. She dropped my GBA in the toilet once. Still worked, but the sound was never the same. She also dropped my NDS and fractured one of the hinges.
Giving up other social activities
I will admit that one, but it was because I can't drive, not video games.
Sore eyes, back pain, strain injuries
All right. Why don't you try staying up for days, stressed out about deadlines in front of a computer, and not come out with all of the above?!
Sleep loss, weight gains or losses of 5kg
Now you're just making me repeat myself.

 

[Therumancer]

Wow an Australia study about gaming addiction at the time it's a political issue... and just in time to support a well known politician to boot. I am shocked, shocked I tell you.

That said, one problem that exists with such studies is that there is a tendency to blame factors like games, comics, music, or whatever else for the problems, rather than looking at things from the perspective of the problems causing someone to seek refuge in heavy escapism.

It's easier to try and police the games (the current boogieman) rather than to try and address the issues (which get very big) that lead to the person wanting to game that seriously before hand. Let's be honest, nerds have been around pretty much forever, as have the issues that mark them as being differant. Video games are just the current nerd refuge. Tackling "game addiction" isn't going to suddenly make these people more normal, socially apt, or increase how well they fit in with society. All it's going to do is make them even more miserable and cause them to seek another haven.

To put things into perspective, what is going on in the life of your typical "game addict" that is so awesome and wonderful that they are missing out on? Chances are if you ask you'll hear about dead end jobs, being ostricized by "peers" for reasons that probably have nothing to do with games overall, combined with dead end jobs or whatever.

 

[rougeknife]

An Australian study

Is it wrong that I gave up once I read this?

I'm just so so cynical about social studies...

I got up to Nepean Hospital before I stopped taking it seriously.

 

[Wolfram23]

I was addicted to WoW for a few years, and can answer "yes" to all their questions during that time period. But then WoW got shitty in the WotLK expansion and I deleted it and never went back. I wasn't addicted to "gaming" just that game. I now play PS3 maybe twice sometimes 3 nights a week, have a girlfriend, see friends etc. I don't find normal games addicting, but as the study states, MMOs are more addicting than other games. I'm not really surprised it's only 8% are addicted since if you consider the gaming community as a whole, many do not play MMOs. I think games like MW2's multiplayer can be addicting for the same reason as WoW - that is to say, you're competing to level and unlock new equipment and boost stats - but if you don't have any friends who play it then it's less likely to become an addiction as you don't have that need to keep up. Of course WoW also had the social aspect of it which was mostly fun, while FPS games are often full of asshats and it's doubtful you'll meet someone you like and want to play with again.

Also, reading some of these posts, I think a lot of these forum goers are fooling themselves. When I played WoW I thought about it a lot - it's easy to pass it off as something else like "oh I just was developing a new strategy" but that's exactly the point. It's not to say addiction is all bad - that's just a social taboo we put on the word. Most people are addicted to something. And as others said, better to be addicted to video games than smoking or drinking alcohol. Although, those addictions don't exactly require the same time input as gaming. And finally, addiction is indeed a synonym to obsession, and does not exclusively imply a chemical addiction.

 

[Asehujiko]

Recurrent thoughts and urges about playing
Restlessness and irritability when not playing
Repeated unsuccessful attempts to cut back
Studies or work negatively affected
Problems in "significant relationships"
Giving up other social activities
Sore eyes, back pain, strain injuries
Sleep loss, weight gains or losses of 5kg

With 8 possible symptoms and 8% of gamers showing one of them we can say that on average 1 out of 100 gamers suffers from each of them on average. Let's see:

-1% of gamers thinks about games or wants to play them. Implying that 99% of our population doesn't play out of free will.
-1% of gamers suffers from a form of ADHD that is subdued by doing something they enjoy. That's pretty much average across all of humanity, gamers or no gamers.
-1% of gamers reckons that picking their noses instead of gaming is stupid. I agree with the minority.
-1% of gamers have trouble at work or at school. On average, that means that we are by far the hardest working minority there is.
-1% of gamers ever get into a fight with their loved ones. That makes us one of the most stable minority in the world, just behind Buddhist monks.
-1% of gamers has assholish "friends" they don't socialize with. Meaning that we are world's finest at picking our friends.
-1% of gamers has medical issues with their eyes or spine. That would mean that we healthier on average then pretty much anybody.
-1% of gamers has weight problems. Again, we are the healthiest people in the world with a huge margin.

