Slashdot Mirror
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?"
Of course you can become addicted... just as you can become addicted to smokes, or scratching your nose, or giggling in an irritating way. What's the news flash here... I just don't get it.
Skivvy Niner? Email me!
HEY! Look left just ONE MORE TIME!
I am testing the network bandwidth
but I have to get back to unreal tournament...
Thanks to file sharing, I purchase more CDs
Thanks to the RIAA, I buy them used...
because you had a hard day at work and you need to blow off some steam. so you load up HL or Q or URT and start killing people..it is very good at releaving stress.
the best one though is GTA3....I realy hope that the PC version is multiplayer.
I am the Alpha and the Omega-3
Before it was called an "addiction" is was called a "hobby".
As a 'pusher' (game developer), I hope they never find a cure. :)
I only have 5 game consoles, and I only upgrade my computer once every 6 months! I mean, it's not like I have more games than books or anything...
I'm in control, I can quit whenever I want! Y.. You don't think I have a problem, right?
...
/Right?/
How about a thread commenting our addiction to slashdot?
People with 'addictive personalities' can become addicted to ANYTHING.
Period. End of story.
"And like that
The last game I played was Metal Gear Solid 2. Nice game, but my wife got addicted to watching it because of the stupid long movies. When I finished it, she asked me to play it on a higher difficulty level so she can watch it again. :-/
I'm a addicted to gambling... and believe me, when you got $100 riding on a Q3 tournament, it's addictive!
---
Programming is like sex... Make one mistake and support it the rest of your life.
The Net alone is a real addiction, Gaming is just one branch of the tree.
--- Metamoderating abusive downgraders since my 300th post.
Maybe it's not the games at all, but rather some substance or situation commonly encountered by gaming.
CRT radiation - maybe this is why nobody wants to play games on LCD screens.
Caffeine - Consumed in great quantities at LAN parties.
It's also possible that the chemicals in a brain without sleep could be addicting.
I'm sure Ive left something out (I've only listed three because I need to get back to Civ3) anyone else with some other thoughts?
Too busy staying alive... ~ R.A.
Not that i would agree with doing thi, but I wonder if there have ever been any cases of suing a game company for creating an addicting game and ruining the gamer's life. I doubt that anyone could win such a case considering they can't even remotely try to pin 'violent tendencies' on 3D shooter manufacturers
A rabbit in the hand is worth 4 in the cage
But the good thing about it is that it is self limiting- you play the game, you reach the top, or you get bored and you stop.
The bad thing about EQ is that it was deliberately engineered to play slowly- it can take person-months to get to the highest levels- most normal games are about a man-week (30+ hours). I found it boring; too slow to level and arbitrary, but I have a friend who was really into it.
I think he's kicked his habit more or less now; but many people have had the habit for a year or so. I doubt that the same MMRPG idea will work with these eversmack heads a second time around nearly so well.
Real drugs don't get people habituated in the same way- people end up using more and more of the drug- with games this isn't so possible, although people may play it very intensively for a while; but eventually it won't be enough and they get bored.
-WolfWithoutAClause
"Gravity is only a theory, not a fact!"endorphuns (sp?). If you do it and you like it, your brain is likely releasing them. After that, you likely miss them and want more.
In the final analysis, almost anything can be called an addiction if it routinely interrupts life's basic components, including school, work and relationships, he said. The important thing is balance.
I doubt very much that gaming is physically addicting. But I don't doubt at all that -- for some people, in some contexts -- it can be psychologically addicting. That's not unique to gaming, of course, but it's certainly worth being aware of.
I didn't know what to do with all the time on my hands. So I picked up a copy of Diablo. I don't remember exactly when she left me, but I know I had at least 3 battle.net characters that could fucking own on hell level!
After I got bored with Diablo, I thought it was over, but things only got worse. My next girlfriend became an ICQ whore. Chatting with all types all over the world until god only knows how early in the morning. I found this great thing called EverQuest and I haven't really seen her, or my shoes, since.
The downhill slide having begun, I was hooked. My CS skills are feared far and wide at LAN parties and my tollerance is so high that I can stare at a CRT for hours without blinking. Even those old ones with the 72 mHz refresh rates.
These days, it's just get up, stumble to the fridge in the morning. The whole time I'm thinking about what the proper Civ3 build order is for a city on my cultural boundry. I lay awake at night thinking about optimal artillary placement in Empire Earth.
If only Betty Ford had a program that suited me ... with phat net access and flat screens.
-- RLJ
This "Slashdot" is far from my native land. When I click, no rocket fires. When I push my arrow keys, I do not sidestep.
Longing to frag, I wait.
I'd say online games are far more dangerous than singleplayer games. If you're playing Quake for instance, you first play for fun, but once you get 'hooked' and get to know more people, you're beginning competition. For some, being the best becomes everything - It's 16 hours a day training some moves or improving your aim in Quake/UT/CS, collecting items and gaining experience in EQ/Diablo 2 and so on.
Once you get admired by others, it's just a bigger incentive to train/collect more intensively to become even more popular. Even if you're not popular, trying to become it may develop into some kind of addiction.
-- The plural of 'anecdote' is not 'data'.
I'd love to offer up my opinion, but I'm too busy playing return to wolf. I plan on taking a break in 10 mins, but I want to get a quick game of tribes 2 in. Maybe sometime tonight after my clan's quake 3 match, although my friend just gave me a copy of Civ 3 and I really wanted to check it out.
Perhaps tomorrow I'll post after my 16-way Halo LAN. The folks that are coming over said they may want to play a little UT, so perhaps after that I'll offer up my opinion on how rediciulous gaming addiction is.
If your gaming causes you to ignore loved ones to the point whe it affects the relationship in a dangerous way,
causes a you to stop doing something that is required (IE go to work, pay bills... etc)....
or it becomes an excuse for not doing what you KNOW you should be doing (i.e. I should be studying for a exam... but I NEED to show off my l337 counter strike skillz..
Problem
Hey, all of us gamers (myself included) go off on a bender every now and then, but when gaming becomes your life rather than just a part of it.. then.. well
get a life.
When I was in college, I "lost" several of my friends for a few weeks because they discovered a MUD (Multi User Dungeon for the uniformed). They spent every waking hour down in the computer labs, only coming up for food when the delivery boy came. They neglected class, sleep, and basic hygeine, all so they could power up these non-existant characters which they would eventually no longer use years down the road. It was a pretty pathetic scene, and a couple of them actually dropped out of school because of it.
There's a difference between playing a game all night once in a while and completely cutting off friends and family. In terms of mental disorders, it becomes a problem when you cause distress to yourself and those around you. I learned early on to walk away from the computer once in a while, and I completely avoid MUDs and MMORPGs because of their potential to addict. It's fun to escape once in a while, but when the escape becomes your life you need help.
