Whether you're spending more time playing a game or looking at any screen than you are looking into someone else's eyes, you are addicted, and you are eroding your brain's capacity for secure attachment. That in turn will negatively affect your health (mental and physical), as well as the people around you, especially your children.
Every disorder in the DSM can be tracked to insecure attachment, and nothing creates that issue more quickly than replacing face to face relating with devices.
13
The answer to Dr. Lilienfeld's question as to the line between a habit and a disorder is an easy one.
Behavior that significantly interferes with a person's ability to function is a disorder. If you can go to school or work and have a normal social life despite playing hours of games, it may be a habit but it's not a disorder.
If you've lost your job, are failing or dropped out of school, or can't have a social life because you're playing those games, you've got a disorder that needs to be treated.
I'm surprised that a professor of psychology would be unaware of this as the same line holds for virtually everything else we try to divide between habit and disorder. For example, if you have a few drinks each night but it doesn't interfere with functioning, it's a habit. If you can't function because of those drinks and you can't stop, it makes you an alcoholic.
7
This reads like an op-ed piece, in part because it fails to cite any of the numerous Times stories over the last decade providing myriad examples of game developers' addiction strategies, some gamers' self-acknowledged addictions, and the impact on kids, families and schools, as well as therapies and outcomes. Readers of Times science journalism should look for facts and evidence, noting that some journalists might not wish to offend their gaming company contacts for fear that it might hamper future access.
Meanwhile, the defensive posture in many pro-gaming commenters misses the point of such a behavioral categorization – WHO isn't saying that gaming *per se* constitutes addiction. *Most* people don't become addicted to alcohol, gambling, or gaming. However, *some* do: therefore the classification is legitimate for the *some* cohort.
There is no question that electricity-based media have long been potentially neurologically addictive, and a commenter's observation that these devices are now literally attached to our bodies is profound. The fact that Americans now spend 11 hours per day in front of some kind of screen, cited in *yesterday's* Times (the predecessor statistic to which was Americans' 9 hours per day of TV watching), suggests that we are indeed changing as a civilization. I assume I don't need to finish this thought for Times readers.
7
I spent a week with a friend a short while after graduating high school. The first day, he spent 18 hours playing League of Legends and Runescape (2 online video games with social elements) and smoking marijuana. I thought this was just a single daylong binge, but I was stunned when he did the same thing the next day, and the day after, and every day of the week we had planned to spend together. We had a whole house to ourselves, with no adult supervision. We could have done anything. He didn’t even offer to find a game we could play together.
I don’t know if that’s a disease, but it sure as heck ain’t healthy.
12
"Disorder" - is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning and often impairs social and intimate relationships."
Is that good enough for ya?
7
Went to dinner last night at a pizza place. There was a table with several young children none older than 7 and some pre-school age. Each had a 'smart phone' and were content with that. Games are good and useful, but a life devoted to screens is false and fake. Makes parenting easier, I suppose, just mollify and ignore. Some of these children were already over weight, but so long as there is electricity and affordable digital toys they will have a life. It is no wonder why there is so little interest on caring for the natural environment; few have any contact with it.
7
And people wonder where an "obsession," excuse me "diagnosis" of "gaming disorder" begins--in the hands of toddlers who are distracted by mommy's smartphone. I see this all the time on the street. It's only going to get worse.
5
If you can't put these games down and it's starting to affect your life (such as excessive gambling or alcohol might do), that's a problem. It's an addiction. And that's what the WHO seems to be saying. Similar situation with social media, especially with kids.
14
Nobody ever called a man following behind a horse with a plow like they all used to do before, an illness or disorder. Diagnosing things should not be allowed to be some people’s only reason for being.
5
I just can't follow your reasoning never mind the horse and plow.
7
As a psychologist working with adolescent boys in Minnesota I can confidently state that gaming has become a serious problem and I strongly believe these boys (no girls yet) are seriously addicted. They act no differently then any addict. When they're not playing, they're thinking about playing, when interrupted or criticized they become angry, they are typically irritable throughout the day, they stay up late playing often falling asleep in their clothes - fighting in the morning and dragging themselves to school. Violence is normal, misogyny as portrayed on the games is what they know about relationships. Each of them believe they will grow up and become game designers, some have "books of characters" they've drawn. They don't have friends, only "on line" gaming friends around the world. Their brains are turned into mush by endless hours of staring at screens. They are struggling academically, socially, emotionally and behaviorally. Twelve, fourteen and sixteen hour marathons are typical. This is not normal, it is dangerous to their mental and emotional health. The DSM V needs to recognize this danger to our youth as well, parents need to become more aware of this issue, and gaming companies need to be held accountable. Whether excessive "gaming" is a diagnosis or not, it's real.
