England's National Health Service (or NHS) is set to open the country's first specialist clinic designed to treat young patients suffering from video game addiction. Doctors can refer patients starting from today.
The services will aim to help children and young adults aged from 13 to 25 who are considered to be suffering from health issues as a result of playing games. Treatment will start next month, with patients being able to attend a physical appointment at the National Centre for Behavioural Addictions in London or online via Skype.
Dr Henrietta Bowden-Jones, director of the NHS’s new Centre for Internet and Gaming Disorder and the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ spokeswoman on behavioural addictions, has spoken about the new service with The Guardian:
“Gaming disorder is a mental health condition which can have a hugely debilitating effect on people’s lives, both for patients and their families who can be left feeling utterly helpless in the wake of their loved one’s addiction.
“Gaming disorder is not a mental illness to be taken lightly. We are talking about instances where someone may spend up to 12 hours a day playing computer games and can end up becoming socially isolated and lose their job as a result.”
Just yesterday, it was reported that a family is preparing a class-action lawsuit against Fortnite developer Epic Games, saying that it has 'ruined their child's life'. Back in January, the World Health Organisation classified gaming addiction as a mental health condition for the first time.
For the sake of balance, video games have also been found to improve both the physical and mental health of players, too.
Fiona Smith, professional lead for children and young people at the Royal College of Nursing, has said that, "Whilst the NHS has a duty of care and is adapting to these modern challenges, it and taxpayers can’t foot the bill alone. Online gaming firms and global social media firms who make millions of pounds of profit must take more responsibility by keeping their platforms safe, and introduce safeguards to reduce the burden on the health service."
[source theguardian.com]
Comments 74
I must buy a restraining jacket because of my gaming hobby. NICE!
https://meme.xyz/uploads/posts/t/l-48983-when-my-parents-ask-why-im-always-gaming-i-could-be-a-drug-addict-do-you-realize-how-lucky-you-are.jpg
Seems relevant.
I recognize this is a real thing, but I'm glad this treatment didn't exist when I was a kid... my parents HATED my gaming hobby!
I think it’s worth highlighting the fact that whilst many of us on this site can happily play games for hours on end with no issue, that doesn’t mean that’s the case for everyone.
Most of us can have an alcoholic drink or two and be fine, but others are addicted, and not necessarily through any fault of their own. It’s the same here. Personally, I think that players and the parents/guardians of young players should absolutely take responsibility for their own health and wellbeing, understanding their own unique needs when it comes to gaming time, but it’s also down to everyone involved in the industry to be responsible about how gaming is served to them, too.
If you find this type of thing annoying or upsetting because it looks bad on your favourite hobby, get out there and show people the good it can do and teach the younger people in your life how to play and deal with games safely.
@blackbox64 I couldn't agree with ya more. There are far worst things to worry about then some who is spending to much time gaming. Gaming disorder..sounds like a total joke.
I've never read something so stupid before, people will blame video games for literally anything, it's basically the advanced "it's cause of that damn phone"
It's only a matter of time before our pilled-up western society starts taking meds for this.
@ryancraddock Congratulations on the only sensible response so far!
I have to believe there is something to this, since all the top gamers appear to have some serious social/psychological issues, especially that dude who dresses like a furry.
As a kid i used to sit in my room playing games basically all day. Only stopping to eat, sleep or take a bathroom break. Well that and i did manage to get the necessary stuff done like going to school.
Was i addicted? Maybe a little but it wasn't so bad that it was taking over my life and i could stop anytime if i wanted.
I'm in my 40's now and honestly my marathon sessions have dwindled to maybe an hour at a time. Any longer and i just start losing interest and need a break. Oh I'll never stop completely but yeah I'm not as glued to the screen as i used to be.
The most important thing to note.
The nhs has no money. Good luck
@ryancraddock As INCORRECT as you can POSSIBLE put it.
Alcoholic addiction is NOT a mental addiction, it's a physical addiction. Your physical body wants / needs more alcohol to keep functioning normally. This is a scientifically proven effect from drinking too much alcohol.
Gaming (and other mental addictions) do not give you that physical incentive. It exists only in your mind. You can stop at any time, without any physical problems.
