World of Warcraft is as addicting as heroin

[blindey]

Is the OP aware that things like heroin and nicotine contain chemicals that interact with the brain making people addicted? There is none of that in WOW.

Its why I get pissed off when fat poeple talk about being addicted to shit food. Its not the same. Show some will power.

To rebute your food statement: Studies have shown that junk food release chemicals into the brain that trigger pleasure sensations through opiods and seratonin. Studies on animals and humans who have been exposed to sugar, fats and caffeine for long periods and then witheld from it, go through withdrawal symptoms that include chattering of teeth, anxiety and walking around your circles.

Damn, looks like you beat me this already. GJ.

Is the OP aware that things like heroin and nicotine contain chemicals that interact with the brain making people addicted? There is none of that in WOW.

Its why I get pissed off when fat poeple talk about being addicted to shit food. Its not the same. Show some will power.

I will admit that "WoW is heroin" is largely overblown by either the shill media or "psychologists" that don't know what they're talking about or want to make a buck with clinics (I've seen some, on the interwebs), but you and others are in fact overlooking something. Someone pointed it out about pleasure (LimaBravo) and while I disagree wholeheartedly on some points, less on others, he/she does have a few points.

So here it is: There's two kinds of addiction: physical/chemical (such as well I dunno HEROIN) and psychological. Psychological can occur with pretty much anything. It's not enough to say video games are addicting, WoW is addicting or running a marathon is addicting. It's all about the factors vs the person's circumstances and personality. They all play +/- parts in anything like that. WoW (computer addiction in general) appeals to people for a few different reasons in that regard - A) It's fun (If you like WoW obviously), and because of that it causes the brain to release dopamine, which is involved a lot in addiction. This is reinforced because the initial high if you will is intense, just like anything at first that's pleasurable. Then a tolerance is built up and more has to be had to achieve the same amount of pleasure. B) Social situation and C) suseptability to addiction. There are people that are more or less (sometimes to a great degree) that are easier, predisposed to becoming addicted to..whatever.

 

[wunderguy]

hmmmm.

11mil wow players.

maybe, on estimate 1000 cases. (I just pulled that number out of my ass though)

thats like...hold on (pulls out calculator)

o.9%

Psha.

0.009%*

 

[TikiShades]

On topic: Gaming addiction isn't like mental addiction, and definitely not a physical addiction. It's a psychological addiction: someone who only *thinks* they are addicted to it. Some people get the "addiction" because they want an escape from life.

One of the posts about a disabled person makes sense. That guy might get addicted, because they don't want to face the reality of their disability. In the game world, they aren't disabled.

In the game world, some nerd can be popular, because they can do something anyone can do. In the game world, you can always get on the team, because there's no coach to deny them of it. In the game world, you don't have parents that are getting a divorce, or are dead. In the game world, you can be anything.

The above is the example of a psychological addiction, because they want to believe it. It isn't the game they are addicted to: they need a break from reality, and World of Warcraft does it for them. Just like all video games: it isn't the game, it's the person.

And yeah, those therapists should make sure they themselves don't have prejudice against video games before these reports or whatever. You know, maybe a video game touched them as a child. They should see a therapist for that.

 

[lonercs]

WoW is an addiction as powerful as heroin...and my penis is the size of Mt. Rushmore! At most WoW is as addictive as weed. Weed has a physiological addicting, like video games. Some have no problems stopping, other have a real hard time. Saying video games is extremely addictive is being paranoid, the fact that most people are not as addicted as the media and soccer moms say. Even the kid that play 24 hours and was sent to the hospital may of not been addicted. He just that the new expansion and tried to beat it in a day. HE was not addicted, he took a extremely hard challenge. Another thing, the "recommended" amount of "screen time" is too low. No gamer (real gamer) will allow that. That's not enough time to progress in a game.

Even if there is a source don't trust it. They are bias as all hell! There are plenty for sources that say video games are good for you, and others that disprove that of the "addiction" sources.

 

[TikiShades]

hmmmm.

11mil wow players.

maybe, on estimate 1000 cases. (I just pulled that number out of my ass though)

thats like...hold on (pulls out calculator)

o.9%

Psha.

0.009%*

Acutally, there are 22 million cases of WoW addiction. So really, it's about... 200% of the players are addicted. Startling numbers, I know.

 

[TrevorOfCrete]

No, no its not. If you take 1000 people and give them an intense week of WoW, and another 1000 and gave them an intense week of Heroin then compare how many of the 1000 were 'addicted' the notion of the topic would consider itself de-bunked.

 

[Johnmw]

Is it just me or is the Phrase "as addictive as heroin" being used to describe lots of other forms of addiction that it seems to bear little resembelence to. I'm sure that giving up coffee is as hard as giving up heroin, ciggarettes too. Is it just a stock phrase, or is it a journalistic twisting of the truth so that it has a bigger impact and more shock value.

 

[Cowabungaa]

WoW isn't as addicting as heroine. Ofcourse you can get addicted to WoW, but that's a mental addiction. Almost anything, including WoW, can be mentally addicting. Sports addicting is also a legit illness, just like game addiction.
Heroine though is a chemical that fucks with your brain. It doesn't just get you mentally addicted, it gets you physically addicted as well (just like nicotine, cocaine, etc). That's simply not the case with WoW.

 

[headshotcatcher]

Whichever source this comes from has obviously never been addicted to heroin.