41
We all strive for contentment and community in this ever more chaotic, frenzied, nervous, frantic world of ours. We cling to different coping tools as lifelines for soothing of mind and body. Endless gaming is a coping tool, which does provide some measure of contentment and community. This immoderate gaming is also unbalanced, and like any addiction, a coping tool gone awry, it is no longer a blessing but an ever draining burden due to a complex and potent mix of neuro-chemical and environmental factors. Young people today have often been raised by parents with essentially zero practical skills. If one teaches young people skills like wood-working, auto repair and salvage, etc., they have some productive outlets for coping and self-soothing and solitude which involve a measure of creativity and self-expression.
8
There are still skeptics who argue whether other behavior-based obsessive-compulsive disorders are diseases too, such as sex or gambling addictions. The sufferers know they are sick, as do those who treat them. Gambling is a multi-billion dollar industry (as is sex) which knowingly exploits the weakness the human bio-physiology of the reward system; yet here are still pundits that balk at caring for drug and alcohol addicts, yet alone behavioral addicts, with modern medical care. We are talking about behavior that takes over, and destroys lives, not just bad habits. I've been practicing long enough that I've seen this same article, in its many variations, for 40 years now. Denial is a known mal-adaptive response to illness in others, as is persecution.
12
it is a symptom of various disorders
1
A lot of defensive posts here that sound like they come from male teenagers, or people who have not matured beyond that phase.
4
The worst part of this culture (and I have lived with seriously addicted gamers) is the "Man-Boys" who are playing well into their thirties and worse the wives and girlfriends that put up with it as "Boys will be boys".
I had roommates not take care of pets for days on end (WHERE I DRAW THE LINE), order pizza endlessly, not mow the lawn for months.
It's an addiction and an illness. Many of these same people were no doubt on the autism spectrum. I have a neighbor who willingly let's their autistic daughter swing on a swing set 4- hours a day. She loves the repetition it brings and she stays active and fit. This "gaming gene" tickles the same brain centers I'm quite sure.
6
Endless *anything* is a disorder of some sort. The Definition given - that it interferes with daily life - is much more than a bad habit (or good habit). It's true that there is a line somewhere and knowing when that line is crossed takes some diagnostic training, but that doesn't mean it isn't a disorder. You break a habit by becoming conscious of it. Breaking an addiction, or overcoming a disorder, takes intervention.
Games are designed to be addictive. When they are combined with a habit-forming medium like social media as opposed to, say, opening a box and distributing little pieces and fake currency, the result can exceed the intentions of the game designer.
5
I don't think it's a separate disorder. Compulsive gaming simply falls under the same umbrella as other behavioral addictions, such as compulsive gambling, compulsive shopping, or compulsive sexual activity. In all of those compulsions, the brain's dopamine system is being activated by the behavior, thus giving an immediate reward. Why some people become addicted and others don't is a mystery science has not yet solved. But anyone whose behavioral compulsion is impairing their ability to function in other areas of life has a definite mental disorder. Gaming addiction is not a separate disorder, it's just one of a group of already defined and recognized disorders.
8
The psychiatric profession is a fraudulent field of medicine. Behaviors that would qualify for a label of a compulsive mental disorder are found in Olympic athletes who go on to win gold medals, guys like Steve Jobs, and others. However, prior to these people winning gold medals or making any money in their 'obsessive behaviors,' they would be labeled as a mental illness.
Then again, psychiatry is the same charlatan profession that labeled homosexuality as a mental illness up until 1973 as well as transexualism as recently as a few years ago, both of which have since been taken out of the DSM, because, unlike any legitimate field of science, the psychiatric profession seeks to classify any behaviors that society 'doesn't like' as a mental illness.
In the case of gaming being diagnosed as an addiction, the purpose is to bring in hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue from parents who simply don't like that their child is spending a lot of time playing video games. No child or adult is ever going to seek help for themselves for this so-called illness. It's strictly for parents to use as a weapon against their own children.
