Dr Phil slates gaming... gaming addiction question

[Haydyn]

Yes, but unlike drugs, people can play dozens of different video games. You can only do so many drugs before your dead. Sure, taking away every single video game for a week isn't going to cause the damage drugs can. But drugs are putting something into your body, all video games can do is show you colors on a screen.

 

[Da_Schwartz]

First off stop watching Dr. Phil. He's an idiot and i don't think hes even a real doctor. Without going on a rant, umm i suppose i was addicted TO city of heros for a while...but it didn't ruin my life or anything. Some people are just weak. I guess games work like any other stimulus, affecting certain parts of the brain, and some things work more for other people. For some its drugs, or sex, others its video games. Plus addiction by definiton is a REALLY harsh word. It takes ALOT more then you think to be an actual addict of something. I don't even know if it's possible to be an addict of videogames.

 

[cainx10a]

First off stop watching Dr. Phil. He's an idiot and i don't think hes even a real doctor. Without going on a rant, umm i suppose i was addicted TO city of heros for a while...but it didn't ruin my life or anything. Some people are just weak. I guess games work like any other stimulus, affecting certain parts of the brain, and some things work more for other people. For some its drugs, or sex, others its video games. Plus addiction by definiton is a REALLY harsh word. It takes alot more then you think to be an actual addict of something. I don't even know if it's possible to be an addict of videogames.

He is a former-psychologist, so yeah, he is indeed a doctor. Although, the person he was making fun of "for being an elemental shaman" probably deserved it, if the latter was taking his escapism a little bit too far. Video games have already proven to be a prelude to disaster, remember the couple who forgot to look after their toddler while playing an mmo?

And MMO addiction, even game addiction exists, addition in the context of gaming is NOT a harsh word, when the escapism a game can offer can be greater than even drugs. (I would rather hang around with guildies all weekends than do drugs to be honest).

 

[tenlong]

i can be obsessive with my hobbies . i remember when i got assassins' creed. i played it a lot. i stop for a breather every 2 to 6 hours or to sleep. i took my time and beat it in 35 hours. i don't play all my games that much in a short period of time. i can stop anytime i get burned out.

 

[Max-Vader]

Oh God. If you think thats bad, try watching german news. At least when there is a school massacre in America, everyone has their own delusions about the cause: Drugs, South Park, Godlessness, Marilyn Manson, Liberals...
But if we have one nutjob shooting his classmates, what is the cause? The EVIL, NASTY videogames of course! Seriously, they react as if videogames came from the devil and turn everyone into Johan Ribert from "Monster".
Yes, you can be addicted to videogames, but since it's not a physical addiction, it really is unimportant unless you start no neglect your life. And those are the most extreme cases (exept for this Korean guy who died, but it was Starcraft, so you can't really blame him [/tasteless joke]).
Personally, I don't play MMOs because I don't want to pay over and over again and I think they are boring. I'll stay a fan of singlepayer.

 

[Slash Dementia]

There are really few times where I feel addicted to a game. Right now I'm not addicted to any game. One of the times was with RuneScape but I just randomly stopped and never played it again.

 

[Cpt. Red]

The bigger question is: Why were you watching Dr Phil?

 

[Iron Mal]

Talk shows are terrible.

But really Gaming addiction, although obviously not healthy it isnt ultra serious.

What would you rather be addicted to? Drugs, Alcohol, Gambling or Games?

I agree with this, we have a habbit of overlooking the serious issues that actually need to be dealt with immediately in favour of trivial and insignificant matters (when was the last time you heard of a major government-approved crackdown on unemployment that actually had results?).

 

[Jupsto]

I think as long as your enjoying it addiction is not a bad thing. I get addicted to games all the time, I love it. The goal of real life is to have fun after all.

I think its a shame people don't try games they think they would like just because they think they might get "addicted". games are not like drugs in the slightest, you don't build up a physical dependence. its not real addiction you can stop whenever you want to.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

First off stop watching Dr. Phil. He's an idiot and i don't think hes even a real doctor. Without going on a rant, umm i suppose i was addicted TO city of heros for a while...but it didn't ruin my life or anything. Some people are just weak. I guess games work like any other stimulus, affecting certain parts of the brain, and some things work more for other people. For some its drugs, or sex, others its video games. Plus addiction by definiton is a REALLY harsh word. It takes ALOT more then you think to be an actual addict of something. I don't even know if it's possible to be an addict of videogames.