If you want to compare gaming addiction to a different addiction, please compare it to gambling.
@ryancraddock well said.
Gaming addiction is a real problem and better parent education is needed for early intervention. Those of you laughing this off either don’t understand or are in denial about the devastation that gaming addiction can cause.
@sanderev this. Psychological addictions and compulsions are real things, but they are very different to chemical addictions, especially when the body has accustomed to a chemical stimulus. I’ve never really understood addictions in general, when I want to stop doing something, I just stop, there is no puppet master controlling my limbs. But that’s just me.
@ryancraddock I think people get annoyed with it because it is often painted as though the games are the issue when a lot of the time it's something else entirely that has caused their 'gaming addiction' such as mental health, social and personal issues. I for instance could have been diagnosed with gaming addiction when all I did was play games from waking up to going to bed but games weren't the issue, it wasnt so much an addiction as it was a symptom of something else, they were the outlet of what was unrelated depression.
It would go over better I feel if rather than it always being worded as something pointing to games being the issue, it was instead highlighted as what a majority of cases are: games being the outlet. I know that is often the case, but the vast majority of articles and headlines I see about the subject do nothing but give 'anti video game' type people more fuel for the fire.
Surely this should be offered to those over 25 as well if needed.
@BarefootBowser I don't try to belittle it, I just try to point out a big difference. A mental addiction might actually be worse than a chemical one to certain extend. (Since you can treat a physical dependency easier than a mental one)
To me it's the comparison that counts.
There are many types of video games out there so comparing gaming addiction to just one act such as violence, gambling, or even alcoholism won't help much. Those with addiction seek to escape their reality in one way or another, so that is what must be addressed to fix it. The physical or psychological symptoms of withdrawal affect the detox, not the therapy.
If this thing is real (to be fair I don't really believe in it but hey) why does it stop at 25??
I have been playing games since I was around 6, 31 years later I'm still playing, but don't think I'm addicted.
Why are 13 year olds being allowed to play on game so much they can become addicted? Where are the parents??
The people they need to help are the people who are addicted to mobile phones, THEY HAVE A PROBLEM and it's a lot bigger that video game addiction, but no one talks about that.
Sorry but what a bunch of crap. If you're 13, you shouldn't be getting addicted to ANYTHING, because your parents should have complete control over how you spend your time.
This is just another example of how bureaucrats love to create problems so they can demand to be paid for offering a solution. It's just a classic extortion racket.
@sanderev I'm not in any way qualified to talk about this in as much depth as we're venturing towards, but I have to disagree with you when you say that "you can stop at any time, without any physical problems".
I appreciate that the two examples I gave are pretty different, but addiction doesn't have to be a physical thing. People suffering from certain mental health issues can be unwillingly addicted to unfriendly activities/routines, and trying to get out of that habit can cause so much stress/anxiety that physical symptoms are introduced and make the whole situation worse.
As you said, gambling would also be classed as an addiction. So why not gaming? They both offer something to the person enjoying them and can be bad for you when experienced in an unhealthy way.
@Tao Yeah, I completely understand that, and there are times when I get annoyed about games getting unnecessary bad press for something which seems completely undeserved.
With cases like this, though, you'd hope that the NHS are talking about cases which are specifically down to games - which can happen, even if not all of the time.
@ Bunkerneath, Dazzleshell
Yeah cause anyone over 25 would finally be over their loser gaming hobby and ready to be an adult right? Like they've never heard of a 40 year old gamer. Sheesh!
"When i was a child i thought as a child but when i became a man i put away childish things." That's probably how all these doctors view gaming. A childs activity.
@Dezzy Except we have free healthcare. One of the many advantages of not living in a third world country.
@nessisonett
No, we have tax payer funded healthcare. People are still getting paid if they do a job. They're not offering to open a "gaming addiction" clinic purely staffed by volunteers. They're gonna take tax payers money for doing it.
This will absolutely be abused by parents who are simply unable to control their children and see it as an easy option to not parent them.
@nessisonett Ouch. As a US citizen, that hurt. Not that you're wrong... We have the priciest healthcare in the world.
You don't need a doctor to treat a child's video game addiction.
Parents can deal with this in a variety of ways, including tossing a breaker, canceling data on their devices, removing the devices and getting most of these kids jobs.