Have you?

So Shush

 

[Charli]

Hur Hur flamebait, taken a break from WoW to visit grandma for 4 days. I really don't feel all that starved for it. Frankly a break from Ulduar is a nice thing, and I feel nice and relaxed.

Didn't stop dear old grandma buying me a 2month card as my 'visit' present.
...Yeah I lol'd. She rocks for even knowing I played at her age.

This game is addicting, I can see that formula of social vortex and self expectation, when I play it, however as I am perfectly aware I have no addictive tendencies toward it and I hate most of the population and screw 'their raiding needs', I walk away with ease. Any friends I make on the game I make every effort to aid when I can, but dang, my life comes first m'fraid.

 

[Seydaman]

i played wow..for two years..then i quit because i was bored

 

[Carnagath]

Addiction comes in two forms, physical/chemical addiction and psychological addiction. With chemical addiction, you are addicted to a substance and you are basically screwed and even if you want to quit and would do it in a heartbeat, you can't, so prohibiting these substances makes sense. Psychological addiction on the other hand is something completely different. The thing that you are addicted to can be anything and does not really matter, it can be a videogame, it can be gambling, it can be books, it can be music, movies, anything can be overdone to the point that it ends up destroying your social life. So blaming the objects themselves is rather pointless, what matters is that the people are not pleased with their lives for whatever reason and therefore seek constant escapism. Studies like these, whoever made them, are as usual totally missing the point.

 

[WrongSprite]

Don't be foolish. I play it on occasion, I hardly feel it's addictive.

 

[Martymer]

There are two things wrong about this thread...

A) People who say that WoW isn't addictive. Obviously you aren't aware of things like addiction to gambling, shopping, sex, porn, eating, etc, etc. Any activity that gives you pleasure causes a release of endorphines. That's a chemical substance, and the fact that it's produced by our bodies doesn't change the fact that some people do become addicted to it. The brain then makes the connection "activity X gets me my fix", which makes the release of endorphines even greater, because now it's fun AND it gives you the fix you were craving. So now its "activity X gets me one hell of a fix!", and so on.

However, I absolutely agree with those who are saying that it isn't actually WoW that's addictive. It's the endorphines. The same individual could just as easily have become addicted to gambling instead. But since that's not as hot news as video game addiction, the media wouldn't give a shit. No form of video game addiction seems to be more common than WoW addiction, but hmm... Couldn't that have something to do with the number of people playing it?

I do think that some types of games are easier to become addicted to than others, though, and MMOs have got to be worst. I'm thinking this has to do with the fact that you're playing with other people, which can be much more stimulating than playing with just an AI. It's also easier to get stuck playing for "one more hour" because you're part of a group and don't want to leave it. So while you could also get addicted to Tetris (or whatever), and have just as much trouble getting out of it, it isn't as easy to get hooked on to begin with. That's my thinking, anyway. But I'm not a shrink. Through his job helping sick people get back to work, my dad has come in contact with one who specializes in addictions, however. They apparently talk quite a lot, and I've heard some interesting things that way.


B) The other thing wrong here is the claim that WoW is as addictive as heroin. 11 million players, and how many are addicted? All of them? No? More than 50%? No? Well, I don't think I need to go on, then...

 

[Xrysthos]

I've played WoW since it was released, though I've had several long breaks during that time, and I can't really say that it's overly addictive. Not more so than any other half-decent game, at least. But as Therumancer and several others have already pointed out, this is not about anything else than isolated incidents, where people with addictive personalities get too worked up about the game. And if such a thing as WoW-addiction clinics or WoW-rehab exists, then it isn't as separate clinics or whatever (if there are separate clinics, they are just feeding off people's vulnerability) but maybe sections of mental health clinics devoted to treating pople with gambling and other "game" related disorders. And as far as I can see, WoW cannot even come close to being as addictive as heroin, so whoever published an article with that headline/statement is probably just in it for the column inches.

 

[daribian]

i dont think it is true, sure i can play hours and hours of WOW but if i stop and dont play it for a week or so i dont suffer any drawback issues whilist my body is WOW detoxing.

 

[SimuLord]

Here's an idea. Try getting addicted to actual drugs, then go through a cold-turkey withdrawal and tell me that the notion of video games being "as addictive as [x addictive drug]" is anything but total bullshit.

WoW (or any other game) isn't even as addictive as caffeine, fercrissakes. As someone who once upon a time (as a teenager) got addicted to amphetamines and went through hell to kick the habit, a little vein in my head starts pulsing when I see this crap taken as anything even approaching fact.

 

[bjj hero]

To rebute your food statement: Studies have shown that junk food release chemicals into the brain that trigger pleasure sensations through opiods and seratonin. Studies on animals and humans who have been exposed to sugar, fats and caffeine for long periods and then witheld from it, go through withdrawal symptoms that include chattering of teeth, anxiety and walking around your circles.

However, you are absolutely right. In this world, people undermine and forsake personal responsibility. Each one of us do what we do simply because we choose to and we have the power inside of us to make a change if we have the will.

The big difference is that millions of people eat fatty food and develope no dependecies at all. "casual" heroin use is very unusual. We are in agreement though. I don't believe addiction is a "disease", the AA meeting school of thought. Its a choice. People always wants to pass the blame on and not admit, they are responsible for their own behaviour. Show some will power.