7
Geniuses and high achievers can have mental and physical illnesses just like the rest of us. Yes, psychiatry once classified homosexuality as an iillness. Until recently, medical science held that ulcers were caused by stress rather than bacteria, as we now know. Do you throw away all of medical science because knowledge evolves? Let me guess -- you're a Scientologist? L. Ron Hubbard was a real charlatan who hated psychiatry simply because it kept lucrative customers away from his scam "cure."
1
so true. Once I began studying psychiatry it was screamingly obvious that it is mothing more than pseudo-science. None of the studies can ethically follow a scientific method and causation is impossible to measure. Reading books too much was a sign of a mental disorder when I was a kid, now you’re a paragon of virtue if you like reading. Saying that, Games are created to be addictive, scientifically so its only natural if people get addicted. its a refection of the game not the person.
1
Those arguing of compulsion versus addiction: you're splitting hairs. It's not healthy behavior.
Would an alcoholic just be an intoxicating beverage enthusiast?
I say this as someone who has spent thousands of hours of my life gaming and understand it's benefits (yes there are some) and detriments (yes there are many as well) personally.
As with most things in the digital age, further study is needed.
7
The rest of us urge you to just please put down the controls and change the cat box for starters.
7
One of the reasons for diagnostic categories in psychiatry is to create a reason for insurance reimbursement. If a condition is being treated, it has to be an official diagnostic category for the therapist or physician to get reimbursed by a third party. Thus, if a lot of people are getting treated for some maladaptive behavior, there will be pressure to make it a diagnostic category. This happened with PTSD, for example.
That there is a monetary component to new diagnoses is not necessarily bad, nor is the monetary consideration always a major factor in a proposed new diagnosis. If people need treatment, a diagnostic category will be developed, one way or another, to facilitate treatment. Neither logic nor even scientific research has stopped this progression.
Since we are hurtling toward the time when everyone will have at least one psychiatric diagnosis, just as almost everyone is now on some medication, there should be no reason to be ashamed of one's diagnosis. Over the years I have thought about which psychiatric diagnosis I would like to have. I picked some absurd ones, but with each new Diagnostic Statistical Manual, my preferred diagnosis is replaced by something even more absurd.
6
It's definitely a real disorder, but it's no different from any other addiction. You can be addicted to anything you (initially) derive pleasure from. It seems to me there should be a disorder for addiction rather than so many specific disorders that all come down to addiction.
5
Unless you inherited millions or are that one in a million who actually made a fortune yourself, if you're gaming 8 or more hours most days, someone else is paying your bills.
Something inherently wrong about that I'd say.
Since there seems today to be a diagnosis that absolves nearly everyone from responsibility for whatever condition they find themselves in, I guess it's up to each of us to ultimately figure it out for ourselves.
It takes awareness & self discipline to do something meaningful, that is something good for you and simultaneously helps others in some useful, productive way.
If you need a diagnosis, meds and therapy to help you understand what a meaningful life is; or to cope with a physiological disease with identifiable cellular causes, or deal with a disorder without identifiable causes ... then so be it.
Wonder what this world will be like in a few decades. Everyone with a diagnosis of some sort it seems.
8
As others have noted, if compulsive gambling is a disorder, why not compulsive gaming? I also think of Tiger Woods and his 'sex addiction'. These disorders are either all real or none are, seems that anything that triggers the brains reward systems and produces dopamine could be addictive.
5
Psych 101... I remember the classical distinction of a disorder. If it interferes with normative daily, routine, activities and relationships and it lasts more than three months it fits the mold. Gaming companies may not like that but it is hard to argue against unless you change the definition of "norm". I think having eye contact with the other members of your household and eating as a communal event aren't things most people are ready to throw in the trash yet.
4
Jane for most Americans watching TV would then classify as a "disorder." Who wrote your college textbook is the real question there.
4
According to your unscientific definition of a disorder as being simply a behavior that is outside the "norm," homosexuality would fit perfectly into the category of a mental illness, and in fact was classified as a mental illness up until 1973.
And it was classified as a mental illness precisely because of warped, sanctimonious people like you who think that the word "norm[al]" has any meaningful scientific definition (it doesn't). All it abnormal means in science is "outside of the norm" [mean]. So people like Einstein and Steve Jobs were abnormal. So are all Olympic athletes. And "normal" people are usually functional idiots and losers who can't locate the United States on a map.
