Fighting the Scourge of Gaming Addiction

speby writes: "With the growing popularity of LAN parties and other such channels to game (which the article at Wired doesn't mention) is it possible that gaming has become a real addiction? How can a person become addicted? And why?"

Comments

Re:Psychologists are getting bored

[ackthpt]

Addiction is where a hobby becomes compulsive, even obsessive.

Signs of addiction:

Late, frequently, because one can't pull oneself away from the same activity.

Broke or deeply in debt, because all one's capital goes into support of the activity.

Deceptive, distorting truth or outright lying to cover signs others observe and ask questions about.

Denial, all of the above are evident, but failing to accept that it's a problem.

It's not an invention of psychologists. It's real and addiction to games, as much as drugs, alcohol, or any of a thousand other interests or passtimes has ruined lives.