@Zeldafan79 Playing games is not the same as addiction. If you are not doing other activities you would rather do or need to do and are instead playing games that would be a sign of a problem.
Simply playing when you have no other obligations is not a problem.
Huh, every time anything is mentioned about possible adverse effects of video games, such as potential addiction amongst individuals, it would seem there is a kneejerk hostile reaction that borders on (if not goes straight into) hysteria. Almost as if trying to separate an addict from their drug...
Seriously though, if you want to be heard and listened to, y'all need tomtake a step back, and look at things and accept certain realities before forming a response in a thoughtful manner. Nobody is going to listen to someone throwing outlandish accusations of parents not controlling every minute and aspect of their thirteen-year-old's life ('cause I'm sure you spent every minute of your life at the age of 13 abiding the will of your parents). And besides, if gaming addiction is fiction and nobody can possibly have any ill effects, then why does a parent need to control a child 100% and keep them away from such a "purely safe" activity?
And the "I am okay, so bad things don't exist" argument is a terrible fallacy. You might be fine, but that doesn't exclude the negative impacts that maynhappen on someone else; trying to split semantic hairs aside, the alcoholism analogy is incredibly good on this part. Many, if not most people, can drink and not have that addiction problem, but some people who drink the same amount and same stuff as the others will. To say that alcoholism doesn't exist because you aren't an alcoholic is foolish and makes you sound stupid.
And claiming to not be a video game addictmand then turning around and vehemently shouting at anyone who suggests to maybe do somethimg about video games is a very addict thing to do. Saying "I'm not an addict, I can stop any time I want. HEY! WHERE ARE YOU GOING WITH THAT? I TOLD YOU I CAN STOP WHEN I WANT, BUT I DON'T WANT TO NOW!" Is a good way to be disregarded as an addict and have any argument you may have absolutely disregarded.
**Also, read things: we're not talking about little Jimmy not coming the dinner table wh n you call him. The guidelines are saying playtime in excess of 12 hours per day at the expense of other activities. Let's break that down. In a 24 hour day you should be sleeping at least 8, that leaves 16 hours. If you work an 8-hour day (have school + homework that eats up at least 8 hours), that leaves 8 hours. Already, we're at the point where 12 hours per day will cut into stuff youmought to be doing. But unless you work/school from home, there's a good chance you're going to lose at least an hour on your roundtrip commute. So that leaves about seven hours in the day, which you also need to use for upkeep and errands; hygiene, meals, chores, etc. To maintain 12 hours of daily game time means sacrificing on other, important, aspects of life.
@Shade_Koopa Tell that to the people with a jobless 20 year old child living at home. This is a real problem, and if parents can't deal with it someone has to.
I have been playing games a long time. I can have addictive tendencies as I go "all in" on things I am passionate about. The key here is people are focusing on the "vehicle" and not the driver for disorders. If you have an addictive personality trait then anything you do that creates a dopamine release will become an addition. We need to quit looking for problems and instead create a solution for anyone who is unable to control the adverse relationship they have with getting the high that comes from over doing it.
It's not a real condition. Society really is to blame. Parents don't "Parent" but let the magic box or smart phone do it for them. It used to be socially unexceptionable to be a gamer but now you're not treated as an outcast. You don't let kids play outside out of some unrational fear of child molestors on every corner!
I work 40 hours a week (sometimes more) so I more than deserve to do what I want in my spare time.
@sanderev You are mixing up dependence and addiction. An alcoholic is both addicted, a mental illness, and physically dependent on alcohol.
@sanderev
While you are correct essentially on Alcoholism where we differ is the physical reactions to non ingested addictions. It is a fact that anything can cause extensive releases of Dopamine and adrenaline if the stimuli causes a reaction for the individual. This can be nearly as difficult to control as an ingested substance as the stigma is normally not one a peer adjusted society would create.
I agree that the physical pain caused by ingested/introduced addictions is very hard, for example Heroin, to manage. For some though, the ability to combat any addiction is just as difficult. As I mentioned in another post the treatment needs to focus on the person not the substance.
I was constantly surrounded by pot heads and drunks my whole childhood and rather than doing that stuff i became a gamer.