Electronic Frontier Foundation for online civil rights information
From the article:
;)
The "EQ Wids" commiserate over tales of woe (one husband insisted on playing the game in the delivery room while his wife gave birth) and offer each other encouragement and company.
In my honest opinion, if you can't stop playing a video game to assist/be with your wife during labor, then chances are you have several other problems that are much deeper-rooted than your addiction to video games!!
Seriously though, as much as I love video games, they don't come before my family, friends, or my health. If you can't pull yourself away from a game for the things that really matter in life, then you do need to get help.
No no no. To quote William Blake, "The path of excess leads to the palace of wisdom".
That's what is interesting about this question. Most games have some sort of "payoff" device that is implicit when you play it. When you get that payoff, whether it is the final goal or some sort of intermediary plateau, you take a breather and appreciate your accomplishment. If a game defers that payoff and continues to promise it, it will become more and more of a time-sink. THis fairly much appeals to the natural structure of human motivation - it's *designed* to generate obsessive behavior.
I've been pretty successful at keeping a Civilization-like-game addiction under control. When I fall off the wagon (Masters of Orion II, Civilization III) I spend a few weeks playing until 1:00 am and obsessing about the game during the day. Then I get embarassed and ashamed at the time I'm wasting on a persuit that leads nowhere. I'm a writer for cripes sake; I've been published in lots of places and I could produce and sell more if I put my mind to it. The time I spend in front of a computer gaming could be productive as well as enjoyable.
Stefan
Of course, there is no problem with letting off steam, as long as nobody is getting hurt. But isn't that the hidden "catch" in most addictions? You aren't hurting anyone else... until the "problem" becomes a problem.
Someone who plays games here and there, to have fun, is not addicted. But someone who thinks all day about playing their favorite game when they get home from work, school, etc. and then spends the majority of their evening playing that game, has a problem.
If nothing else, they are locking themselves out of society, because they choose to stay alone or with a select group of people so often. People who have 16 hour gaming binges are not addicts, but when they have them every weekend, and have 8 hour binges throughout the week, those people are addicted to gaming.
Again, it isn't a big problem for those of us who are not addicted to gaming, but when the number of game-aholics starts increasing, the number of able-minded contributors to society decreases accordingly. Eventually, as with any "popular" addiction (nicotine, alcohol, gambling, sex) once the number of addicts reaches "critical mass" the society as a whole becomes affected.
What's a second? An hour? A day?
It has much more to do with
the Earth's rotation than with cesium.
I found myself doing stuff like this before big exams too, but in my case I think it was a chance to do something other than the *really*big* thing I had to do. I think it's just procrastination.
I've been running Counter-Strike servers for a couple years now. One thing I've always done is provide nightly player statistics for the previous 30 days. I've seen people hit over 14 solid days of gameplay in a given 30-day period!
Assuming that these people sleep every once in a while suggests that they're playing CS nearly every waking minute. Currently, the "worst" player on my biggest server has logged seven days in the last thirty.
One guy's longest single session was 9 hours! Wow.
It's like The Sims, only someone is playing you...
"It's really destroyed a lot of marriages," said Tony, whose wife had an affair with her make-believe husband.
Man, this is a sentence I wouldn't expect to see anywhere but The Onion.
Use Ctrl-C instead of ESC in Vim!
...but I know quite a few people who are addicted to MMORPGs, Everquest and UO in particular.
Addiction is something that, for the most part, exists on a chemical and/or psychological level. From what I understand, the general opinion amongst people who study these things is that a chemical addiction (lets say, nicotine) is easier to break and eventually beat than a psychological addiction (lets say, your average sexual fetish). In my opinion, gaming as a whole is neither a psychological or chemical addiction because, I believe, for the most part gamers can and do go for extended periods of time without gaming. Be it a holiday away from home, final exams, whatever. I consider myself an avid gamer and, quite frankly, there are times when I simply can't be bothered to game.
But, I have friends and family that are players of UO and Everquest and I believe they fit the profile of people who are psychologically addicted to the experience. Their personalities change, sometimes drastically when they do not get their fix. The amount of money they are willing to spend, not just in monthly fees but in expansion packs, strategy guides, virtual items on eBay, etc seems almost silly when your realize the money spent goes towards existence in a virtual society. To top it all off, these players are not only often doing very little in the way of "having fun" in the game, they spend a great deal of time downright unhappy with the whole ordeal. I know no less than five Everquest players who have sworn it off out of anger and frustration, only to sit right back down in front of the PC and play some more. If the EQ message boards are any indication, the number of people in the same mindset numbers in the tens of thousands.
It becomes an addiction when you no longer feel that you want to play, but you need to play.
My sigs always suck.
There's a fine line between an addiction and a hobby. Gaming generally is on the "addiction" side, but if approached correctly, can be found on the other side of the street.
Of course, classic gaming has been stigmatized, and those who practice such often find themselves in the warez camps. But the intention is pure. Finding a hack to get that old commodore game to run on your AIX box with sound is a modest accomplishment. Also, browsing garage sales and auctions in search of archaic hardware now could be your own personal goldmine 50 years from now, when such stuff is harder to find. Surely being an expert in such matters is admirable.
And, many games teach you about life. For me, it's roller-coaster tycoon. Others are brought in by the extremely popular civ set. Making quick decisions and taking calculated risks are skills that are marketable in today's type of work force.
Lastly, there's those people who using gaming to become better at there career. Race-car drivers, Air Force pilots, and the like have more training resources available to them because of the gaming industry. Those of us unlucky enough to not have such careers, can become more well-rounded by using these games to learn.
Of course, you can find just as many negatives as positives. I'll leave that argument to someone else. I've got to finish my work so I can go home and play my playstation 2.
Free unix account: freeshell.org
Perhaps the best test as to whether you're addicted to a game is whether you still enjoy it.
If you honestly enjoy playing a game into the wee hours of the morning, you're doing fine. If you do this 30 days in a row, and you're still having lots of fun (and you still have your job) - you've got yourself a happy life (and what game is this?). I wish I had a hobby like that.
If you stay up because you feel like you have to level up one more time, you're addicted - quit playing.
Let's not stir that bag of worms...
And I'm addicted to gaming. It's not just me. In the game I play (Asheron's Call) most of the people I play with, play at least 8 hours a day. This is above and beyond the 8 hours of work most of us put in. Add it all up, and that means 8 hours to sleep, eat, be social, and drive to and fro. Do I have a problem ... of course. Do I want to change it? No!
Clinton made me a Republican. Bush made me a Libertarian. Trump is making me question reality.
