[Kotaku] The Truth about Video Game Addiction

[VirtualLarry]

https://kotaku.com/the-truth-about-video-game-addiction-1827374773

I have some friends that have issues with gaming. I used to pursue gaming as a serious thing when I was younger, in HS and in my 20s. I even got myself a job working for a PC game company startup, working on one of the first commercial MMORPG games. It was heaven, of sorts, but it was also gruelling, having to work 24hr straight some days. But now I rarely touch them.

Anyways, I think that all of you that spend more time gaming, than with your family, friends, job, society, you probably know who you are, should probably seek some counselling.

The rest of you, that keep your "spare time hobbies" limited to your actual "spare time", carry on.

Edit: Don't get me wrong, I'm still a tech addict myself, I just build systems now, for fun. (I guess? I need customers. Or more storage space.)

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Getting your news from kotaku is not a good sign. Click bait is their stock in trade.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Well, it is a true fact that the WHO added "Gaming Addiction Disorder" to their diagnosis manual. And the WHO isn't into clickbait.

Edit: If you actually read the article... I thought that it was actually well-written, to be honest.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Not saying gaming addiction isn't real, I'm just saying Kotaku is a hot mess. I'd even take Kyle's opinion over at [H] before I took Kotaku's word on anything and he's a crazy mofo.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Not saying gaming addiction isn't real, I'm just saying Kotaku is a hot mess. I'd even take Kyle's opinion over at [H] before I took Kotaku's word on anything and he's a crazy mofo.

LOL. Point taken. I didn't realize that Kotaku had such a poor rep. (I'm not a regular reader, this was suggested by Pocket in Mozilla.)

 

[paperfist]

I didn't read the whole thing...

I think like anything else, a person can be more susceptible to falling into the gaming trap than another person. Just like drugs, gambling, etc.

I can play a game until very late in the morning even though I know I need to wake up in a few hours for work. I loose sleep, but I still work. I don't do it all the time and it goes in spurts. I see that the article says you have to continue the behavior for a year to be classified as addicted. I call it sacrifice...

 

[Stg-Flame]

I'm in my early 30s now and I've been gaming ever since I could hold a controller. Both my parents are gamers (built my mom a gaming PC a while back that's leagues ahead of mine) and my brother used to be into them just as much as me but he steered away from them over time. I have a house, a very time-consuming job (average 210 hours per paycheck), a family (no kids), and my handful of friends, but there's days I just want to sit back and get lost in a game the entire day rather than run around and hang out with friends and family.

 

[ImpulsE69]

I spend more time getting/collecting/buying games than actually playing them...it's a whole other disorder

 

[cmdrdredd]

I'm in my early 30s now and I've been gaming ever since I could hold a controller. Both my parents are gamers (built my mom a gaming PC a while back that's leagues ahead of mine) and my brother used to be into them just as much as me but he steered away from them over time. I have a house, a very time-consuming job (average 210 hours per paycheck), a family (no kids), and my handful of friends, but there's days I just want to sit back and get lost in a game the entire day rather than run around and hang out with friends and family.

I'm similar, 84hour work weeks a lot of the time, house etc. I can sit down on a day off and marathon 15 hours on a game though. Mostly I only get a few hours a night to myself so it's a nice release.

I think like anything else gaming is a habit that can go out of control. Some people have a habit of going to the casino every week and over time they lose control of the ability to walk away and it becomes more of an addiction or obsession.

Also classifying it as a “disease” can have a negative impact. It will become some type of excuse for one’s actions and set a bad precedent. “Oh but my client suffers from video game addiction and therefore was not in control of himself when this occurred” and it delegitimizes the real issue. It could become like pleading temporary insanity in court.

 

[GoodRevrnd]

Seems like all behavioral addictions are the same problem presenting through different activities, but I'm sure some behaviors are far more prone to being addictive. I wonder if diagnosing by the behavior is somewhat misleading.

