Too Much What is a Sickness?

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You are right, "we don't hear about" those instances. But it's very likely that it happens quite often. Being "addicted" to sports IS socially acceptable. Parents love to see their youngsters spending that extra time, shooting extra baskets, catching balls, swinging a golf club, baseball bat or tennis rackett, with dreams of wealth, fame and the next "Tiger Woods" in the background. If one could get rich and famous playing video games, it might help ease the "addiction" tag.

 

I have to weigh in here as someone who (as many of you know) who lost his family in a divorce. I could be an irresponsible twit and blame it on BG2 -- certainly my ex says that the computer games were a factor in our split up. But the fact is that I CHOSE to escape from dealing with her and with reality by gaming. It was 100% my fault and when I came out of my idiotic stupor I was able to quit like a shot -- no withdrawal symptoms or anything like that. Anyone who tries to fob stuff like this off on the games themselves is an irresponsible idiot. See the thread on "the devil made me do it" for more on this sort of thing.

 

While your experience may be ture, LDK, and I would argue the norm for video-game obsession, there is the genuine mechanic for a psychological addiction here. This type of addiction does not actually need the pressense of a drug in the body, only a physical addiction strictly needs that. Additionally, we have seen from things like adrenaline junkies and sex addicts that chemicals naturally produced by the body can potentially be addicting, thus activities that do not involve the use of external drugs can still involve very powerful drugs in our bodies.

I repeat my belief that, though this is far from the norm, video-game addiction is possible.

 

Again, it's not a physical addiction, but a habit that has gone out of proportion that makes it an addiction. I didn't have withdrawl symptoms when I stopped drinking alcohol or smoking weed...

 

There is little question that NOG is correct, video game addiction is possible. The reward mechanisms which incite pleasure within the mind produce powerful chemicals which can, in certain people, produce an addiction to video games, or gambling, or food or any other activity which initiates a biologically pleasurable reaction. After all, we are hard-wired to seek out that which is pleasurable while avoiding that which is not.

I also understand and completely agree with LKD's candid post. Too many people use video games (or whatever) as a handy excuse when they don't want to admit that the need to escape comes from within. Even those people who I would consider truely addicted to video games are still 100% responsible for their actions and the pain that it brings.

 

I would have to say that by this very statement you are implying that while gaming may have been a factor, it was certainly not the primary factor, and maybe not even one of the major ones. By saying that you were using it as an escape from dealing with her clearly implies that there were others issues at work here. It wasn't so much that you were gaming. If you wanted to escape if it wasn't gaming it would have been something else - yard work, some hobby, or something far more self-desctructive like excessive drinking. Considering some of the other alternatives, gaming doesn't seem all that bad.

 

Does this sould like a Lawyer we know from Miami?

 

No, sounds more like a grab for money (where does the $$$ from that insurance coverage go for "treatment"?) by a group that's more interested in lining their own pockets than actually helping people...

I'm sure the AMA isn't so greedy and avaricious as this out-of-context article snippet makes them appear, but then:

What's my name, *****?!?


And no, this doesn't sound that much like Mr. Thompson, Esq. - the AMA actually proposes to DO something to HELP.

 

Actually, I think this is the APA proposing something here, not the AMA. After all, they are talking about the DSM here.

For those of you not up on the acronyms:
AMA: American Medical Association
APA: American Psychological Association
DSM: Short for DSMMD: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (currently on IV, this revision would be in V)

 

Um, not quite:

Basically a council within the AMA is asking that organization's members to encourage the APA to ammend the DSM with this 'gaming addiction'.

In all honesty, after burning through my initial cynicism, I'm ambivalent about the initiative - I'm sure it DOES happen, and it should be documented, but as an independent disorder separate from other addictions?

From later in the article:

If you cut through the typical alarmist demagoguery at the start of the article, it actually begins to say something informative.

 

My case in point. there are those few who lack judgement and will always add fuel to the fire....

Nevada Couple Blames Neglect on Internet (and video games)

My personal opinion is these people are simply morons who should not be allowed to procreate.

 

Ugh. And that's not going to help D&D any either.