From this report I conclude that gamers are some kind of ubermensch with our only flaw being bad press from those puny mortals.

 

[Sennz0r]

Yes, ok true that but haven't people done this study/survey like umpteen times already? That's what I'm really ranting about; scientists running the same test/study over and over again.

I honestly have no idea. Maybe they did, but reality changes, and whether a theory is still correct or not changes with it. Just because one or two studies have proven a theory to be correct doesn't mean the theory's fact. It's just the theory that explains the phenomenon to the best of our abilities at this time. Videogaming might be addictive to Australians or Americans but it might be less addictive to Europeans for example. Not saying it's true, but it might be true.

Also offensive language or imagery might have been a big deal a while back, but it's almost been completely accepted as an entirely normal aspect of our society now. That's just an example of how reality and theory (the theory here being -and I'm just drawing it out of a hat- "how much uproar explicit content on television creates") can both change, so this kind of repeat research is pretty important.

 

[Dyp100]

I'm happy I actually read the whole post instead of most of the posters here.

It's nice how they accept it isn't gaming's fault and it's just addictive hobbies and personalities in general, also nice to know they said: Everyone can get addicted, not just fat, spotty nerds.

I have insomnia and I'm pretty fat, so a couple of those I can relate to.

Also, I don't think I'm addicted, I'm just very easily bored and find it hard to connect with people in person, so gaming and the net is a nice place to turn to. (London has a lack of nerds, and especially cute nerdy chicks to start a relationship with, lol.)

It's also a great form of escapism, my life is pretty much below average IMO, my mums BF a bully, lack of close friends, super-stress school and my mum and my dad is putting on me.

Also doesn't help my best net friends are super busy. -Supersadfaceemorant-

 

[Elf Defiler Korgan]

It's the Herald. No details and specifics in the study, just psychological opinion. Having read on some of the early history of psychology, I would not trust it or its experts.

 

[Radelaide]

I was watching the news last night and an Australian researcher had "definitive evidence" that violent videogames was linked to violent youth. So much evidence was found that he said that the links were stronger than the link between smoking and lung cancer.

Maybe gaming addiction is linked to lung cancer?

 

[Flying Dagger]

-1% of gamers suffers from a form of ADHD that is subdued by doing something they enjoy. That's pretty much average across all of humanity, gamers or no gamers.

Whilst your entire post didn't make much sense, I feel you may be on to something.

A disparagingly high proportion of gamers have ADHD, or ADD. myself included
Now running down that checklist I can safely say I'm not only addicted to gaming. I'm also addicted to politics, reading, exercise, romance (when I do it, all my other interests get neglected).
I'm not an addict, I'm just more contemplative of whatever I throw myself at.
And by extrapolating I reckon that this is the situation a lot of gamers with ADHD find.

 

[Shycte]

That's low...

Compared to junkies where like 90 % of them are addicted.

 

[The Singularity]

WHAT? Being addicted to things is bad? But theres no such thing as too much of a good thing! ADDICTION IS GOOD!

 

[xyrafhoan]

Great, so we got "addiction" of the harmless variety and real addiction, like heroin. Another word has lost it´s meaning.

Well, an "addiction" to videogames can be very damaging. On the other hand, out of all of the 8% of addicts, I'm sure only a few of them lead truly destructive lifestyles, and it is by no means the fault of video games. Videogames are not a substance that chemically alters your body, but rather the addict has a lack of self-control. And this was the point of that other study on The Escapist that claims gaming is not an addiction. Compared to another non-substance related addiction, gambling, video games expenses are a drop in the bucket and can be played endlessly.

I'm sure almost all the big-time addicts are MMO players. They aren't addicted to the game. They're addicted to the sense of social connectivity when they may otherwise have few/no friends.