Video Game Addiction: Mental Illness?

[Burter]

http://health.yahoo.com/news/176635

Fuck doctors.

[Burter]

The telltale signs are ominous: teens holing up in their rooms, ignoring friends, family, even food and a shower, while grades plummet and belligerence soars. The culprit isn't alcohol or drugs. It's video games, which for certain kids can be as powerfully addictive as heroin, some doctors contend.

[06:29:26] Josh: You know it's funny
[06:29:45] Josh: But messenger services, and online play are the most popular forms of entertainment
[06:30:04] Rebinator: that's totally true
[06:30:40] Josh: So I fail to see this dissociation with social groups
[06:30:45] Josh: as for Grades and the like
[06:30:53] Josh: that's actually do to a failing education system
[06:31:06] Josh: that's bloated with children, out of date materials and lack of teaching staff
[06:31:43] Josh: When I went to university I found it was an infinitely better atmosphere than elementary school, and highschool

[Mowgli]

Fuck doctors.

=]

[Burter]

Oh, I should have mentioned it, but I'd like some actual, non-spam discussion

[Super Buu]

On a note related to stupid, irrational paranoia and kneejerk hysteria, they've just banned Manhunt 2 in the UK. I'm pissed, because it was going to come out two days before my birthday and was supposed to be really good.

They should be more worried about pot. Did you know it'll give you schizophrenia?

[Burter]

It COULD, but the chance is unlikely. Saying "it WILL" is going a little far.

But, yea, I do agree that there are a lot worse addictions then videogames. Like Josh said to me, videogame addiction is a sympton, not a cause

[Super Buu]

It COULD, but the chance is unlikely. Saying "it WILL" is going a little far.

I was being sarcastic. =P Probably should have made it a bit more obvious.

[Uno]

Fuck doctors.

Sigged

[Super Buu]

People are only going into hysteria about it because of its rise in popularity. Like everything which starts to go into the spotlight, people have to say it's bad for you.

Gaming is a hobby. I don't do it because I'm hiding from society, I do it because it's fun. People spend hours on things like fishing, building models and tinkering with electronics. Not because they're prey to a mental illness, but just because they enjoy it or it lets them relax from work or whatever. Gaming is the same, just more people do it.

Seriously, fuck the people that feel the need to rile up hysteria and overexaggerate this stuff.

I will make an exception for MMORPGs, because those can really fuck up people's lives if they overdo it. Basically because they're designed to be addictive timesinks, so that you keep paying the subscription. Too much of anything is bad, and if you're cutting off RL friends so that you don't miss raids you've gone too far. Everything in moderation.

[Bojack]

Um, these doctors are right? O_o

I will make an exception for MMORPGs, because those can really fuck up people's lives if they overdo it. Basically because they're designed to be addictive timesinks, so that you keep paying the subscription. Too much of anything is bad, and if you're cutting off RL friends so that you don't miss raids you've gone too far. Everything in moderation.

All games have the potential for that you know. MMOs are the most common cases of extreme consequences, but that doesn't automatically exclude other genres. Like any enjoyable experience, people can grow too fond of them and allow them to consume their lives.

Locking yourself in your room to play video games isn't healthy. Video game addiction would be the obvious problem. It may be underlying depression that is causing the addiction, but isn't that true for every other addiction? If video games is this persons escape from a shitty reality that keeps getting shittier because all he/she does is play video games, then it's gotta go. Just like a crackhead that keeps going downhill because of perpetual drug use, or an alcoholic and his booze.

This has been an accepted concept for a while now anyway. <.<

[Burter]

I do agree that there are some people who let it go so far. But it's not that they are suffering from 'Video Game Addiction'

The addiction to the video game is a symptom of something else they are suffering from, be it a serious mental disease or just a lack of willpower. It's a sympton, not a cause.

[Bojack]

The addiction to the video game is a symptom of something else they are suffering from, be it a serious mental disease or just a lack of willpower.

That's what addiction is, isn't it?

[Super Buu]

I do agree that there are some people who let it go so far. But it's not that they are suffering from 'Video Game Addiction'

The addiction to the video game is a symptom of something else they are suffering from, be it a serious mental disease or just a lack of willpower. It's a sympton, not a cause.

I would agree with this somewhat, having gone through lows myself where I basically binged on WoW. I would rather have had it than not had it, but the only reason I played so much was because I had nothing else to do. When you've got no social life and no job, there's a massive gap and something has to fill it. It was fun for a while, and I'm glad I had it to keep me busy.

The only problem is that it can be difficult to extract yourself from it once you've gotten into a comfortable routine. The reason I separate online games from offline games is because offline games typically don't have withdrawal symptoms. Unless there's somebody shouting 'keep playing!' your only incentive to go back to the game is for more fun. With online games, you're encouraged by your peers to turn up to raids and play more. When my guild leader bitched at me and others for not levelling fast enough, and 'not being dedicated enough', that's where I drew the line. Still, it's hardly heroin withdrawal - mainly just peer pressure.

Nowadays I don't spend as much time playing games, as I've got a lot of good friends.

Everything's got the potential to be 'addictive'. I say as long as you're having fun and it's not lowering the quality of your life, I couldn't give a shit. The reason I would separate some games from others (mainly traditional Korean MMO's) is because they're a grind. When you're playing them, you're not having fun. But unless you're doing it for money, it's usually because there's a deficiency in another part of your life and the game is giving you something to focus on.

You don't get into a routine without having a reason for starting.

[Krillin]

I lock myself in my room when I play video games. Not because I desperately need a video game fix, but just because it's part of my 'relax time'. I want relax time to be uninterrupted. Relax time includes just as much reading and piano-playing as it does video games.

Making stereotypes on this matter isn't going to help anyone, Bojack. While you might not've come right out and said one yet (I haven't read any of your posts all the way through, so forgive me), you're definitely rubbing your dick along the line.

[Bojack]

I only made one. Don't be lazy. >.<

[Bojack]

A 33-year-old office worker is fired because he wouldn't stop playing "World of Warcraft 3" on the job.

ahahahahahahahaha what a dumbass

And no, I don't know which part I find so funny.

[Nori]

I wish they would focus more time on rising crime rate and more forced rape instead of trivial things such as kids playing video games.

Which is worse? Rapists and Murderists, people who don't fit into society because of their past or mental issues or the occasional child who sits in his room and plays video games for fun, and in reality isn't hurting *anyone*.

Apparently Video Gamers are the dangerous people in society.

[Bojack]

Nobody said murderers would get a free pass to murder people. New problems rise every day, and I really do believe video game addiction is one of them. Of course it's not as bad as murder, but what is?

[Krillin]

Bojack, if no one (including Akane) said that murderes would get a free pass to murder people, why bring it up?

Video game addiction is a problem. So is Internet-addiction, instrument-addiction, cigarrette-addiction, vehicle-addiction, etc. The core problem is psychological, not object-based. This isn't anything new. This has been happening for millenia. The media are simply latching onto a story that sells.

[Grandpa Gohan]

Krillin is correct.

This is nothing new; If you think about it you could easily come up with many other things this could happen with. Anime? You betcha. Movies? Yep. Any form of entertainment medium ever created? Duh. I would almost go so far as to say this is no different than blaming school shootings on video games(Which I believe is a load of bullshit, but I know some people don't agree with me).