Video Gaming – Is it an Addiction?
I read an article this morning in a local paper that was pretty interesting. Apparently a council of the American Medical Association wants to classify our “addiction” to video games as a psychiatric disorder. In their annual policy meeting being held in Chicago soon, some members of this association intend to show that being addicted to games is indeed a behavior that needs serious attention and therapy. They’re lobbying for it to be included in a manual published by the American Psychiatric Association.
I’m sure there are many developers and publishers who say this is ridiculous but is it really that bad for some people out there? There are numerous reports about violence and video games as well as some people’s academic performance suffering due to video games. Some teens have been sent to therapy after being “addicted” to internet games such as the ever-so-popular World of Warcraft. We all should remember the person who supposedly died while playing a video game.
It can’t be that serious for some of you out there can it? I love playing games but not to the point that I’d disregard my daughter, going outside or life in general. This is what some doctors say though…that for some kids video game addiction can be as detrimental to their health as alcohol or drugs.
I know a few people who say they’ve been “sucked into World of Warcraft” and play for hours on end. Could you be addicted and not know it? Do you know someone who is and how would you feel if it were classified as a psychiatric disorder? What say you?
June 22nd, 2007 at 9:38 am
Maybe the rate of Xbox360 failures is just for us to see how much addicted we are? Microsoft could be that smart.
Seriously.. I won’t say something original, but I’d say videogames can be bad for you just as much as anything else, if you don’t keep an eye on your real life / family / whatever first. From time to time, we hear weird stories of violence, supposedly caused by VG and extreme “addiction”, as you mentioned for WOW. Well, I am a great fan of VGs, but can also stop playing for weeks, I guess that means I’m safe from the so-called addiction and hopefully that’s true for each one of us..
I’d say It’s not about videogames, it’s about correctly defining priorities in our lives.
June 22nd, 2007 at 10:12 am
I wonder if the doctors have stopped to ask if it’s really the games that are addicting or if its the people who have addictive personalities. If gaming was addictive wouldn’t that make every gamer an addict? I don’t think such is the case. It’s a passion for me but I do not let it control my life. I do not get shakes when I don’t play enough. It’s the people not the games.
June 22nd, 2007 at 10:18 am
i agree snorkle.
June 22nd, 2007 at 10:38 am
It doesn’t suprise me that there are cases where kids have become addicted to video games though. If I had a Playstation or XBOX 360 when I was in high school or even college it would be hard to focus on school. I think parents need to monitor how much their kids play video games as well as what they are playing so kids won’t fall into an addiction.
I don’t get addicted to video games either but I can understand how it can become addictive when you’ve been playing for 2-3 hours or longer.
June 22nd, 2007 at 11:04 am
Moderation is the key (i.e., knowing [yourself] when it’s finally time to let go of the controller and let it be), even for the hardcore gamers…I think. BTW, which newspaper (and where) did you find the article, DB?
June 22nd, 2007 at 11:08 am
it’s in today’s Quick Soufizzy. i don’t know if you guys get that up in Arlington though.
June 22nd, 2007 at 11:10 am
I would have to agree with Snorkle on this.
June 22nd, 2007 at 11:56 am
This is merely a reflection of our society as a whole. We do not know when to stop or say no….from credit card debt….to spending sprees, to over-eating, or addictions of various sorts.
Too much of anything is bad news.
Moderation is key to everything in life.
I learned the hard way with Star Wars Galaxies and WoW…..lost a girl and a job to my addiction…cut myself off from the world.
I learned my lesson. I do believe that MMORPGS are VERY addictive where-as console gaming in general is SOMEWHAT addictive.
Gaming is a hobby for most….you should be doing it in your free time. You family, friends, career and people around you should not suffer from your hobby.
Just thinking about locking myself in my room for a 40m hour dungeon raid binge…..actually makes my adrenaline flow…good times…..like drug addiction…but thats a whole other story
All things in moderation……
Ok…who is down for a full day of Call of Duty 3 online>? haha
June 22nd, 2007 at 2:34 pm
I think this is an important and healthy thing for them to be doing and frankly I would be surprised if publishers/developers had anything negative to say about it.
All they are doing is trying to make it recognized as a condition, not make it so anyone playing video games is an addict; just have it recognized so it can be covered by health insurance, and there are certainly people out there who need the help.
June 22nd, 2007 at 2:39 pm
how exactly could you help someone not to play games though? what’s the treatment? drugs? are they only addicted to good games? are bad games addictive?
it’s a crazy subject for sure.
June 22nd, 2007 at 2:41 pm
@DB…I found the article at QuickDFW.com (under “Biz & Work”), I think: http://www.quickdfw.com/home/biz/stories/DN-biz–videogames_22ick.ART.State.Edition1.43341dc.html
June 22nd, 2007 at 2:47 pm
yep that’s the one fizzy.
June 22nd, 2007 at 3:03 pm
By making this a condition, the medical field will invent a drug that will “help the condition” and the government can profit from it.
Just like someone said earlier, moderation is the key.
June 23rd, 2007 at 11:12 am
I just did a video for my senior project on video games and how it affects people’s lives and for the most part video game addiction didn’t affect alot of the people we interviewed. I think video game addiction can happen and can be really bad for your health, or yout thinking if you play games like WoW or just MMORPG’s in general but for the most part video games as a whole don’t really require you to play long hours like those games do.
I personally as a 18 year old, play alot of video games. 4-6 hours at least a day, but I don’t consider myself an addict, I do and can do alot of other things, its just that I am usually home. Anyways, I think video games can be bad for kids who are like under 15ish where they would rather play video games then learn anything in school and thats usually what the news targets, video games do affect kids, but so do movies, tv, advertising, peer pressure, and pretty much everything at such an influential time. For the rest of us, video games are just part of our lives.
And seriously drugs and alcohol… worse then video games?
June 23rd, 2007 at 11:14 am
My mom came and started talking about the article when she heard it on TV. She’s like “blah blah blah, BOOM HEADSHOT (gears), blah blah” – Well, that’s what i heard… lol, just kidding. But seriously, I hate all these bullshitters that criticize gaming. They never look to the positive outcome of gaming. I remember reading an article in USA Today I think about how gaming makes you a better surgeon since it strengthens your reaction time. It was also researched surgeons that were gamers made #% (can’t remember) less mistakes than non-gaming surgeons, and worked #% (can’t remember) faster in operations that most surgeons. How come stuff like this isn’t talked about?
June 23rd, 2007 at 12:39 pm
@Roger, i’d love to read that project if you have it in Word format or something.
@Mark, i agree.
June 25th, 2007 at 10:01 am
http://www.unscripted360.com/meda/shb1.mp3
it’s spreading.
June 25th, 2007 at 3:02 pm
I agree with snorkle256 it the person not the product.