3
Psych 1979 - That was the year I told the U.S. Navy I was gay. They immediately sent me to a shrink because back then it was considered a mental disorder. After talking to me for about half an hour he said, "Well I'm not convinced you are gay". So, I leaned across his desk and got close and said, "What kind of proof would you like". He freaked out, signed off and that was that.
I would sooner listen to a televangelist telling me to put my hand on the screen than to a psychiatrist.
5
If you replace gaming with drinking throughout this article most would agree that drinking can be a serious bad habit and even addictive, but not necessarily a mental disorder. Why would gaming be any different?
6
There's a clear tendency in some quarters of psychology and psychiatry to "pathologize" various socially disapproved, sometimes maladaptive behaviors: gaming too much, over-eating, drug addiction, porn use, high frequency sexual activity, etc. I think this is a mistake. Clearly, such behaviors can be, at times, symptomatic of other disorders such as OCD, depression, etc., but creating a "disorder de jour" is not going to help anyone, and it does smack of an attitude of "moral panic." Lot's of other behaviors--e.g., excessive, compulsive, and self-righteous religious activity; excessive TV watching--are also, at times, maladaptive and symptomatic of other disorders. I'm waiting for the brave psychologist/psychiatrist who will propose "unhinged religion disorder" or "American TV watching disorder."
10
There is always resistance to recognizing your own addiction.
3
Who have been teaching these addicts that self-control and focus on productivity in the pursuit of self-actualization are human traits worth developing?
This is clearly not a psychiatric disorder; it is immature lack of self-control. How is gaming contributing to one's self-sufficiency? That is the question each idiot needs to ponder.
What someone needs to invent is a game console, app, or other "governor" that shuts down devices for twice as long as they are in use, say, for two hours after continuous operation for one hour. Parents or users can set the limits. How about a device, which, after three hours, shuts down for the remaining 21 hours in the day?
I guess that could be defeated by owning six devices. Who does this type of stupidity, hour after hour?
Who was it-- Bell, Marconi, Edison-- who uttered "What hath God wrought?" when electronic transmission was invented?
Delayed gratification is a component of responsible behavior. Knowing the difference between productive work and recreational pursuits is a component of responsible behavior.
Grow up, peeps!
8
The author has no idea what mental illness is, nor does WHO. Mental illness is letting your mind run your life.
2
Sorry to disagree, All Around, but real mental illness is having a mind that is unable to run (regulate) your life. It is caused by a brain defect that disorders thoughts, actions, perceptions, ability to interpret words or visuals, and physical functions.
Real mental illness is another category of neurological defects.
Addiction is a learned behavior which is so pleasurable, the brain is disturbed when the stimulus is removed, and the activity is inordinately craved, then engaged again.
3
Your claim is like saying cancer is letting your body run your life. Your mind DOES run your life, whether you have mental illness or not. Your mind is how all of life is presented to you. An acoustic wave is not "sound" -- it's just a bunch of moving particles. Your brain and mind process the wave into sounds that most humans hear. Same with everything else -- senses, thoughts, emotions -- they are your individual mind's representation of reality. However, some minds do not operate correctly, just as some bodies don't. We call that "illness."
1
Isnt this official "medical" classification simply a means to get people (and their healthcare) to pay for rehab for game addiction?
Anything can become "compulsive behavior." Mowing the lawn. taking 25 vitamins a day. List goes on forever. The issue is what is making the person do these compulsive things. Mr Carey is right to question the classification.
4
Internet Posting Disorder is next.
8
I am so happy that most of the people writing comments have not been exposed to or married to someone with this addiction. yes, it exists. Yes, it is easy to hide from everyone except those living in the house. It is devastating. Having had exposure to alcoholics, it is very similar. I am married to an addict and the form it takes is computer games. it could easily be alcohol or drugs and the effect on his life and the lives around him would be the same (other than there isn't a risk of immediate death). We were students when we married and personal computers were not part of our life, only later did dial up Internet become available. Had I known, I would have made different choices. Please don't dismiss this as impossible, improbable and something to be mocked.
50
Many gamers socialize, talk on headphones while playing. They plan, solve problems, create strategies, play as a team. This seems better that the old past time of watching TV for hours on end. And it's like talking on the phone, except without the gossip. There is some good in this culture.
