Is videogaming an addiction?
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Of course it's not!
Please excuse me, I have to go play Modern Warfare 2. It gets lonely if I leave for more than 5 minutes.
Please excuse me, I have to go play Modern Warfare 2. It gets lonely if I leave for more than 5 minutes.
Doing everything could be considered as an addiction. Hell, I even heard that there was a guy in Sweden that was addicted to music. It depends on how much you do it and how much time it takes from everything else you do in your life.
Let's quote wikipedia.
Let's quote wikipedia.
So based on what i just wrote. No, I don't think i am addicted to games even if i play 20-40 hours a week. I just have allot of spare time. I just game when i don't have anything better to do.Wikipedia said:
Like anything, video games can be addictive. People can and do get addicted to video games, but I highly doubt it happens as much as Fox News would want us to think.
As pretty much everyone here has already said, it can become an addiction, but it doesn't have to be. An addiction develops when anything, whether a substance, an activity, or whatever, is used to alleviate unpleasant emotions. The addict of course, in attempting to escape the problem (in this case through gaming), instead of dealing with it, doesn't solve the underlying problems, and sometimes makes them worse. In the case of gaming, an obvious example would be someone who feels lonely. In order to escape their loneliness they take up gaming. They spend so much time gaming that they become further socially detached, are more lonely, and in turn must play more games in order to escape the unpleasant feeling of loneliness. Especially if this cycle builds to the point at which the develop a sedentary lifestyle, their health begins to deteriorate, etc, then the addiction can become very serious, and eventually reach a point at which it would be nearly impossible for the addict to solve the original problem, which is that they are lonely, because they make themselves so unpleasant to be around.
Fortunately, that doesn't happen too often.
Fortunately, that doesn't happen too often.
I think being addicted means not being able to lay off it without feeling unrest or something. So if you play video games, a friend calls you up saying "Yo dawg, wanna go drinking later?" and you answer with "Hell yeah, I didn't have anything better to do anyways" then I would consider that not being addicted.
So, if something takes up your main focus of action, to the point where you'd refuse any distraction from it, that's when you're addicted.
So, if something takes up your main focus of action, to the point where you'd refuse any distraction from it, that's when you're addicted.
Just playing videogames isn't an addiction in itself, it's a hobby. Something to pass the time while going on with the important things in life.
If it becomes an addiction; You are doing it wrong.
If it becomes an addiction; You are doing it wrong.
Playing video games can become an addiction. depending on the game and what type of game genre you are interested in.
Technically, yes it is because just like everything addictive, it depends on the individual as to whether it becomes an 'addiction' for them.Zhukov said:
It used to be an obsession for me, but I have never been an addict. I have spent a lot of years hiding away from a lot of problems and issues with my head stuck in my PC, Playstation or Xbox.
However, nowadays as I get older and take on more responsibility and meet more people and do other things with my life and deal with those issues that drove me to this medium as an escape from my circumstances I tend to play games less and less.
I do know more than a couple of people that are almost completely addicted to gaming and it's just like anything, anyone can become addicted to a positive or pleasurable experience. People can get addicted to reading books, to exercise, to just about anything.
Really it doesn't even have to be all the pleasurable, look at Sex Addicts. They go so far as to actually begin to despise themselves because they can't control their impulses, eventually degrading the sexual act for them until all it becomes is another 'fix', which is incredibly tragic.
I also don't think you should view an addict as someone who deserves scorn, but I don't think they need our pity either. Be compassionate and do what you can to help them, if they want it. You can't force anyone to do anything and an addict who doesn't really want to clean up will just about always relapse. They have to want it.
Coming from someone who lived with an alcoholic father for most of my life until my mid to late teens I think I've seen enough to have a fairly educated opinion on at least some aspects of it.
Sorry, that turned into a bit of a rant.
Well, heres a simple test, your frend calls up and says "Hey man theres gonna be a wicked party a shellys later on, wanna come?" If you say A."Hell yeah man i love partys!" or if you say B."No man i'm gonna play me some tf2!" If you say A. your fine if you say B. you need help.
yes and no,
No, there is no chemical addiction so there really isn't a dependence to video games.
Yes, just like people can become addicted to shopping, others can be addicted to video games, this would require the person being personality wise dependent on the video game and that would probably lean more to a mental illness than an addiction.
EDIT: So, before you ask, I'm saying we're all sick and crazy people.
No, there is no chemical addiction so there really isn't a dependence to video games.
Yes, just like people can become addicted to shopping, others can be addicted to video games, this would require the person being personality wise dependent on the video game and that would probably lean more to a mental illness than an addiction.
EDIT: So, before you ask, I'm saying we're all sick and crazy people.