Playing games as much as i did likely had alot to do with it. Now who's gonna give me crap about a gaming addiction? At least i didn't destroy my life with other activities that get people put in jail or killed. I'd say i made the right choice.
As a Uk tax payer this has to be one of the biggest ways of wasting my money. This all comes down to the money the goverment can see the gaming companies are making , and now they want a piece of the pie.
Seriously you show me someone who is addited to gaming, I imagine it will always be down to other issues and nothing to do with gaming.
What about social media, no treatment available for this issue?
The gaming bit seems to be getting the headlines, but I think this service is actually for gaming and gambling. There is an inference that some kids start on gaming - loot boxes to online fruit machines and that leads on to serious gambling problems. I suspect if they can pick up traits and behaviours at an early age it can prevent problems down the line. Maybe I'm wrong but I don't think the idea here is to tell people to play less zelda. Gaming is a broad spectrum and no doubt can lead to gambling in some instances. If you can prevent that path at a young age then the individual and those around them will have a better life (in theory, I'm not judging) and the bill to the tax payer is lower down the road.
I'm sure there are some cases where someone is addicted to more traditional video games (I used to work with a guy who fell asleep every day as he played online games every night) but I think this is looking for young people who are vulnerable to a debilitating gambling problem and gaming is a potential gateway.
Man, these articles really bring out the armchair physicians. Believe it or not, anyone that partakes in an activity to the detriment of their own well-being could in fact benefit from CBT and other structured changes.
But that's none of my business, I'll just go back to auditing these charts at the agency I work for that serves mental health/substance abuse/intellectual disabilities.
Um, Mental Health Services for young people in general are woefully inadequate in terms of accessibility, so this feels more like the usual lip service, than actual service provision. Report back in a year.
I mean, my local Trust got around the issue of too many patients and not enough doctors by taking all patients off the books and essentially treating only those in crisis. Monitoring to be done through referral by GP back into the system for a short time until stabilised, then shown the door again. So much for parity of esteem.
Hoo boy, the ignorant people are in full force this morning. Gaming addiction is real, people. Take some time to look in the mirror and you might find an example right in front of you 😉
If Game Playing is a disorder, is my Game Making similarly wrong?
I've made 102 games this year, and I can't stop!!!
I'm no physician, nor do I claim to be. But I do work with children on a daily basis and I can say that a lot of problems people have with their kids would not have developed if from an early age, they had taught their children the meaning of the word "no".
If you have kids, and you can't tell them no, you're not a parent, you're just a babysitter or a maid. You're not doing your kids any favors. When they get older, they're going to run into situations where someone says "no" to them, and they aren't going to be able to handle it. That's where things start going wrong fast. Sometimes kids can figure it out for themselves, when something blows up in their face because they pushed it too far. But they shouldn't have to learn that way.
Parents need to be parents. Teachers at school are not replacement parents. TV is not a replacement. Friends are not replacements. Handing your child a toy/game/TV remote is not going to raise them.
When you have a child, you're making a commitment. You need to be involved in their life, you need to talk to your kids, know them, communicate with them be friendly with them, but not their friend. You need to punish them when they do wrong and reward them when they do right. If you're not willing to make that commitment, to devote a large part of the rest of your life to them... DON'T HAVE CHILDREN!
@sanderev so on what authority are you basing your statement that Ryan couldn't be more wrong? Do people working with addicts differentiate between chemical and behavioural addiction? Do you understand the internal chemistry of addictive behaviour, what hormones govern it?
I think you should read up a bit more before you start claiming someone couldn't be more wrong.
@Zeldafan79 if you're addicted to games like others are addicted to drugs i'm not sure it's "better", just different.
Either you're in control of yourself or you're not.
https://youtu.be/uUPHlAbAf2I
My two cents.
@sanderev You can be psychologically dependent on alcohol without being physically dependent on it.
And if you are psychologically dependent on something then by definition you cannot "just stop".
The thing is, you can't have one and not the other. If video games can "improve both the physical and mental health of players" then you have to accept that they do have an effect on the mind and body. In which case it's not unexpected that the effect could be negative.