This is all so true. I have found myself regularly addicted to various pursuits since I was a kid. I have found that the games to avoid are the ones with more long-term goals/payoffs. For instance, I'm not really addicted to UT or Q3. On some particular night, I may find it hard to tear myself away from "just one more" deathmatch, but that's it. Eventually I go to bed and I may not play again for 2 months.
But then there are games where that's not possible. We all know the examples (usually RPGs, quest style, or puzzle games in general).
Basically, here's what to avoid (I'm not a shrink, but this works!): Any game or activity with a non-determinate payoff pattern. In other words, avoid random (or semi-random) reward systems. UT doesn't fit in this category because I generally know how long a match will play and I usually have a good idea of who's going to school who. Zelda? Forget it. You never know when you're going to find the very next quest item.
This is basically the same problem as an addiction to gambling. Don't subject yourself to the overall patterns, and you should be ok.
Oh, and to everyone who thinks this isn't a real problem, good for you. It just means you haven't been bit yet. Good luck ignoring the problem though.
Please mod this post only if you think others should/n't read this. I have enough ego^H^H^Hkarma. Thanks!
Gather round, and let me tell you a tale. I take you way back to the fall of 1999. I was a music major at UMass. I loved the school, hated the department. I scrounged up some cash and picked up a copy of starcraft.
Whoops. I became so enthralled I would ditch my friends, play till 4am, say, 'well, I might as well stay up all night and then go to class', stay up till dawn, and finally crash just as I should have head out of the dorm. I had no social life (I used to leave parties to play) and was flunking out, but because, I reasoned, no one liked me (probably because I hardly ever left my room, if then only to meet the delivery guy)so I might as well sit and play. It's a catch-22 if ever I heard one.
This story doesn't have a fairy-tale ending. I lasted 2 semesters and got kicked out, eventually coming enough out of the hole to apply at the New School in New York City and get a job. It's like being an alcoholic. Yes, I still play games, but spend a good portion of the time trying to avoid sitting in front of my computer. Every once in awhile I regress, stay up all night with Deus Ex or what have you, and seriously regret it in the morning.
I don't have an 'addictive personality,' simply because, as someone said, I don't find everything addictive. Cigarettes and computer games. That's it.
All I'm saying is, this is real. Take my word for it.
Triv
So, I'm guessing the submitter is looking for affirmation from fellow gamers that it's not an addiction, etc. My advice, if you find yourself playing games for hours on end, leaving work or school early to play games (this includes playing them while you work), or spending more time playing a game than interacting with people you probably have some sort of addiction.
Find something else to do for a couple hours out of the day. Maybe exercise. Maybe read a book. Hell, take up drinking and go to a bar. Leave the game alone a while just to make sure that there's not something else out there you're missing.
Gaming seems to be a rather unfulfilling addiction. Sure, it doesn't physcially harm you (except for maybe RSI), but there's not the added chemical side-effects of the additiction you get from alcohol, nicotine, or narcotics. If I'm going to sink time and money into an addiction... I had better get a buzz.
While I didn't play on many arcade machines when I was younger, I spent countless hours on my C=64, and then on my XT, playing games. True, my case was mild as I wasn't able to monopolise either the TV or the computer, but I am sure there were others who had problems with severe addiction.
One of my favourite episodes of News Radio is when a "Stargate Defender" arcade machine is brought in to the office and Dave recalls the time when his SAT scores suffered because he stayed up all night playing that game. It's funny because it's true.
ian.
ian
Some people get bored with everything eventually. I went through a stage where I was "addicted" to sex. About 3 times a day with my girlfriend for several months. The novelty wore off and I moved on to other activities. Once you run out of things you want to do in the real world, then all that's left is fantasy worlds. Games provide that. Or they at least provide us with a safe way to perform tasks that we really wouldn't want to do in real life.
The article refers to 1000 EQ Widows. Let me rant for a minute about this. They must be spending too much time online themselves in order to find sites like that. Also, I'm so damn sick of every girl thinking that we need to spend every minute together in order to have a relationship. Hell, the poor guys probably got sick of cuddling for hours on end while watching Titanic.
So why cares about this besides some overprotective soccer mom concerned about how she's going to look in front of her parenting commitees when they find out her kid would rather playing "games" instead of taking part in wholesome activities like football, where the object is to run face first into a member of the opposing team in order to knock him down.
Why must it be that all 6 billion people are expected to be exactly the same when viewed through the eyes of a psychologist. These are people who make their living by judging others by their own standards instead of any scientifically proven formulas. They're the same ones that will contradict themselves by saying that you have a "syndrome" if you aren't the same as other's in your peer group, but turn around and criticize you for doing whatever your friends do. Fuck em.
Wow, I need to go let some steam of in a good game of GTA.
I maintain that root reason is the fact that random rewards systems in general are the most effective among all reward systems. It was certainly on my psychology test in college.
:)
Anyway, competition can provide semi-random rewards (assuming that chance plays some part in the game in question), so in a sense, I agree completely with you.
As far as the competition in the forums, I wouldn't go there. It's called 'trolling' and 'elitist bullshitting'.
Please mod this post only if you think others should/n't read this. I have enough ego^H^H^Hkarma. Thanks!
We've had this out on Slashdot several times before in the last few years: apparently playing video games dumps a load of dopamine into the brain. This effects men in particular. Dopamine is an extremely addictive drug. A quick search on Google for "dopamine video games" returns lots of links to many reputable web sites.
I know from own experiences on and off since I was a teenager how bad this addiction can be. It degenerates to the point where you have to have a "quick fix" of a game so that you can get on with other things. Without playing, you completely lose your ability to concentrate on other things. I remember when Quake2 was popular at the office: as the day wore on, the people involved became less and less productive as they waited for 5pm to roll around and the games could begin. Some people were so bad that they couldn't even come to work without first having a game on heat.net (RIP).
The 3 analogies you mention just don't work, since they all involve people creating something. The people playing Everquest aren't creating anything, they're just playing a game.
And just because it's profitable doesn't mean it isn't an addiction. We've all heard the stories of people losing their wives, friends or their minds through an over-zealous commitment to their work.
...not that the label helps anything. I mean, there's no really clear line between "addiction" and "bad habit."
Multiplayer RPGs are the worst in this way. They give you little rewards every once in a while, for staying on longer, and they tend to be open-ended. In that way, they are designed just like gambling machines: designed to give you random rewards that condition you to want to keep playing. Also, hardcore players, rather than being ridiculed, are respected for the in-game power they develop, so there's social pressure to play more, rather than to play moderately.