 

[VirtualLarry]

BTW, I wanted to state, that in no way, am I attempting to demonize any of the members of this forum that frequent the gaming forums, I'm in no way saying that you're all addicts, just pointing out an article that I felt presented both sides of the argument fairly well, and that it could be something to consider, if you think that you personally may well be "addicted to gaming".

Then again, even if you are, I think that the companies producing main-stream games these days are also complicit in that, much like "big tobacco", in that "big gaming" companies, actively TRY to make games, "addicting".

Back in my day, it was all about the game-play, and secondarily, the graphics (if the game even had graphics to speak of), and game companies didn't put "gambling-style" "loot boxes" everywhere.

Edit: I'm not free of addictions either, I build PCs that I and my friends don't really need, just to have a hobby to pass the time, and its OH so exciting, buying parts and having them arrive a few days later, and then building your PC, and then firing up the build, testing it, installing the OS. OH YES IT'S A HIGH FOR ME.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Mostly I only get a few hours a night to myself so it's a nice release.

I think that's what gaming is like, for most people, being working or in a relationship or most likely both.

I think like anything else gaming is a habit that can go out of control. Some people have a habit of going to the casino every week and over time they lose control of the ability to walk away and it becomes more of an addiction or obsession.

True.

I used to be a "Hard-core Gamer" back in my youth and in my 20s. I won a reasonably big tournament in HS (before "E-sport gaming" was a thing, back in the day of 16-bit consoles), got some nice prizes and some name recognition. It was fun. Even got asked by some company to beta-test NES games. I wasn't sure what to think of it back then, so I never replied back.

Anyways, I had a friend back then, that I would go over to his place, and stay up ALL NIGHT LONG playing some NEW game that he or I bought. There really wasn't any game, for the most part, that we couldn't collectively beat. (Ok, I've never personally beaten BattleToads, nor Athena, although in Athena, I could get to the last boss on one life.)

Certainly, perhaps, I might have gotten diagnosed as "Gaming Addiction". Or maybe not, just really interested in my hobbies over the weekend with friends.

 

[whm1974]

Edit: I'm not free of addictions either, I build PCs that I and my friends don't really need, just to have a hobby to pass the time, and its OH so exciting, buying parts and having them arrive a few days later, and then building your PC, and then firing up the build, testing it, installing the OS. OH YES IT'S A HIGH FOR ME.

If you are doing this to the point that it causes you to neglect important areas in your life, and ruin valued relationships, then yes you have a problem and should seek help.

On the other hand, if it just a hobby that you enjoy doing and it is giving you something constructive to do to to pass your time, then no it not an addiction.

 

[ArchAngel777]

Seems like all behavioral addictions are the same problem presenting through different activities, but I'm sure some behaviors are far more prone to being addictive. I wonder if diagnosing by the behavior is somewhat misleading.

Bingo. Addiction is a spectrum and applying even some basic common sense would show that the line is arbitrary and dependent on whether the activity is the 'norm' is society. Certainly some activities are more harmful than others, but in the end, the individual gets to decide the pros and cons of each activity and whether to pursue it or not. Again, being classified as an addict is a totally arbitrary thing. What if you just like to spend all your free time gaming or drinking or at the beach? If going to beach became abnormal, you can bet your ass we'd have support groups for beach goers. Most of this addiction stuff is bogus. People will do what people want to do. Can that cause problems? Certainly. But that doesn't mean they are doing it against their will.

 

[EXCellR8]

I thought it was a decently-written article. While I can't imagine sitting and playing a game for more than a few hours I can totally understand how people can become obsessed. The easy rewards, the ranking up and the general escaping of reality feeling are certainly real things to become hooked on. While it's no cocaine or anything it can still sort of hijack your brain and cause you to skip eating, lose sleep and basically ignore life altogether in some serious cases. I remember reading an article a few years ago about some kid in China who didn't eat for like six days or something because he was playing WoW or LoL or something and he died. That's an extreme example of course but you can easily see how the spectrum exists.

