Gaming addiction

[sima061]

I've heard of a lot of cases where people would get called "gaming addicts". But what does, in your mind, actually qualify someone as an addict?
I know cases where people missed out on meals, time with family or friends, sleep, haven't gone to the toilet in a long time. But where is the line actually drawn, what of those things can be considered as just a passion for gaming, and where does it begin to become an addiction?
Have any of you been close to that, or maybe still are?

 

[Zyrcon]

I think you could define gaming addiction the same as any addiction. Does the behavior cause self harm and interfere with the ability the live a healthy life, including mental health? There's quite a bit of literature about it, but it's a controversial issue that's polluted by reactionaries who just hate games.

 

[sima061]

Yeah, that's exactly why I'm asking, I've been thinking and reading about this topic but I just find a lot of posts that seem to go over the top.
Then again, it is a blurry line. For example, it can't be healthy to sit in front of a screen playing for extremely long periods of time over-eating or not eating - they'll say it's a gaming addiction. But there are many people who live that kind of life but don't play games, but instead watch movies, or read books, or text with people. It is judged as internet addiction then, but still comments about that seem to be less harsh, even though it may be just the life a person wants to live anyways, and them liking games is just an addition, not the reason why they live that way.

 

[Zyrcon]

PubMed would be a decent place to look if you want to read studies that take a slightly more scientific approach than the blogs that just scream "games are bad." https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28720860 is an interesting one comparing gaming addiction to alcoholism.

 

[sima061]

Thank you for the link, I will look into it!

 

[Gladdy]

Well, wherever you will look, you will always find slightly different classifications. For me personally, a gaming addiction is when a person is so ''into'' a particular game that it takes over his life completely. It interrupts his normal every day and he can't function properly anymore. For example; he stops going outside, he skips work or quits a job, he doesn't want to talk to anybody... all he wants to do is play the game for hours and hours. He can even forget to eat or drink. He only sees one thing: THE GAME.

 

[PenguinManiac]

The step from healthy obsession to addiction is a short one to make under favorable conditions.
You can be obsessed with a game, think often about it even when you're not playing it, spending a lot of time playing it and overall worshipping it to other people to and still achieve a healthy balance with your life. A gaming addicted, though, goes further than that. Gaming is not something more, but rather a replacement of activities that are supposed to provide satisfaction and happiness through daily life. It becomes an abnormally long escape from life, and could ultimately become its surrogate altogether. It's as destructive as any other addiction.

 

[WarVet]

The step from healthy obsession to addiction is a short one to make under favorable conditions.
You can be obsessed with a game, think often about it even when you're not playing it, spending a lot of time playing it and overall worshipping it to other people to and still achieve a healthy balance with your life. A gaming addicted, though, goes further than that. Gaming is not something more, but rather a replacement of activities that are supposed to provide satisfaction and happiness through daily life. It becomes an abnormally long escape from life, and could ultimately become its surrogate altogether. It's as destructive as any other addiction.

Indeed. I think you nailed it here. When it comes to addiction people only consider the major ones like alcohol tobacco or gambling. But I think that an addiction is an addiction and a gaming addiction could be just as dangerous as any other addiction. Whenever a single activity start to fill most of your time and other more important aspects of your life like job and family are jeopardized then you might be dealing with and addiction.

 

[JaiGuru]

Indeed. I think you nailed it here. When it comes to addiction people only consider the major ones like alcohol tobacco or gambling. But I think that an addiction is an addiction and a gaming addiction could be just as dangerous as any other addiction. Whenever a single activity start to fill most of your time and other more important aspects of your life like job and family are jeopardized then you might be dealing with and addiction.

I have to disagree with this. Gaming addiction is mostly just a general obsessive personality disorder. It absolutely is not comparable to chemical addiction and the ravages it causes on the body. Sure, sitting around isn't good for you, but it's not actively bad for you either. You only have to address the behavior and not some literal physical need for it. If you stop drinking all of a sudden you can have seizures and die. If you stop gaming you might get some exercise and have a social life for a change. I'm not saying compulsive behaviors aren't a problem, or can't be severe. I'm just saying the two are not comparable.

 

[WarVet]

I have to disagree with this. Gaming addiction is mostly just a general obsessive personality disorder. It absolutely is not comparable to chemical addiction and the ravages it causes on the body. Sure, sitting around isn't good for you, but it's not actively bad for you either. You only have to address the behavior and not some literal physical need for it. If you stop drinking all of a sudden you can have seizures and die. If you stop gaming you might get some exercise and have a social life for a change. I'm not saying compulsive behaviors aren't a problem, or can't be severe. I'm just saying the two are not comparable.

In that sense, it is a more easily controlled addiction. And while I agree that the effects on the body are far less severe the strain this or any other addiction could put in your life is indeed comparable. You could easily lose a job, a girlfriend, friends, have family issues and more due to an addiction to gaming. While it is a generally less worrying addiction the effects could be similar to other addictions that is what I meant.

 

[OursIsTheFury]

People can get addicted to games if the desire in the gaming world is a lot better than in the real world. In games, people can find validation either from making online friends or dominating online opponents and defending your rank in a global scale. When these addicts get a better deal in real life, they'll quit gaming almost instantly. I remember this video game addict who used to clock 16 hours daily for video games like WoW. Then he got a girlfriend, and now his gaming time is 15 minutes per week. No regrets.