@Doofenshmirtz So my buddy playing Everquest back in the day to the point where he would purposefully call out sick from work for two weeks at a time just to farm items....you see where I’m going with this, I hope...
@Heavyarms55 What does any of that have to do with addiction, a trait buried in someone’s genes?
@Jayenkai Game addiction is the disorder, not game playing.
@dew12333 For most people, the substance isn’t the issue, it’s how to get OUT of abusing the substance that becomes the issue. Years ago when Everquest was big, my friend would regularly call out sick for a week to two weeks at a time simply so he can sit at home to farm rare item drops. Obviously, he got fired. He’s still hooked on MMO style games, and has tons of social problems as a result.
You think it’s a waste of money, I think for some people it will become their saving grace, like so many who take Alcoholics Anonymous support group sessions.
@ryancraddock Agreed. Great post.
As I shared before, Im about parents doing the homework in knowing what their child is consuming. I also know it isn't always going to be perfect and I also know being an uncompromising dictator about it is also probably not the way to go as well. It's about knowing who your child is and what their limits are. On the same boat, the industry itself needs to do the work in policing and reforming a lot of its seedy practices.
I also think it's absurd for some to dismiss video game addiction as a joke. Or to minimize it by pointing out potential abusive practices. Doesn't change that it should be acknowledged and addressed
@DawgP I couldn’t agree more with what you are saying, and the sad truth is that this is a lot of the backlash that addicts from other substances/behaviors have to face; social stigma. “I’m not an addict, so why can’t you stop drinking like I do?” I wish more people like you were around, that can see that an addict literally CANNOT stop!
It’s interesting that you point out a classic addict behavior: anger at the loss of the substance/behavior. To so many people here, if addiction isn’t a problem to you, then why do you lash out when it’s mentioned? It makes you wonder...
Yeah because after 25 if you're too addicted to video games it could well cost you your life.
Its all fine and well being addicted to video games under mummy and daddy's roof but that crap could get you killed if you're on your own.
Yes because other forms of media can't be addictive /s
Oh wait
However, every addiction (alcohol and drug addiction too) has a psychological part, which is in fact stronger than the biologica part. So yes, gaming could be an addiction like alcohol or gambling.
The people here who are likening video game additions to drug and substance addiction are either delusional individuals with very flimsy grasp on reality or teens/young adults with limited life experience.
Video game addition is nothing like drug addiction... I've been addicted to both... they are a million miles apart.
Addiction, no matter what said addiction is - alcohol, OTC meds, pain, gambling, games, etc. - IS a health problem. Millions of people are able to experience and interact with these things without issue, but some people become way too dependent on these things and can't stop.
I'm one who doesn't believe we need labels for every single tic or illness out there, but if those labels help diagnose, treat, and/or cure an issue, I'm not against them.
They almost had me convinced they were doing it right in this case until they pinned it down to "could lead to social isolation" which goes back once again to "medical professionals" talking like "the concerned parents society" rather than actual medical professionals who are operating using medicine as a guise to enforce societal expectations rather than on any understanding of the human brain.
@ryancraddock To be fair to all the comparisons, one has to keep in mind what type of gaming these people are even talking about when it comes up to being a mental health discussion. Often the mental health "professionals" don't actually know or understand the differences.
Are we talking about being "addicted" to Super Mario Odyssey and Xenoblade Chronicles? Probably not. Are we talking about MOBAs and Battlefield? And if so are they calling a "gaming" addiction when it's really a competition/social driven issue which could really be all sorts of other things? Are we talking about mobile games and EA games which...if we're honest is a gambling addiction not a "gaming" addiction?
I think that's why most gamers never take this seriously. They're so vague as to indicate lack of understanding of the subject matter they're talking about, which, when coming out of supposed medical professionals indicates screams of sensationalism, appeasement, or, at least, they're acting reactively to a "concept" and "public impression" than to a specific, well thought out, targeted identification of the details of a specific problem. Which is really the norm in their field.
@Onion Such a true response and an indicator of how screwed up the western society is right now. "Oh you spend too much time enjoying interactive electronic entertainment complete with challenges, rewards, and engrossing stories? I'm afraid you're quite ill my dear. Here, take some of these government approved chemicals to alter your brain chemistry. The drugs will make you allll better........"