I experienced that sort of weirdness when I was developing Beng the Battle Engine, a chat-room RPG battle engine. I thought the sheer repetitiveness of the gameplay (and total lack of graphics, story, or setting) would make it at best a side toy for people to play with when the conversation slowed down, or while waiting for someone they wanted to talk to to show up. Imagine my surprise when a few people basically moved in and spent 8 hours per day or more.
They'd level up past the point I thought anyone would ever get to in just days. I was disturbed. I mean, I was proud they enjoyed it, but I didn't think that much play was healthy. Of course, they didn't continue like that forever. It's just not that good a game, after a hundred hours or so, you've seen everything you could ever see, and then the novelty of being the toughest guy in a game with only a couple dozen players wears off pretty quickly. Some wandered off, and some picked up the source code and started hacking on it, which gave me a lot better feeling about the whole thing.
But it makes me worry about better games. If a cheesy IRC-based micro-MUD can suck away hundreds of hours like that, how far off can the name "EverCrack" be? And there's better stuff coming out all the time!
Now I'm married, with a great job, a great apartment, etc. I got Civ3 and I really love it, but it hasn't killed me, ruined my marriage, etc. My point is that the Substance of Choice is usually not the key problem in addictions. The problem is usually something in the abusers character or circumstances.
"Slashdot is about legos and staplers." -Cmdr. Taco
This reminds me of an old roommate of mine in college. He had this little portable CP/M like contraption with a 2400 baud modem which he would dial into our basic school account (92 or so) and telnet out from there to MUD. Anyhow, this is what happened.
He because SO addicted that he would be awake for 20 hours at a time playing (but actually making it to class) then sleep a few hours (6-8). So the time he was awake actually rotated around the clock, which occasional disruptions caused by actually having to make it to class.
This burned him out in about a year and he went back to where his family lives.
I had a problem for a few months, but was able to shake it off quickly, but not before racking up a new character to level 50 in 36 hours of straight play on "Silly Mud" (which was the last time I really played on a MUD)
Burn Hollywood Burn
July 1, 2024
Republican Presidential candidate Jenna Bush finally responded to the controversy surrounding her supposed gaming habit in the early 2000's. Unnamed sources, all claiming to be former college friends, have stated that Ms. Bush was an all-night gamer, playing Quake III, Tribes, and other games popular among the youth at the time. Since then, gaming has become strictly prohibited and all users, manufacturers, and distributors of these games have faced enormous fines and prison sentences.
While not explicitly confessing to game use during her college years, Bush said "when I was young and irresponsible, I was young and irresponsible".
Miguel Jesus deNaranja, currently serving a 75-year sentence for game distribution at Microsoft Maximum Security Detention Center near Austin, expressed outrage towards this statement by the President--his former classmate and supposed gaming partner. "I can't believe she is being such a hypocrite about this. She used to frag my brown ass all night long back in the day." Bush denies deNaranja's statements and claims to have never met him.
--"What is the sound of one belly slapping?"
Riiiiggghht!
And let's help out those poor souls in the stadiums and sports bars obviously addicted to football. Nor should we forget those addicted to model railroading. Oh, and TV, too! And reading certain websites. Yes sir, anything you do on a regular basis is an addiction and you should seek help.
Now I just have find a way to break this addiction to my job, and I'll be set!
Chelloveck
I give up on debugging. From now on, SIGSEGV is a feature.
First it was money, then it was power, then it was sex, then it was alcohol, then drugs, then books, then sports, then MST3k, now games. None of these things are necessarily bad in and of themselves, it's just that people are prone to addiction. My parents are both recovering alcoholics, so genetically, i've got loaded dice. I've noticed many addictive tendancies in myself, and tried EXTREMELY hard to moderate them. I'm doing pretty well. It's the people who don't see their own tendancies that are in danger, with ANY of the above. They start, and can't stop, and feel like the rest of the world is against them when really it's that they've gone in too deep to have any real perspective. Gaming is no different, and no worse. There is no reason games can't be used, even heavily, without any major problems. Like with booze, a major binge every now and again within a pattern of responsible use is fine as long as it doesn't screw up your life or the life of anyone you care about. Offtopic. . .MADD==Mothers Agains Dungeons and Dragons. . .
You are not the customer.
The truth is, the world is pretty fucked up. And we get into our little inward worlds to try and ignore that. Some of us are workaholics, others watch TV incessantly, etc. Every different thing has it's angle. Video games are addictive especially to the technophile crowd because face it, we geeks like flashy stuff (no rhyme intended). We want feedback, interactivity (another "duh"), eye-candy, excitement, etc. But when it comes down to it, these are just desires that get filled the same way as anyone else fulfills them: abuse. I would argue that 70% of Americans are television addicts.
The point I'm getting at here is that we are a nation of hedonists because we don't need to worry about the consequences of our consumerism, apathy, etc. (bear with me as I get a bit political) Not to induce a guilt trip here, but I don't think anyone in Somalia has a problem with buying too much crap, watching too much TV, or spending too much time jerking their thumbs in front of CRT's. But they have all their own problems to worry about: AIDS, drug warlords, starvation, etc. What do you do in a situation devoid of all pleasure? It probably would involve heavy, heavy drugs. I, for one, would not be able to sit through 6 hours of Metal Gear Solid while two gangs have a firefight next door.
My point is, people find outlets for their frustrated desires everywhere. Very seldomly do they have the courage to actually seek out the root causes of those desires. Here in the States, I think most of people's anxieties are caused by:
- working too much and taking it too seriously (ie. "miserable-ism" as termed by the Situationists)
- depending on others to make decisions for them ("pathological fascism" as called by Deleuze & Guattari)
- rampant commercialism driving down our self-esteem (and driving up demand)
To relieve this we watch: movies/shows about cops, criminals, rich people, sexy people, futuristic people, fantastic people, etc. (I'm talking mainstream, here, not "Clerks"-style stuff). All these movies/shows whatever romanticize these roles that only a few of us get to ever do. Since we're NOT those people, we feel more like a piece of shit, thus leaving us vulnerable to subconsicious suggestions that Diet Coke will instantly bestow us the sex appeal of Victoria Secret models.
So of course we want to feel like heroes, or drive ultrafast cars, or be the super-killer-soldier with the most frags: video games fulfill those vicarious pleasures because the media industry has successfully planted all those desires in us already!
So naturally, the best way to break a video game addiction is to withdraw from Hollywood/Viacom/AOLTimeWarner/Disney in every conceivable form. Or at least develop enough of a cynical veneer to be able to look someone in the eye and say, "The Matrix was good...for a Hollywood film."