LOL I don't usually watch Dr Phil or any talk shows but I saw the add on TV that it was going to be about video games, and of course being the hopeless 'gaming addict' that I am I decided to watch the show to see what people had to say about my favorite pastime.

Dr Phil is indeed a hypocrite who exploits peoples' problems and flaws for his own personal gain and to induce self righteous judgements from his audience.

It's just a pity that a lot of people don't realise this and will think games are evil instead of looking at the real problem (i.e. your husband is unhappy and hates spending time with you so much he'd rather play WOW all day)

 

[hondommond]

I am not addicted to World of Warcraft or any game for that matter

For me I use games as the such as a filler cause I live in the middle of nowhere

and there isnt much to do other than play game and do drugs

but I have decided to do just the one

(got 5 hrs to yourself? watching a T.V show you have seen 100 times? play World of warcraft)

 

[MiracleOfSound]

The bigger question is: Why were you watching Dr Phil?

see my post right above this!

 

[dmase]

When i finally got my ps3 i was obsessed with playing obivion, it was my first expierence into the elder scrolls series. I played for hours and hours. I didn't really care about much else so after school let out that is really all i did then soccer season started up and i got to practice barely even ran a mile and I almost passed out. No joke everything got really bright and i was getting dizzy so i went home early and after that i limited myself to just a couple hours a day with the rest of the time spent working out and practicing.

 

[Chadling]

The below link is a prime example of his shoddy work: Dr. Phil was supposed to interview this fellow but instead he cut his words off at every chance and told him to GTFO to make himself look like a hero. Real professional.

Aye, his staff went to the trouble of making that little clip of that guy's work, he'd been invited to be on the show, and he had the gall to pretend that he had never seen it and simply didn't want to waste his time talking to him? The fact that he thought no one would put two and two together and notice the inconsistencies is an "insult to his audience's intelligence."

Dr. Phil McGraw is an grandstander whose show has little relevance to the real world, or even professional psychology. I honestly can't think of anything less professional, bringing his "patients" in front of a live audience and millions of viewers on television, and proceeding to belittle them and reduce them to a sobbing wreck. The founders of psychological therapy would be spinning in their grave if they knew about his show.

It's practically the number one rule of psychological therapy: you do NOT do anything to belittle and harm your patient's trust. The patient should never have a reason to be defensive around his therapist.

That said, ignore the guy. He and his son have produced a couple of decent books, but his show has no relevance.

 

[MiserableOldGit]

Gaming addiction is a load of utter bollocks - and, like most issues of today, is in no way complicated or difficult, just requires a spine and the ability to look at things honestly. Gaming addiction is like cannabis addiction. What's actually going on is that you've got people that for differing reasons aren't doing anything with their lives and so fill the gap with distractions that allow you to feel comfortable with being bored (I'm talking from experience). After a while, you spend more time distracting yourself than you do anything else, and can then say 'Its an addiction', and blame all your ills on it- people are all too often spineless chumps looking for something to blame followed by a clean solution, and fat pseudo intellectual f**ks like Doc Phil are simply cashing in on it.

 

[Cylem]

I'd be more afraid of video game addiction if I didn't have such a short attention span. I get obsessed and play for several days straight, but lose interest once I beat a game or run out of things to do. With the exception of Harvest Moon games, I don't get hooked on grinding as easily as other MMO players.

I do believe game addiction exists though. One of my mom's friend's doesn't work, has a housekeeper and a gardener and sends her two-year-old to daycare ten hours a day so she can stay home and play Mob Wars on Facebook.

On the other hand, it's not quite as dangerous as the hype seems to imply. At least from my experience, it's a pretty easy habit to break. I went without my computer for a week and damn near forgot how to play all of my games.

 

[Z of the Na'vi]

Honestly if you start treating video games more than what they are, video games, then you need help.

 

[gigastrike]

Dr Phil is a troll, Stop feeding him.

QFT

I'll probably post more later, when i have more time.

 

[darksaiyan]

WoW is as evil as prescription drugs. Nobody makes you play it, it's your choice, and you can stop whenever you want. If you get addicted, it's your fault.