Video Game Addiction

[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.

[NeonSamurai]

To be honest I've never heard of it as a separate entity from addiction before. I didn't come up with much either when I looked (what I did find tied it as a part of addiction which I was already aware), but I didn't bother digging around in the databases.