For me, I peaked after high school when I only had college courses a few times a week. I actually played Fallout 3 from like 8 at night to 4 in the morning one time or some crazy nonsense like that. I haven't had a game really grab my attention in a long time though; my sessions are basically 2 hours once or twice a week. I still love playing games when I can but most titles that I play don't really reward or encourage very long play sessions. Even in titles like Destiny I refuse to do a lot of grinding and most of the time I just get bored within a few hours regardless.

I've never really been great at any games aside from racing games so I've never really felt pressured to play with clans or anything. Always been the lone wolf type anyway.

 

[GoodRevrnd]

Bingo. Addiction is a spectrum and applying even some basic common sense would show that the line is arbitrary and dependent on whether the activity is the 'norm' is society. Certainly some activities are more harmful than others, but in the end, the individual gets to decide the pros and cons of each activity and whether to pursue it or not. Again, being classified as an addict is a totally arbitrary thing. What if you just like to spend all your free time gaming or drinking or at the beach? If going to beach became abnormal, you can bet your ass we'd have support groups for beach goers. Most of this addiction stuff is bogus. People will do what people want to do. Can that cause problems? Certainly. But that doesn't mean they are doing it against their will.

Well, not quite what I was getting at. I see your point where society may tend to label "undesirable" behaviors as an addiction. The key factor is that the activity is pursued to the detriment of all other responsibilities and activities such that it negatively impacts your life. What the activity is really doesn't matter in the end, it's all the same negative behavior and isn't from a chemical substance.

 

[ArchAngel777]

The key factor is that the activity is pursued to the detriment of all other responsibilities and activities such that it negatively impacts your life.

The person is still making an active choice though. If someone loves video games more than taking a shower, mowing his lawn, talking to his friends, that is his choice to make. Who are we to tell someone that they should adopt the same values as we have? At what point does it end, then? Just because you might take care of your yard and go above and beyond, doesn't mean someone else should.

Everything we do in life is pros vs cons. If I decide that I love to go fishing more than I love to do yard work, guess what I will do? Addiction where it is harming no one except the person in the activity are benign. The person can lose interest just as quick as they gained it. If you let people work things out on their own, they typically will. If you force people and coerce them to make decisions that are not really theirs, you are consigning them to a life of pain and misery, not to mention resentment!

My nephew is a great example. He can barely hold a job, and spends every minute of his day playing video games. Doesn't shower, doesn't do anything product (in my view)... But, if he is fine with it, why should I tell him he shouldn't be fine with it? Eventually, he will grow out of it, if that is what he wants. Once he finds a girl he likes and she says "WTF man, you stink like shit" he might all of a sudden start caring about his personal hygiene.

If we talk about addictions that hurt other people, that is another topic of consideration. But you can't use "It hurts me when I see you drink (or play video games)" as proof that it hurts more than him... That is someone else imposing their wants onto you. For example:

Not Valid = "Joe, I really don't like that you drink so much. It bothers me. So you need to stop drinking."

Valid = "Joe, when you get drunk, you verbally assault people. You need to stop verbally abusing people (alcohol may have nothing to do with his behavior), so if that means you have to stop drinking, so be it. But if you don't stop treating me and others this way, I won't be able to hang out with you anymore."

Additionally, even the second way, while legit, is not telling someone what they HAVE to do, it is giving them a choice and what you will do if they decide to continue to be that way.

To clarify further, all of us have unhealthy behaviors and people have a choice as to whether they will put up with whatever behavior exists or not. But you don't deal with that by imposing your beliefs on another, instead you set your own boundaries (which exists to protect you, not control them).

None of us are perfect, which is why I think it is so incredibly hypocritical for society to shun people based on their "addictions".

Last note here: Not saying you are for or against any of thus, just clarifying that I think the whole concept is BS.