Addicted to Gaming?

[Zeema]

i cant enjoy games with out exercise i play tons better and i enjoy it alot more. But i never play games after 6:00pm and only seem to enjoy after ive done chores and jobs i have to do.

Do you believe in Gaming Addiction?
Have you ever Experienced or Seen Someone else with a Addiction to Games?
How do you manage your free time with games? example: Do you finish your chores before playing the game? or have a set amount of game time.
Do you think Gaming Addiction is Lethal?

I think it is very Lethal to all parts of your life.

 

[CommanderKirov]

There is no such thing as gaming addiction, if there would be than we would have to create such terms as
"Golf Addiction"
"Sports Addiction"
"Racing Addiction"

And so on, Gaming is a pass time, true some people spend waaay too much time on it but it's still not addiction. It's just not having anything else to do. Or being irresponsible.

 

[Palademon]

As Facebook has proven, gaming addiction is only lethal to other people, and people too stupid to eat.

I generally just play when I feel like it. I believe people are too quick to accuse someone of being addicted when they're merely just spending a lot of time on it.
Also, that video is not available in my country.

 

[steeple]

for some reason the video says that its not available in my country... bullshit...

OT: I dont know personally anyone addicted to it (most chances that out of my group of friends it would be me), and I dont really think Im addicted to gaming, since Im able to stop at any time, I just dont want to, honest! I am able to leave it and go do different things, like sports or studying, for example...

as for how I manage my free time? well, I dont, and thats because of a big problem I have with managing free time and setting priorities, but I doubt gaming is to blame, since its a problem with everything...

 

[Sarge034]

I can stop any time I want.....

Seriously, some people have a problem but I think that is more a symptom of OCD or something.

 

[CCountZero]

Seems to me that "gaming addiction" really has to do with the chemical reactions going on in your head, when you successfully complete a task in-game, making you feel good.

Pretty much everything else has the potential to do that too, though. Gaming just gets called out on it so often because it's such a widespread hobby.

If you play games ten hours per day, and then go down to two hours per day and get a daytime job, you will feel it.

However, if you change from ten hours per day of gaming, to ten hours per day of outdoor, objective-oriented sports, you'll still retain your feel-good chemicals, and you won't have a problem.

So, it has nothing to do with the medium itself.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

The American Society of Addiction Medicine has this definition for Addiction:

Addiction is a primary, chronic disease of brain reward, motivation, memory and related circuitry. Dysfunction in these circuits leads to characteristic biological, psychological, social and spiritual manifestations. This is reflected in the individual pursuing reward and/or relief by substance use and other behaviors. The addiction is characterized by impairment in behavioral control, craving, inability to consistently abstain, and diminished recognition of significant problems with one?s behaviors and interpersonal relationships. Like other chronic diseases, addiction can involve cycles of relapse and remission. Without treatment or engagement in recovery activities, addiction is progressive and can result in disability or premature death.

So no. And no-one ever has from gaming. Gaming isn't a substance or you could replace WoW with Pong and have exactly the same buzz.

There have been possibly 4 deaths directly attributable to gaming (Body collapse through negligence) out of the 1 billion gamers alive at this moment. These were caused by addiction to gambling, not gaming.

Meteorites kill more people than gaming ever has done.

 

[bleese]

Damn... i came here to dispute gaming addiction, but sadly a lot of what these people do i do myself D:. Aw well, i am not experiencing any negative effects yet, so idk XD.

 

[Battenbergcake]

I don't think addiction's the right word, obessions yes.
Addiction ussualy runs deeper than the simple want to play video games, it's more of a demonstraition of poor priority on people's behalf, Video game good now, Homeowork good later.

 

[CCountZero]

snip

BULLSHIT YOU WONT

Admittedly I am an MMORPG addict.
When i went to basic training for the US Army after being a person who played MMOGs 6~10hours a day...
Coming off of it sucked ass so bad.
I speak from experience, you can't replace the "addiction" that games can give you with another activity.

Please back up and rethink that for a second. You're comparing G.I. training with leisure sports?

I didn't say "another activity", I said "another activity that triggers the same chemicals", which sports can easily do.

On another note, if you want people to take you seriously in any way, you would aid your cause by not starting your post with an all-caps message containing the word "bullshit".

 

[Sjakie]

Addicted is way to strong of a word!

We've all been there that we should be doing something else but instead we wanted to finish that level or kill that end-boss or find out it is allready getting light outside!
We become too immersed in certain games that we block out the rest often willingly, but i think that is more 'game specific' then to call it an 'addiction to gaming' itself.

If you can't get your act together EVER, you might be addicted to escapism from your (crappy?) life. But if that only applies to a certain game that draws you in because you think it is worth it: those times will pass eventually and things go back to normal!

I would say some people might have a WoW-addiction for example, but certainly not a 'gaming addiction'. And once they have the very best gear, done all the (end)game content and/or best PvP stats they start to lose interest gradually and get 'cured', for a better word for it, all by itself.

We overdo it sometimes. Just like people will do with any engaging hobby!

 

[badgersprite]

Sure, people with addictive personalities can get addicted to anything, in the colloquial sense of the term. I've known a person who was addicted to exercise. Getting addicted to a video game isn't all that different from people who become addicted to gambling. When one has a gaming addiction it becomes a compulsive behaviour that gets completely out of hand and becomes a negative drain on their lives to the point where they prioritise it over everything, including money, health and socialising.

But, no, it's not as widespread as scaremongers would have anyone believe, and most people who have been addicted to a video game can get over it and continue playing games normally afterward.

If people think of gaming addiction in terms of gaming dependency then no it doesn't exist.

 

[CommanderKirov]

There is no such thing as gaming addiction, if there would be than we would have to create such terms as
"Golf Addiction"
"Sports Addiction"
"Racing Addiction"

And so on, Gaming is a pass time, true some people spend waaay too much time on it but it's still not addiction. It's just not having anything else to do. Or being irresponsible.

Bullshit, absolute bullshit.
Video games are nothing like Golf...
You know what Im not even going to attempt how unbelievably crappy that opinion is.

Elaborate?

Because otherwise I will just take your opinion as baseless argumentation and than I cannot respond to your comment.

 

[blacon]

Gaming addiction definitely does exist. In fact, video games are probably one of the most common forms of addiction.

If someone can't go a day without playing a game, e.g, World of Warcraft, and that person's mood is directly affected based on whether or not they get to play the game, then it's safe to say they're addicted.

I'm not sure I believe the stories about people dying from gaming too much etc, so I wouldn't say it's 'lethal', but it certainly does ruin lives.