Video Game Addiction

[kiwi_2005]

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.

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

vicsrealms said:

I think gaming addiction is just another way for people to blame something other then themselves for their idiotic behavior. Like blaming the GTA series, because you went out and killed a bunch of pedestrians with your car. Its just another indication that people aren't willing to take responsibility for their lives and their actions.

[Task Force]

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

[jpm1]

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

[AVGWarhawk]

Originally Posted by jpm1

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.

[Platapus]

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.

[Mush Martin]

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

[SteamWake]

Originally Posted by Mush Martin

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

LOL

[NeonSamurai]

Originally Posted by Platapus

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.

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

[Platapus]

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.