[pink beam of light]
Slot machine addiction: put money, time in, get reward (money, but you can proove that you'll never win was much as you spend .. casinos wouldn't exist if you could)
... social addictions ARE physical addictions .. you simply develop a dependance on the way those chemicals in question fire off in your brain while you are indulging in your addiction. Plain and simple.
Video game addiction: put time, (maybe money) in, get reward (cool graphics, bragging, whatever)
You can be addicted to ANYTHING
"Old man yells at systemd"
Unless when you stopped playing the game(s), you could think of nothing else for days on end, but the game, and you lost sleep, paced endlessly, and basically had your entire life ruined for weeks, not able to perform normal functions, in a pain that lasted to some degree at least 6 months or more, if not for ever, then you weren't addicted.
Just because you could stop doesn't mean others can.
Slay a dragon... over lunch!
Ever wondered about the difference between the successful guys and your rather pathetic self. Ever wished you could get off your butt and accomplish the things you want to do? I certainly have, and it has occurred to me many times that the difference is willpower.
I completed a masters degree on my own, mostly at home unsupervised. Now I'm trying to do some work on open source projects but I mainly surf the internet and play Empire Earth when I'm on the computer. I don't really have any less motivation - just less willpower.
I do need to do those things - you have to relax now and again. The difference is, when I come home from work I start playing and don't stop until I have to go to bed. When I have the willpower, I can just say right, now I'm going to stop and do some real work.
The trouble is, I don't know what makes the difference - some days I can do it, some I'm a slob. Two things come to mind. Sometimes I'll stop gaming to lie down and relax, meditate a bit, that definately helps. The other thing that helps is Linux. No I'm not talk about how good it is - the simple fact is, once I boot into Linux I can't play those fancy games. And of course, once I get stuck into something useful it's just as "addictive" as the gaming - ever tried to stop coding when you've only got one bug to go?
you're "in a harry" to get back to unreal tournament.
I'm not addicted... I can quit Diablo2 anytime I want. I just don't want to.
Personally, I see that as simply tradition fighting against new forms of enjoyment. I mean, really... in that sentence, what you basically said was that you almost cancelled a vacation because you wanted to relax and have fun (playing a game). People act like being addicted to games, which I suppose is possible, is like being addicted to gambling, smoking, or alchohol. A gaming addiction is an addiction to a non-harmful form of fun. It's like being "addicted" to football by watching it religiously every week, or being "addicted" to playing baseball with your high school team.
You have to hand it to modern psychologists/psychiatrists and our victim-based society: we sure are convinced that everything else is the problem these days. Not addicted to booze yet? You will be. Never spent your life savings gambling? You will soon. These evils are SO powerful and SO irresistable, that no matter how smart, how responsible, how lucky you are, in the end, they will get you too.
Or is it the easy transfer of blame factor that works so often in 'addictions'?
(For the record, this is coming from a 10-year pack-a-day smoker who just quit 5 months ago. I just stopped one day, because I decided that I didn't want to smoke anymore. And in 5 months I reallY haven't wanted to since.)
Endless arguments over trivial contradictions in books written by ignorant savages to explain thunder in the dark.
It frustrates me greatly that people try to claim victim status when they are victimized only by their choices.
According to the listed standard, I think I could be described as sleep addicted, food addicted, air addicted, and for that matter addicted to converstations with my wife and playing with my kids!
I enjoy computer games. I know what it's like to drag my butt in to the office and lack productvity all day because I was up until the wee hours of the morning playing video games.
My point is this. We make many choices which reflect a person's values and priorities. When I watch the movie or stay up late playing RTCW, I pay the consequences. As a result, I choose not to do that very often! When I choose to do that, I blame myself, not some psychological condition.
Choosing to value the wrong things is simply a lack of discipline. Lack of discipline is a character problem, not an addiction over which the person has no control.
The problem is a lack of will, and the consequences are simply the results of bad choices.
Take control of your life by taking responsibility for your choices, values and character! Choose to put down the controller, or even to get rid of the console.
Get involved with people. It's harder, and hurts more, but is far more rewarding than having the perfect score in Pitfall!
But Herr Heisenberg, how does the electron know when I'm looking?
Yes, gaming addiction is real. So is information addiction. It's pathetic the amount of time I spent sucking down worthless piles of information on the net.
/., k5, Drudge, Shack, .5e, x-e, penny arcade, SA, POTD, Filthy, The Atlantic, TNR, HowStuffWorks, Ars, Onion, Blogdex, CNN, check e-mail, rinse, repeat until dead.
Fark,
The 2 hour morning web surf through my first two classes and before the shower is probably the most depressing after its over.
The only thing worse than having a day go by in front of the computer is having that day go by with the end result being that you got farther in a game or read a bunch of meaningless drivel by some web admin or forum-goers. See, I'm doing it right now!
The only way I feel like I'm using the computer effectively is when I'm doing homework or coding a personal project. Everything else is worthless, except maybe a regular check of the daily news (since I have no TV.)
I spend days, hell, weeks sometimes, away from the web and realize how stupid it is and what a waste of time it is. Too bad I never learn.
Don't even ask about what happened when Quake 3 fit itself into this routine two years ago. I finally got over that one this semester when my cable provider decided to suck. I should be thankful.
--
Usually, game addiction is most prevelent in people who have no previously existing social context in an area other than thru gaming.
... burning down the house!
One of the reasons I first became a game developer, in the 80s, was that I had become addicted to gaming (RPGs mostly).
So we see it pop up more in people who gain socialization thru LAN parties, and especially when they go to a new High School or College where they have few friends who are not in the gaming community.
However, it's not an addiction that's easy to kick. Usually it can be solved by other more powerful drives (getting into a long-term relationship is one of the best), but in practice you may need to move away and not socialize with other game addicts and take up other interests if you wish to break the cycle.
My favorite view of it is what happens in The Sims at a LAN party
-
--- Will in Seattle - What are you doing to fight the War?
Thankfully I'm not as bad as some people in the article, but I get rather obsessive about games. It was worse a couple of years ago.
:) It really pulled me back into the real world. I still played games casually though.
My drug of choice was quake2. I dreamed about it when I was sleeping. I watched and analyzed demos of the masters playing.
And when I wasn't playing, I was thinking about it. Whenever I had to go outside, for instance, I would look at my immediate surroundings and try to find the quickest/best route through based on quake2 physics and its anomolies. (double jump, bunny hop, etc) It was affecting my life.
But then, something marvelous happened that cured me of quake2. I got a girlfriend.
But my personality makes it easy for me to fall into this sort of thing. For instance about a week ago, I discovered my roommate had brought gotten a copy of Super Mario 64 from somewhere. I just finished getting all 120 stars. For those that aren't familiar with the game, this is a major undertaking in such a short time. And as a result my life over the past week has gotten shittier. I have no clean clothes, there's garbage all over, etc.