 

[Jonathan Solomon]

Well, I've heard different definitions of having a "gaming addiction" over the years. In my opinion, if your gaming time begins interfering with your personal life, you have a problem, my friend. Let's say you have a job (hopefully), the deadline for the work project is approaching. However, you just can't seem to put the controller down. That's a serious problem of not being able to prioritize your time. The same principle applies if you have a girlfriend (hopefully) and you struggle to make time for her all because of a game. Simply put, if the game starts controlling your time instead of you controlling your own gaming time, there's an issue.

 

[peachpurple]

Teens and working adults are prone to game addiction compare to kids because they have more spare time and lack of supervision from parents. Compare to females,male gamer are prone to game addiction because he has online friends to connect with, to socialize and interact about the game walk through and maybe he has classmates or friends who are playing the same game online. Once the addiction is hooked up, a gamer is reluctant to eat, drink go to school or work, pee or sleep, inducing insomnia and temperamental. I have a friend whose teenager was an online gamer. He refused to attend school, decided to stop schooling and spend his entire life playing game online. The problem is, his parents are reluctant to speak to him because he shows his temper, threaten to leave home and was cursing vulgar words at them. He needs to get into a game addiction rehab.

 

[Jameson]

I think gaming addiction is more prone to people who are at a younger age. Therefore, when they are grown,they are still deeply rooted to their games. To avoid this addiction, parents should limit the frequency in which their children play games.

 

[PenguinManiac]

I have to disagree with this. Gaming addiction is mostly just a general obsessive personality disorder. It absolutely is not comparable to chemical addiction and the ravages it causes on the body. Sure, sitting around isn't good for you, but it's not actively bad for you either. You only have to address the behavior and not some literal physical need for it. If you stop drinking all of a sudden you can have seizures and die. If you stop gaming you might get some exercise and have a social life for a change. I'm not saying compulsive behaviors aren't a problem, or can't be severe. I'm just saying the two are not comparable.

I agree on the fact that physical backlashes are not as sever as with other addictions, but I wouldn't immediately rule out chemical/biological correlations. It has been proven multiple times that videogames stimulate the production of dopamine, commonly known as the reward hormone. What makes videogames fun for us is exactly the production of this hormone through stimulation of the reward system (or the abuse thereof, like in many mobile games). The same substance is produced while eating, drinking or engaging in activities related to reproduction (including parental care).
If this substance is not produced through other activities because we don't engage in them, you'll start depending on videogames for it. It wouldn't be too farfetched to presume that gaming addiction could be caused by the mounting need for dopamine, thus drawing it closer to chemical addictions, right?

 

[JaiGuru]

I agree on the fact that physical backlashes are not as sever as with other addictions, but I wouldn't immediately rule out chemical/biological correlations. It has been proven multiple times that videogames stimulate the production of dopamine, commonly known as the reward hormone. What makes videogames fun for us is exactly the production of this hormone through stimulation of the reward system (or the abuse thereof, like in many mobile games). The same substance is produced while eating, drinking or engaging in activities related to reproduction (including parental care).
If this substance is not produced through other activities because we don't engage in them, you'll start depending on videogames for it. It wouldn't be too farfetched to presume that gaming addiction could be caused by the mounting need for dopamine, thus drawing it closer to chemical addictions, right?

I understand it produces dopamine responses. Everything does. But this does not change the fact that it is not comparable with chemical withdrawl. Cessation of a gaming habit will not kill you, where as quitting even common drugs too abruptly and without medical support can. It behooves us to be rigorous with our definitions here because people's health is on the line.

 

[PenguinManiac]

I understand it produces dopamine responses. Everything does. But this does not change the fact that it is not comparable with chemical withdrawl. Cessation of a gaming habit will not kill you, where as quitting even common drugs too abruptly and without medical support can. It behooves us to be rigorous with our definitions here because people's health is on the line.

Yeah, that goes without question, I just wanted to point out how videogames specifically, because of how much pressure they put on the reward system, can become addictive. Drugs have a direct influence on body functions that alters their normal behaviour, videogames don't. And you're right in saying we shouldn't put them on the same footing.

 

[Soulwatcher]

I was a gaming addict one so I will tell you. Its someone who plays 10~14+ hours a day, that never wants to leave the house. That always has to have the latest game. There always upgrading their console/PC. They are always in a rush to get back home to play. Thank god that's all behind me now and I now live a normal productive life. I keep gaming in check these days and I only play 1~3hrs per day.

 

[JoeMilford]

I think that it is possible, depending on the person, to possibly get addicted to anything, really. However, I think you should play your games as much as you please until it starts to affect you physically, professionally, emotionally, intellectually, or otherwise. I have seen friends, however, let gaming affect there relationships with their girlfriends and others, and I think that it is very unfortunate when an addiction hurts or alienates people who care about you.

 

[Yukibana]

Addiction would mean that one cannot physically separate from playing a game. I think if you spend all of your free time playing a game, it probably wouldn't be considered addiction yet, but if you forwent other essential things, it would be considered addiction. Of course the other side of addiction is when loved ones are affected negatively because of it.