@Tyranexx The problem with labeling anything an "addiction" is there's no definition of where it begins, ends, or actual hard symptoms to diagnose it with. It's behavioral and societal expectations bottled up in a scrip. Alcohol, drug addiction has a clear and obvious physical deleterious effect to the individual's physical condition, chemically, their interaction with society in a negative/dangerous way. Cigarette addiction is...honestly it's a chemically INDUCED addiction designed intentionally by drug/tobacco companies. Those substances cause addition both by habit (mental addiction) and primarily physically (chemical addiction created by the contained drug.) And in all 3 cases attempting to even pause the addiction is nearly impossible since physical trauma results from the attempt. Mario doesn't actually stomp on your head if you try to leave him.
It's clear with those cases there is addiction. There is a chemical connection.
But games. Even gambling is harder to pin down. Gambling is engineered to interact with the human brain a specific way. I still have always been troubled by the term "addiction" for gambling, though. It's reckless. It harms ones financial well being and thus their actual well being. So does buying a Ferrari. Nobody intervenes in that (except the repo man.) It's also the brain performing exactly as expected and intended by the stimulus. If "mental health" was honest, it would label the people who are not addicted to gambling while engaging in it as technically defective. Their brains are not working based on the intended effect of the stimulus.
Then we have gaming. Mobile/EA aside (which is legit gambling by another name, with the same stimuli). There's no chemical dependence formed. One can spend too much time on it, neglect other things, or harm one's status/life....but one can do that with anything. Nobody has ever been accused of a reading addiction. or a studying addiction. Or a piano/violin/insert classical instrument here practicing addiction. Or a fitness addiction. Yet it would appear identical to "video gaming addiction" in terms of time of ones life consumed. The only difference here is one is societally viewed as constructive while one is seen as an idle waste of time.
And if there is actual addiction to target in this, be it specific to gaming, or broader - then one would think, actual medical professionals, would arrive with actual data on the actual measurable effect in the brain of particular chemicals, particular neural activity, and or specific aspects and elements within gaming or the personality that indicate and induce addiction.
But we (almost) never see that. We instead get "kids are spending too much time and have poor social skills, and we need to treat this is a psychiatric condition because it does not match our societal expectation. Go learn the violin, kid."
It may not be a fun story, but Journalism 101 teaches community responsibility. @ryancroddoc framed the story well.
Cool. Let's give all the idiots fuel to stigmatize games more. This needs to burn at the stake NOW. It should have never made it into the ICD and needs to be removed post haste.
And what it DESCRIBES needs to be melded with gambling disorder to replace both with a more flexible diagnosis such as "behavioral addiction disorder."
If you take away the controller, they'll pick up the magazine... or the bottle... or the dice... or the needle. It's a pathological pursuit of dopamine and stress relief. NOT A PATHOLOGICAL PURSUIT OF LEVEL UPS AND LOOT BOXES.
Can't wait to see every religious parent and otherwise out-of-touch moron double or triple their "gaming is unhealthy" garbage.
Wow, guys, what're you doing here and not in the medical profession earning the big bucks if you all know so much better than all the medical professionals working on the issue?
Cya
Raziel-chan
@NEStalgia I didn't intend to imply that all addictions are inherently the same. As you mentioned, some cause clear physical and chemical changes to one's person. I do believe that all compulsive behaviors, whether or not they're truly labeled as "addiction" do warrant close study and shouldn't lead to faulty conclusions in advance. Each individual study shouldn't be taken in a vacuum.
However, to me, there's a clear difference between balancing such behaviors with other responsibilities/life in general vs. letting literally everything else in your life slide to the wayside. In some (rare) extreme cases, people even neglect themselves to the point where they experience extreme health issues or even die. I don't believe this is something inherent to just gaming - I believe excessive binge watching is similar, for example - but clearly something, if it isn't addiction, leads to this behavior. That said, I do doubt that the vast, VAST majority of people are truly addicted to games.
So then, what does cause it? In some game genres, it could just be competitiveness. Score chasing itself (similar to some gambling instincts, I'd think) is similar to the "one more time" mentality. Or, like yours truly at one point in their life, they use it as an escape...sometimes to their own detriment. In that case, I had a different undiagnosed issue and was experiencing some social problems. Some things I've read, however, indicate that some people WANT to stop playing a game, but for whatever reason can't stop themselves from doing so.