After reading this article and the responses, I have decided that I can't play games casually. Any time I pick up a game, I'm in danger of losing control. I've decided that it's in my best interests to stay away from games for the forseeable future.
I used to bulls-eye womp-rats in my pants
Sorry, I didn't mention that because I figured it was out of the question for most /.'rs
But because it's "normal" doesn't mean it's good. Someone else posted that somebody who spends all their time working as a lawyer would be praised as a "hard worker". Well, (disregarding the obvious jokes about the value of lawyering) anything that takes you over and locks you into a specific set of behaviours is bad. The great thing about being alive and human is the potential for doing new things. Doing the same exact thing for hours, days, months, years... that doesn't just make you an addict, it makes you uninteresting.
Whether you're an alcoholic, a crackhead, an obsessive EQ'er, or Bill Gates, it just isn't healthy to devote every waking moment to something that diminishes your capacity to be an interesting human. Obviously, whatever behaviours these types of people engage in give them some short-lived boost to their self-esteem, but at the expense of their lovability.
Do you want to be loved? Stop being so damn boring then, and take a fscking walk. Read a book. Hell, write a book... just do something different! Try to find a little balance in your life.
That goes for you, too, Gates.
I've got a bad attitude and karma to burn. Go ahead. Mod me down.
I think the term addiction is being misused in this case. Addiction used to be a meaningful medical term. Some substances are addictive because they build a physiological tolerance, requiring greater use for the same effect, and which, if use is stopped, turns around into physiological withdrawal symptoms. What you're calling an addictive personality is really an obsessive-compulsive personality. The obsession is the inability to get away from the whatever mentally, the compulsion is to engage in the behavior the obsession leads to. It's significant because addiction means bad and it is used to vilify all sorts of things that are really value neutral. Plenty of OCD types clean obsessively but you don't see anyone talking about "Cleaning Addiction" or suggesting that cleaning is intrinsically bad. No functional difference between that behavior and playing Everquest all night.
It Is the Nature of Information to Transgress Artificial Boundaries
I'd imagine that the EQ designers got a raise when it was discovered that it was highly addictive.
I suspect that this would also hold true for many other 'products' eg. Magic:TG, Pokemon etc.
It is just the mind-set of out consumer society. Most businesses exist to make money. What's the easiest way to make money?, create a 'drug' and get people addicted to it.
'Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson...'
Yeah, since you put it that way, all any addiction is the lack of the will and sheer determination. Even alcohol, drugs, etc.
From personal experience (not as an addict to anything, but just using games as an escape) is that for some people the game becomes a proxy for life. This actually makes it worse in some ways than a drug addiction which 'merely' alters your brain chemistry. The game not only alters your brain chemistry via the reward mechanism, it creates a feedback loop because the more you play, the better you get at triggering the reward mechanism. IE, you get better at the game in question.
It's easy for you to say it, but can you do something similar? It's not such an extreme analogy for me to propose that the 'Game of Life' in the US is hollow and empty with a materialistic reward and positive feedback system analagous to a game. In such a situation could you just throw it all away and throw yourself into a monastary with little positive feedback, little material gain, and very little encouragement?
It's easy for me to see how someone stuck in a game might see the real world as emptier and less satisfying because there is less order, less feedback, less reward, less gain than the online world where they have already mastered or can imagine mastering the rules and becoming proficient. You are asking them to become happy; can you be happy if I asked you to throw away your life and live as a monk or hermit?
GPL Deconstructed
I was literally stopped in the middle of the street jaywalking by another lawyer who wanted to tell me I was his hero for finding a way out. They want out; they just can't face the pay cut. Grad school was a 90% cut from what I would have made the next year--and worth every penny. (I also had to give up the 35 hour work week . .
I razzed another lawyer, a litigator, about eating the fish rather than the red meat at our 20 year reunion. He can't *digest* it, it makes him ill due to his stress. So why does he continue? He can't give up the money and lifestyle.
A great many lawyers are caught in a living hell. They give up everything to stay in--family, health, sanity (yes, I know at least one who just plain cracked). And for what?
Yes, I am still a lawyer, and have kept my licenses. I'll take antitrust issues and other matters which really want an economist with a law license. But I'll dig ditches before I return to general practice.
hawk, esq.
You can find some more relevant articles from the BBC, academia, more academia, the parent report, evilminion.com, and self psychology bboard. Also see the journal of electronic gamblin issues.
I never said that you aren't still personally responsible for your behaviour. Even if one can successfully argue that "once Johnny starts playing CivII he won't be able to stop until he's passed out", you've still got to acknowledge that Johnny can make sure he doesn't start playing in the first place.
Secondly, I never said that *you* (and by definition, everyone) will become addicted someday. My statement meant something more like this: "Good luck hiding from the problem because it's likely that you, or someone you know, will be affected adversely by this in some way". I probably wasn't clear enough on that point.
You know - maybe we *are* all automatons who ultimately aren't responsible for our actions. From a scientific point of view, that may never be disproven (assuming you can somehow quantify responsibility in a scenario). But a pragmatic viewpoint is that we can not afford to think like that. Ultimately, your own point of view will guide your to an opinion on this much more than external evidence. The hard core atheist science types will see what they want, the religious types will see what they want, and I'll see it my own way. But that's a rant for another day...
Please mod this post only if you think others should/n't read this. I have enough ego^H^H^Hkarma. Thanks!
> finished it, she asked me to play it on a higher difficulty level so
> she can watch it again.
She's not alone. When I was in student apartments, my daugter (about 6 at the time, I suppose) kept asking me to play the "kitty game"--nethack. She thought being followed around by the cat was really cool (ok, so she's right
hawk
(steps up to microphone) Um, hi. My name is James, and I'm a gaming addict.
True story: On a Saturday afternoon soon after getting Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri, I started a new game. My friend was going to call me to go out to dinner, so I figured I would have just a few hours to play.
Gradually, the light from the window faded, but I barely noticed. My friend never called, and there were no interruptions, so I kept playing.
After a while, I stopped for a moment, and realized that: a) I had to go to the bathroom really bad, b) I had a splitting headache, and c) I was ravenously hungry. I look at the clock, and it's 4:30am!
That's right folks, 14 hours straight, and I didn't realize it until afterwards. But I can't blame anyone besides myself.
I didn't even win that game, I ran out of time fighting Yang and Sister Miriam, trading planet busters.
Local Woman addicted to Work!!
"She gets up every weekday and goes to work!" explains neighbor June (last name withheld). "I hear she even bought her car, and choose an apartment close to the office to facilitate her addiction."