6
I believe 'addiction' can be measured by the amount of anxiety one feels when they are removed from it, how much time they think about it, the amount of energy that goes into self deception, and how many options are available to them for comfort.
While over-diagnosis is a major problem in the U.S., I've seen people who would rather game than spend time with people/go to work/confront problems of varying degrees. Whether it's a 'disorder' or a 'habit' doesn't really matter. We don't know what addiction means, but we know alcoholism is a problem.
Why not spend more time focusing on addiction research in general?
7
"I've seen people who would rather game than go to work".
Yeah, I think a lot of us would if given those two choices, and it didn't affect receiving a paycheck.
18
Experts do seem to agree that “bad habits” in themselves are not “mental disorders”. So: how are any addictions mental disorders?
2
Knowing some young adults who spend what seems like every spare moment gaming, I can certainly see the need to study the phenomenon deeply. That said, I also recall prior generations that spent countless hours of their youth sitting listlessly in front of the family television set. More people over sixty than we’d like to admit can still recite every punch line from Gillian’s Island and Hogan’s Heroes. Those nuggets of wisdom are burnt far more deeply into their brains than the inspiring speeches given by their class valedictorians. What about those who spend every spare moment watching sports? How about avid readers, who might spend countless hours a day buried in novels? In the end, I suspect that most of us are likely “addicted” to something.
21
EXD: A pattern of crossword-playing behavior characterized by impaired control over crossword playing, increasing priority given to crossword playing over other activities to the extent that crossword playing takes precedence over other interests and daily activities, and continuation or escalation of crossword playing despite the occurrence of negative consequences.
4
As the number of mental health professionals has increased, the number of "diagnoses" in the DSM has increased. Let's not kid ourselves: this is about money. Our new habit of pathologizing/medicalizing conduct and ways of thinking we find objectionable is another, not entirely unrelated, matter.
12
H.L.,
Can you identify any area of medicine where there hasn't been a significant increase in diagnoses in the past 40 years? I'm a physician and I sure can't.
Oh, and looking at medical history, I'll bet you think that people separated gonorrhea from syphilis and yellow fever from malaria simply so somebody could make a buck.
According to you, medicine never makes any progress.
2
I'm a child psychologist and have seen both problematic gaming for some kids as well as remarkable positive effects for others. Like anything, it can become an obsessive focus, just like football or hockey or gymnastics (which are never identified as problematic but which can result in significant problems too). I have seen kids learn how to better gauge the motivations of other people, how to barter and trade, and how to collaborate through gaming. Can it become a passive habit? Of course. So can television. So can reading. It's a powerful tool that can be either used well or misused. But treating gaming as if it is a chemical substance with a low threshold for toxicity is what a lot of people are doing out of ignorance.
31
The problem with this diagnosis is fundamentally the same as with all diagnoses of psychological 'illness'. The criteria are so nebulous and overlap so extensively with many forms of behavior deemed 'normal' as to be practically useless. Is there an epidemic of depression, for example, or an epidemic of diagnosing and pathologizing?
11
Richard,
How about headaches? Do you know that in most people there isn't a clear line between tension type and migraine headaches or back pain where in most cases we have no idea what the etiology is.
I guess you consider that any diagnoses in these areas are also phony, too.
1
While it is true that some people get "addicted" to video games, I don't see how it is any different than someone who get addicted to playing the guitar or soccer? Sure one hobby may have more intrinsic benefits than another, but it is just that. Someone can put a hobby above other things which are more important in life, like going to work so you can support yourself and making connections with other people; but that is hardly is confined to computer/video games.
5
Here's an added dimension to this gaming compulsion/addiction which causes it to be more than just a "hobby" for some young adults: thanks to smart phones, gaming is totally portable; you can do it any time, any place. A smart phone is way smaller than a guitar, and doesn't require equipment or a field like soccer, so it can easily insinuate itself into a daily routine--at home, at work, at school, it can interrupt or completely sideline other necessary productive activities.
Addiction? I think it depends on the individual. As a high school teacher, I routinely see kids, heads bent, intently focused on some game they're playing on their phone, oblivious to the actual world and humans around them. This past school year, I had multiple students--mostly boys, but one girl as well--flat out refuse to put their phones away after class had started because they were just about to "reach a new level" or were at some critical point in a game, so I should wait a couple minutes! If kids are truly addicted, discipline write ups and parent phone calls may make a very temporary difference, but ultimately the behavior returns...unless parents long-term confiscate the phone which, sadly, I have never seen happen.