I don't believe its an epidemic by any means and that a lot of groups out there use it as a scapegoat for one thing or another rather than address the true underlying issues. I DO think it does still warrant some study in individuals that do exhibit compulsory symptoms towards excessively doing a single thing...to the point where their own health is threatened.
The lab boys tell me there is NO SHUSH THING AS VIDEO GAME ADDICTION!!!
@Tyranexx The the problem is where do you actually draw a line between "being blatantly irresponsible" and "addiction"? Or do we now consider them the same thing in which case we treat irresponsibility as mental illness and "treat" it? Which goes back to enforcing societal norms through medicine.
There's a difference between chosen behavior and unwitting behavior. If I decide to lock myself in a room for a year and do nothing but play Splatoon, screw the rest of my life. Is that "addiction?" Or is it a choice? And is there a well founded medically proven separation of the two? Or are bad choices a disease to cure? The implications of that would be horrifying.
Or, like, in your case, there was in fact no gaming addiction you made a choice to use it as an escape (heck, is there any point of fiction film, tv, books or games other than escape....everyone is using it as an escape. That's the whole purpose of it to begin with!)
Now in a case of someone that wants to stop but can't, that's possibly a different thing (and I doubt directly related to the game itself), but any time we get one of these studies or statements, rarely is that ever what they're referencing.
As for compulsively doing the single thing, though...I see your point, but, should not all musicians, performers, atheletes etc be labeled the same? Especially for music it is not only encouraged by demanded to do exactly that. I doubt a music conservatory and a rehab facility for gaming addiction would actually appear at all different....
Of course we've all done the "I want to stop playing but I HAVE to beat this boss first/find the next save point" thing I'm sure. I refuse to go to bed without resolving that last task.... why are you looking at me like that?
Any comment that I make here will probably be anecdotal at best (‘I’ve been playing since I was a kid and I’m ok etc etc’) and my knowledge of psychology is limited at best but here’s my take: it all comes down to the individual. Many of us here of a certain age can legally indulge in a range of activities which require us to decide when ‘enough is enough’.
Many of us here can have the odd drink, maybe even several, on a regular basis and never, ever get close to a habit, never mind a dependency or addiction. The same with cigarettes or the odd flutter on the horses. We have developed over time an ‘off switch’, dictated by a range of factors, be they financial, logical or behavioural.
There will be people here who posses a fear of something taking over their lives and so will take ever step to avoid contact with it in the first place. They know the risks or what they are like and so steer clear so as to avoid future issues. Some will simply not care about something like gaming, it holds no interest whatsoever.
Then there are people (and we all know at least one) who just can’t handle it. They always have one drink too many, smoke too much or can’t have fun if they are not spending money. They can’t slow down or won’t listen to sense, even when an ‘I told you so’ seems inevitable. Sometimes we watch them self destruct and there is nothing we can do.
This last group is who this is targeted at. When you go to the doctor and they ask ‘how many units of alcohol do you drink a week’ you are not shipped off to rehab for having a pint on the way home from work a couple of times a week. That’s fine, there’s a habit but it is a modest, moderate one.
Many of us here will have sunk countless hours into games over the years (I know I have) and for us it is a hobby like any other. Just like other hobbies it has to be put aside when life demands attention in other areas. In fact, if all our consoles stopped working tomorrow we’d be sad but life would go on. We are not addicted, we’ve just carved out a little spot in our busy lives for some harmless self indulgence. No one is in trouble for pulling the odd late nighter to complete Mario 64!
Understand this, however, some people have no ‘off switch’ and when that person is young how are they supposed to know better? It would be nonsense for me to say ‘well, I didn’t have problem at 13, so what’s the issue?’ No, because at 13 there was no always on internet, no costs, barring those of a face to face financial transaction in a physical shop, multiplayer was a real social interaction that ended when your mates had to go home and single player was limited to when the TV was free before Eastenders was on or til (in my case) the plug was taken off of the small tv in my bedroom. There was no such thing as free to play or micro transactions to get new skins (I still can’t believe people pay good money for those but the problem depends on whose money you are using).