It has come to this. Except days where her office is not open and the occasional vacation, Mary spends eight hours a day, 40 hours a week, sometimes more, at her place of business.
"I never thought I had a problem. Really, if they didn't pay me, I don't think I'd be here this long."
Mary has even been known to stay after work to finish "important" things, skip meals, and form relationships with her coworkers. Her marriage was in risk for a while when long time team member John began to show an interest.
Mary explains, "It was all a joke! We'd pretend to flirt. I was never serious! John KNOWS that." But her husband, Mark, has different feelings.
"Work just takes all her time, she comes home exhausted. That John fellow was looking at her funny at the office party she dragged me to, " states Mark. "I just hope we can work this out."
.....
In Soviet Russia, asses suck this joke.
get a life. get a {girl,boy}friend. see the sunshine.
I seem to recall something about this about 20 years ago when Pacman started getting popular. I know some of you probably don't know what Pacman is, but it was this computer game that got popular and lot of people spent a lot of money and time playing it in the arcade and there was concern that this addiction could be serious. It's been about 19 years since I've heard about anyone being a Pacman addict.
About 20 years ago, there were all these people playing this game called Dungeons and Dragons. There was a lot of concern that they were addicts and spent too much time playing it. It's been about 19 years since I've heard about anyone being a Dungeons and Dragons addict.
Translation: This too will pass. People get in to cool games. I used to love Asteroids. I used to love Dungeons and Dragons. I used to play this game called RoboSport 'til all hours of the morning with my cousin when I was an undergrad and he was in law school. He now has his own practice and I've been quite successful in my profession.
I don't buy into this being a particularly bad thing. Each game that causes this kind of thing is a fad, and fads pass. Maybe another will come later, but it comes and goes. If it becomes a problem for some people, trust me, there'd be something else there for them that would be a "problem" if the games weren't there. It's the people with the problems, not the games.
For instance, I once played an online game (Utopia) and was pretty good (well, really good, false modesty is stupid). However, to be *the best* you had to spend an inordinate amount of time on it- it was time based, so the best thing to do was to log in frequently. (It also helped to be able to spend a long time every few days, but that's beside the point.) Because I was (am) a HS student, this was pretty tough. So I'd get up before school, keep the game open all evening.. you know the drill. Anyway, what finally broke my "addiction" was going on vacation. No access to the game for a couple of weeks. (BTW, that is the best way to break an addiction, just don't do it, cold turkey.) I just decided not to play after that. Anyway, when EQ came out I WANTED to buy, looked cool, type of game I'd enjoy, but after hearing a couple stories of addiction (real, honest to go medical addiction) I figured I better not fuck around with it. Long winded way of saying know yourself... if you have a chance (think you do) of getting addicted don't buy the fucking game.
No sig for you.
The gambler of course, is addicted to gambling, even though he loses everytime (and is eventually shot)
The nun is addicted to her religion.
And the radio is the tool of addiction by a bedridden war veteran.
Now its not to say that all addictions are bad, as one could argue that breathing air is a necessary one. However, it becomes 'bad' when it negatively affects you and those around you.
Can gaming be as bad as crack? Sure, if you sacrifice your sleep, your friends, your family and perhaps your own sanity to it. Does it sound hard to believe? About as hard to believe as people willingly ingesting crack cocaine (i've yet to meet a crack addict who truly enjoyed their habit, and yes, i've known several).
-
Its just the games that have changed. Everquest is no more addictive than Quake, which is no more addictive than Civilization, which is no more addictive than Nethack, which is nore more addictive than Zork, which is no more addictive than TinyMud, which is no more addictive than pac man, which is no more addictive than space invaders, which is no more addictive than combat, which is no more addictive than pong. Each had their addicts that had the journals, the "Wired"s of their day, all claiming we'd all end up "game-heads" by the end of the century...
well, the century is over, the games are still around, and so is society. Unfortunately, so is Wired.
And its not so much a psychological "mystery" as so many have tried to paint it as. If it was, then Psychology Today would still be arguing about it like they did over the Pac Man fascination.
Yes, a gamer can be in a "zone" where nothing but the game matters during that time, but that "zone" as an ASC is the same kind of zone that anybody gets when concentration on a single topic is at a high (literally and figuratively). Its the same zone that hackers get (see "Peopleware"), its the same zone a musician gets when the music takes over his body and spirit, its the same zone an author gets. Sometimes the zone is productive, sometimes its an escape. But the zone is the same.
Basically its like this. Reality sucks. Its hard. Its painful. Its a fucking bitch at times. For geek guys, its full of bitches. Games are fun. Games have rules that don't change. Games have NPCs whose behaviour can be relied on.
So play games 'cause its easier than reality. People suck 'cause they and their expectations are always different from one day to the next. Games don't change. 'til you download a new update. when YOU want to, not when "they" do it.
And you keep playing games because games stay fun and reality never improves. (now mind you, the fact that you never do anything to change your reality because your always playing games doesn't help, of course, but when you're playing games, you can't see that).
And they knew this 25 years ago when Pong hit the streets. Hell, you think Thompson and Ritchie would have gone to so much fucking trouble making an O/S for an empty computer to play Space War was done for the "intellectual excercise of it"? Hell no. They were addicts who needed a fix. They just managed to get better and keep up with reality as well, as most of us do. Usually its because you finally get bored with games, and you keep thinking "the new games suck...they aren't nearly as good as the games I used to play".
Irrellevant Postscript: Back in "the day", I was a moria addict...'til i got a D in English 102. I saved the graveyard scene (you could do that, at least on vax-moria), and modified it so that it said "Rest In Peace : My English Grade" in the tombstone.
"But remember, most lynch mobs aren't this nice." (H.Simpson)
-- Joe
Shit, you simply can't say to some woman: "So, what shows/video games do you like?" Maybe I'm wrong, though. Maybe those are the kinds of people that you're attracted to, but that's fine with me! My point is: what shape society takes is your responsibility. Ted Turner and Michael Eisener don't control it, yet.
[pink beam of light]
The psychology that motivates gamers has been thoroughly studied, as basically the more addicitive a game is, the more successful it is. Gamasutra has an a related article on Behavioral Game Design which is a high level overview of how to think in order to effectively lure in your audience.
I've wasted a good half a year on an old school text based MUD, and as such stay completely away from EverCrack et al. as I just can't afford to devote my time to virtual characters.