12
Okay...then instead of my previous example...how about something highly portable like a book, paper and pen, or a camera? A video game or smartphone is just medium chosen to express their desire to ignore the world around them and focus on something familiar which they find pleasant. The video game itself is not the problem. it is engaging is obsessively engaging in a task at the expense of everything else. It is the lack of balance which is the problem.
The natural neuroplasticity of our brains would suggest that any repetitive behavior, including long-term frequent video game playing would create changes in certain brain functions. Whether or not these alterations to the brains of young gamers is addictive, might be a lesser concern; perhaps more importantly, in what ways is long-term gaming altering the overall cognitive functioning of these youths? Those changes could easily create a societal shift in all behavior. Are we ready for that?
5
Yes. But all repetitive behaviour from language use to piano practice to masturbating can and does change neural pathways. The brain strives to make what we often do easier for us and is completely indifferent to whether what we do is good, bad, indifferent, laudable or noxious. "Addictions" like drinking and drug taking involve structural changes in the brain,as well as changes in neurotransmitters and receptors. Habits of all types, not just addictions, get written into our biology. So Aristotle (c. 350 BC) turns out to be right: if you want to be virtuous and skilled, practice and practice some more. Allow bad habits to form and you will inevitably become a bad person. Once you're fully formed as an adult -- virtuous or despicable -- you'll prove very difficult to change. Habits are written into the very fabric of our being. Aristotle didn't know the mechanisms -- neural plasticity and neurotransmitters -- but he had the process exactly right.
15
Mom - I'm addicted to food. If I don't have it, I can't stop thinking about it. Can't go without it for too long. Sometimes even while I'm "doing" it, I find my self fantasizing about the next time I'll do it, and how good it will make me feel.
5
Not surprised to see this kind of reporting on mental health from Ben Carey. There is considerably more evidence to support a category of appetitive disorder, which would include gaming. Game designers deliberately create behaviorally addictive products, even employing cognitive psychologists to help them maximize the effect. The WHO criteria, like most of their criteria, are only vague definitions meant to describe the accompanying codes. I guess making snarky jokes about horse therapy was easier.
29
"game developers even employing cognitive psychologists to help them maximize the effect."
Have any proof of that please?
2
K Henderson,
From the American Psychology Association:
"Video game companies are increasingly tapping psychologists' expertise to make games even more compelling, challenging and fun."
http://www.apa.org/gradpsych/2012/01/hot-careers.aspx
1
Emphasis on snarky. His obvious negative attitude here makes it hard to accept this as reporting, rather than as a disguised opinion piece.
2
Gaming can be an addiction. right up there with alcoholism, gambling, overeating. Do you doubt it? Just ask the gamers whose lives have gone down the drain, and who now are turning to 12 step programs for help. An addiction is defined as continuing to do something that has been shown to have negative consequences, even if those consequences are only that you feel terrible after you binge.
41
Just like the article says, it may not be a disorder producing changes in the brain but it sure can become an addiction that can throw your life off kilter, especially when many of these players are young (by age or temperament). So many scientific studies are about the immaturity and partial development of the teenage brain and a lot of these games come with systems of rewards playing right into that. At a time when so many life outcomes are largely determined by choices made as a young adult, this can be a serious problem for parents.
In the end, compulsive gaming is the substitution of one reality for another with its own system of goals and advancement and community. This is one area in which early evangelists of "Cyberspace" got right: that at a critical mass of people, speed, and interactive technology, the internet can be the end all be all for human desires, especially for young men who often lack a more nuanced view about human relationships, whether it's friends or romances. 50,000 other viewers on a gaming stream become your temporary "friends" while your favorite pornographic actress becomes your girlfriend.
11
In related news, the IOC is considering including video games in the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics.
1
It's probably not in itself a mental illness, but any compulsion, be it shopping, gambling, or gaming that is negatively affecting your life is a problem.
39
15 or 20 yrs ago, I remember a statistic that the average US adult watched 24 hrs/wk of TV. Addicts?
4
No, because watching television is politically ACCEPTABLE, even encouraged.
7
Honestly, I am fairly certain that gaming helped me attain some success in life. It taught me to research, how to practice consistently, how to manage a complex organization of 100 people or more, how to understand percentiles, and more that I don't have room for here.