I’m a dad, my kids know I love video games and I make no secrets about it, my room is full of consoles, games and accessories. I won’t discourage them from gaming but I will strictly control what they can play, when they can play and where they can play. Not all parents can or will do this and that is the main problem (the kids are not buying themselves PS4s and mobile phones). Parents need to be in control and control what their kids play. If worst comes to worst, lock the infernal machines behind a closed door or sell them!
....but not the ‘Cube; GameCube addiction’s a complete myth....
...honest....
Unhealthy addiction is problem no matter what the subject is. Alcoholic doesn't seem what' s the problem with the drinking, druguser doesn't seem problem with them using. Someone constantly checking their phone and social media and being angry if someone disturbs them, it's a problem too. I
"I played a lot and I am fine" Maybe. But not all are. Wasn't there last year news that some preteen girl had peed in her pants because she couldn't leave Fortnite to go to bathroom? I think that is problem. Children, who get furious if someone takes their tabled/phone/console away, they have already a problem.
I played a lot as kid (I still do when I have time) yet I was fine not playing or I was fine when my parents asked me to turn off the console. Or if I did not , my father would cut the power from the whole house and that was that.
Blaming games on bad parenting is stupid. Game causing problems for your child. You are an adult. You make decisions. You make the rules - not the children. As hard as it is to deal with the raging child. Get help to behaviour if needed. Take the game/console away and explain. Keep it away until child has finally balanced their emotions about the issue. In general parents have lost the control to their children. It shows up in EVERYTHING.
I remember defending POGO (even I don't play myself since I live rural and no pokemons here) when people got mad at Niantic to remove the game. No. the game doesn't make the child run in front of the car. Game says not to run on roads. If there is caraccident, do you blame the driver or should the carcompany stop manufacturing the car?
If playing isn't problem for you, great. It still doesn't remove the fact that some children are. If you cannot go to bathroom or even take a shower for days because you cannot pause the game. In whose mind that is healthy? Why is it such a problem to understand that real problems exist even it doesn't concern you?
How many of you is saying it's fine when your own child starts destorying property because you ask to turn off the game? Do any of you have children?
i have never played more than 12 hours of video games a day. the last time i played 6+ hours of video games a day was when animal crossing was released on the GameCube. somehow, my dad, my two sisters, and i became addicted to the game to the point where we fought over who plays the game and when.
its a good thing that i didn't have more than one GameCube other wise i may have ended up playing 8+ hours a day or more.
even when i play more than 5 or more hours of video games, i still take a break every so often. it is too hard for me to stay still for a few minutes at a time.
and how is it possible for someone to stayed glued to TV playing video games for hours at a time without taking a break to move around? its a good thing that some games contain motion controls in them to help us stay active when playing games.
@Finntendo since when did children start destroying property because you ask to turn off the game. i have never seen that before. however, i have seen children cry over not being able to watch television.
@Mr_Muscle Addiction can be fought with discipline. Discipline is taught.
@NEStalgia I'd say it'd be down to each individual's case. Choosing to do something, such as being an irresponsible individual and whiling away a lazy Saturday playing games, is one thing. Feeling like you NEED to do something to satisfy a certain region of the brain and forego all else is quite another in my book. Clearly if there's no chemical or physical change, such obsessive behavior must be driven by something psychological. Possibly not addiction, but something is certainly amiss.
I won't say I was ever truly addicted to games, but there was a time in my life (for about a year of high school) where I was heavily invested in WoW. It was all I ever wanted to do in my spare time and even outside of my spare time; I even dreamed about it! The only thing that truly suffered was my sleep (somehow managed to keep my grades satisfactory). I now avoid MMOs as they're addictive timesinks to me. Plus, WoW has become almost like a soap opera in a sense....
Out of curiosity in relation to my other hobby - reading - I looked up if reading has a form of addiction. It's aptly called book abuse. At least I can say I'm not QUITE that bad...
@EvaEeveeFan Not everyone likes to play Nintendo games. It's basic free will. Stop making out that people who don't play Nintendo games are wrong!
@Matthew010 How many warnings is too many I wonder?
@Octane I don't know, really.
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