Video Game Addiction
 

Found this little (4 page) article on Gamespot http://www.gamespot.com/features/6207309/index.html

Personally I'm quite convinced that it exists. I've seen plenty of examples of it first hand, particularly when dealing with MMO's.

MMO's in particular seem to be intentionally designed to be addictive as they are repetitive games with out ending (there is always something more to get) designed to keep players playing and paying. I've also known lots of people who play these games for hours and hours on end (some putting in 12-20 hour days on them or more). They are hard to stop playing too, always one more level, or some more gold, etc before I stop.

But any game has the potential to become an addicition, even our submarine sims.

im not add1ct3d !!!!11oneoneone....i can stop whenevar i is want ! i just dont w4nt t0 !!!

I like vedio games alot... but killing someone over a game or something like that.:hmmm:

Well that's more then just simple addiction, obviously the person has other issues beyond addiction if they murder someone. Several people have even killed themselves by playing games too long and ignoring basic biological needs (as mentioned in the article).

I'm addicted....give me some more of dem pixels:D Sure, some become the game. Yes, even this submarine game has claimed a few and gone a bit to far with the whole thing :shifty:

There was a guy who died at a competition with the games. He as on 20 some hours with the game and dropped dead.

lolz and i just got of WoW after playing for 14hrs. Am i addicted, I suppose i am in a way but its the start of the weekend, its the easter break nothing much to do its raining outside nothing worth watching on Tv, thought i did play some wow for a few hrs that turned out to be alot more. Hey but i got a fishing trip on Sunday so i'll make up for my other life then. :D

I think this poster on that site said it well about killing over a video game.

vicsrealms said:

I have nothing to... so most of the time im probably messing with my games. Especialy since its spring break for the next week.:D

http://www.reuters.com/article/inter...16999720070917
i wonder how a person can cross the red line without knowing of it

That was who I was thinking of in my post a few back. I did not think he was playing that long.

It is a thin red line I guess.

Having dealt with this in my girlfriends family, it is important to recognize the differences between an addiction and a compulsion. The two are different and have different treatments.

According to our mental health care professional, video games do not fall under the auspices of addiction but compulsions.

If a family member is suspected of having this problem, make sure your MHCP recognizes the difference or the treatment will be inappropriate.

tis easy to fix this social disaster.... teach em all to mod then they
will never get to play.:cool:

I'm more addicted to subsim forums than gaming. It is damn hard to snort a keyboard though:o.

I'm not addicted. :nope: I keep it down to 16 hrs a day. :D

I can think of several psychologists and psychiatrists who disagree and assert that it is in fact an addiction, early research so far supports this assertion though as mentioned in the article not a lot of research has been done yet.

Technically its possible to get addicted to almost any activity provided it gives you an endorphin boost (which games tend to do).

Generally speaking compulsion is part of addiction (its what drives the addict to do the thing they are addicted to), there is no such thing as compulsion as a separate entity (there are obsessive compulsive disorders but that is something else entirely), at least it doesn't exist as an entry in the DSM-IV-TR

Yes there is disagreement. Even without the video game issue, there is disagreement within the mental health profession concerning what is the differences between addiction and compulsions.

One more reason it is so hard to treat.