I used all these skills to get my first diploma (a college diploma), my first degree (honors with distinction), and now in my MA. I use these skills at my current job.
The demonization of gaming has been a consistent drumbeat in media for years. I wish that more people focused on the good that it can do for people.
8
Compulsive gaming is a tension-reducing behavior, not unlike other compulsive behaviors. And like other tension-reducing behaviors, it works really really well, which makes curtailing it quite problematic. The idea that "nature abhors a vacuum" is a useful question here. If gaming is removed, what takes its place?
40
Actually no -- most studies about addiction conclude that the addict's pleasure center is going off in the brain (that's the reward and he wants more of it). Addiction is not about "tension-reducing" at all though an addict might say that to someone trying to explain their addiction.
1
I don't think compulsive gaming is in itself a disorder. I think there are underlying causes to this compulsory behavior. A lot of it has to do with stigma. If I spend 10 hours a day reading, I'm a genius. If I spend 10 hours a day playing World of Warcraft, I must have a mental disorder!
And I can say this as someone who went through it. During my summers in high school, I would play World of Warcraft for 10 hours a day some days. My dad would get up for work and find my slumped in my chair, still playing!
It wasn't good, but it also wasn't THAT bad. My grades did not suffer. I had friends and a social life. But I think young kids who are already struggling in school and may not be as social would have a really difficult time with those boundaries. In that case, it obviously makes sense to look at the underlying causes.
11
As someone whose child reads ten hours a day, I can assure you, I talk to her OFTEN about finding balance in her life. I insist she closes the book at dinner time and drag her away from them to have her join us for family time. Anything that takes over your life is no good.
You said you sometimes played 10 hours a day. That's probably most kids. But if you played 16 hours a day, every day...yeah, that's a big problem.
1
This is such a good perspective. Many teenage (or 20-ish) boys go through phases of compulsive-seeming gaming behavior, where they hardly shower and seem to have no other interests. My husband certainly did. He's now a lawyer and a good father. Like a lot of things teen boys do, it is easy for a middle-aged mom to panic over, but it's not necessarily a life-ruining habit.
People do get obsessed with their hobbies and entertainments. Some of us are not good at moderation. I spent my childhood and youth on real horses, all the time, so much that it felt funny to walk on the ground on my own feet. The only thing that happened is I got good at it. But that was all so long ago. Who knows how life would have been different without my youthful obsession. The trouble with the "road not taken" study is lack of a control group.
3
My college roommate would play games all day, every day and not go to class or do homework. I think he was depressed and he clearly needed help. Sometimes playing video games is just an avoidance mechanism.
62
My roommate did the same and played his way right out of school. He didn’t see anything wrong with his gaming to studying ratio, although I’m sure his parents did.
1
All of this talk of screen addiction makes me wonder: Can one be addicted to reading books? My mom, and now my husband, have complained about me having my nose in a book all the time. How is it similar and how does it differ?
10
I had the same thought. Substitute book-specific language for gaming-specific language, and that would have been me at a certain phase of my life. The damaging aspects of it went away, however, when my life became otherwise more satisfactory.
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Reading can indeed serve as an escape, even a refuge, for those lucky enough to inhabit the rare air of the vanishing literary-literacy zone--as opposed to other text-based activities in which engagement with the text (instructions in a video game, say) is not the purpose or end goal. But reading for pleasure, even for escape, is never passive: we must continually bring our sensory imagination to fulfill the author's written vision. For that reason alone, time spent reading is (almost) never time wasted. (Conflict notice: I taught literature and writing for 25 years.)
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Well, I've read about gamers not getting up to use the bathroom. Instead, they wear diapers. They fail to shower. They lose weight to the point of becoming sick because they won't pause to eat. If reading leads to any of these behaviors, then yes, it's an addiction.
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Let's be honest. Ever since we went all-digital-all-the-time human existence has been one giant mood disorder. The vaunted benefits to personal freedom and productivity just haven't happened. Unless you mean "freedom from having to put your shoes on and go do something". The dream of a Star Trek world has turned into a bit of a nightmare.
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In the 19th century (before tech of course) the most common complaint was "organized sports in amphitheaters, specifically soccer). Considered the downfall of civilization, low-brow, etc in Victorian times.
Now our local states use tax dollars to build sports Colosseums for privately owned sports teams to play in. My point is that tech is not __inherently__ evil.
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