Substance Dependence (Link)
A maladaptive pattern of substance use, leading to clinically significant impairment or distress, as manifested by three (or more) of the following, occurring at any time in the same 12-month period:
(1) tolerance, as defined by either of the following:
(a) a need for markedly increased amounts of the substance to achieve Intoxication or desired effect (b) markedly diminished effect with continued use of the same amount of the substance
(2) Withdrawal, as manifested by either of the following:
(a) the characteristic withdrawal syndrome for the substance (refer to Criteria A and B of the criteria sets for Withdrawal from the specific substances)
(b) the same (or a closely related) substance is taken to relieve or avoid withdrawal symptoms
(3) the substance is often taken in larger amounts or over a longer period than was intended
(4) there is a persistent desire or unsuccessful efforts to cut down or control substance use
(5) a great deal of time is spent in activities necessary to obtain the substance (e.g., visiting multiple doctors or driving long distances), use the substance (e.g., chain-smoking), or recover from its effects
(6) important social, occupational, or recreational activities are given up or reduced because of substance use
(7) the substance use is continued despite knowledge of having a persistent or recurrent physical or psychological problem that is likely to have been caused or exacerbated by the substance (e.g., current cocaine use despite recognition of cocaine-induced depression, or continued drinking despite recognition that an ulcer was made worse by alcohol consumption)
I'm sure you can all imagine situations where any or all of the above criteria would fit.
I don't know that I'd call myself an addict of online computer games, but certainly a heavy user. If anything, I'm addicted to online topical discussion forums (fora, for the overeducated) like Slashdot. :-) Still, in the last ten years I've spent more than a few hours at online roleplaying games.
:-) Okay, that one's pretty cheezy. They also can lead players to learn how to min-max and hack the client software. ;-)
:-)
We all know of the negative consequences of online games, but I haven't seen much discussion of the positive ones.
First, they motivate players to become better typists.
Second, roleplaying helps players to exercise their imagination -- and learn to express it (especially games that allow players to build and decorate their environment). It also can teach players to reflect upon their own personality.
Third, online RPGs can be very social. In the games I play, I spend as much or more time chatting and cracking jokes with my friends as I do "playing the game". Nearly all of my "real life" friends are people I met first in online games -- and we get together pretty often. I have met over 60 of my 'net gaming friends more than three times.
Fourth, online games can be broadening. I have gaming friends on five continents, and learn new things all the time about how people live elsewhere. Plus, somebody I know is bound to be online pretty much around the clock.
Finally, for all that these games can be destructive to real-life marriages, they can also help build them. I know of a (very small) number of real-life marriages that arose out of gaming relationships.
Online games are what we make of them... in short, society in miniature. For good or for ill.
Blaming the game is, to an extent, just as much a mistake as an alcoholic blaming their problems on the alcohol. Ultimately it was a collection of bad decisions that led the person down their path. Certainly in the case of drugs and alcohol there is a biological and psychological element.
There is a certain psychological element to games like EverQuest as well. The simple, repetitive behaviors of trade skills and combat can be habit forming. Nonetheless, such patterns are much less controlling than a biological addiction instigated by chemicals.
I recently canceled by own accounts under the observation that my time spent playing them is time better spent programming and studying. After all, I feel that I built myself and my career off of such late night sessions...and without them I wasn't really moving forward.
Granted, in my career I play a lot of games. But I could play a couple hundred other games in the same time I could get a few levels playing EverQuest. I could also read, program, paint minis, or otherwise diversify my time.
I suppose I see these games as relatively simple to break out of when compared to biological addiction. I think that people who play them to the exclusion of their families, school and other priorities suffer from a combination of lack of self-awareness as well as a need for escapism. School is hard. Families are hard. And playing a game lacks the same kind of responsibility.
I have absolutely no interest in trying to interdict on other people's gaming behavior or direct their interests. If someone else wants to burn their life away focusing on a single interest so be it. My own self-realization is, however, that my time is best spent elsewhere. That I enrich myself as a person by diversifying my interests and I enrich myself as a programmer by spending my weekends working on a project instead of camping Guk.
Even as a gamer, I feel that my time is better spent playing a diverse number of games on different platforms than playing one game to the exclusion of all others. After all, the argument that I'm gaining a unique social perspective or learning a particular kind of design technique sort of falls flat after a month or two of play.
Brandon Reinhart
3D Realms Entertainment
Programmer, Duke Nukem Forever
Brandon Reinhart
Addiction is something that is compelling and
you couldn't do without. I know a lot of people
who play games, but never meet anyone, who wouldn't switch off the computer, for anything genuinely exciting or important. Games just fills in tedious space, which other might fill with
sport, or television.
If spooses are having problems with their other
halfs prefering to play games than spend time
with them, then it has to be said that they just
aren't much fun to be around anymore.
thank you for clarifying it, perhaps for the lesser of mind.
-
...anything can be addictive. Mineral water, sports, pot, heroin and hookers all alike. (This is actually the first time i use the words pot and heroin in the same sentence).
And I think it is most weird that this news item actually appeared below the item about the "World Gaming Tournaments"...
+++ath0
You are missing the entire point! We are not talking about anything precise, this is the hysterical, media propagated idea of addiction that has nothing to do with anything relating to medicine or science.
It's the "Are your kids addicted to Counter Strike?? It's more likely than you think! Find out at 11." type of addiction.
I am sure you can plainly see that this way is a lot more fun than your dry and unimaginative "diagnosed dependence" - who is going to be screaming "Please God, won't somebody think of the children??" with your way of looking at things?
sic transit gloria mundi
The Game
It's the only one I ever watched.
It seems to me that we strive to create things that, if sucessful, become addictive. I think it's the nature of humans, to seek pleasure. That we can't control it is one of our great, tragic, and sometimes fatal weaknesses.
SDMI: Finally! Music that won't rip or burn! Brought to you by the fine folks at RIAA.
The book you speak of is most likely the DMS-IV. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.
As for OCD and addictive personalities? Well, first the evidence in the literature for an "addictive personality" is very slim. There is no listing for it in the DSM-IV. It's a pop psychology term that early researchers looked in vain for. There is some research that says early childhood hyperactivity may be linked to alcoholism (Hechtman et al., 1984) Same with antisocial personality disorder (Jones, 1968). But not an "addictive personality" type. You're sure to find lots about "addictive personalities" in the self help section though.. lucrative biz that is. Do a search for it and most of the sites you're likely to find are not research sites, but sites selling self help books.
Like most issues in life, it's a mix between many things. In this case environmental to a large degree and genetic to a smaller degree.
Josh
geek w/ a cog. sci. degree. But that shouldn't stop you from doing the research yourself.
ye old references:
Hechtman L, Weiss G, Perlman T (1984), Young adult outcome of hyperactive children who received long-term stimulant treatment. J Am Acad Child Psychiatry 23:26 1-269
Jones, M.C. (1968). Personality correlates and antecedents of drinking patterns in adult males. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology,32 2-12.
Addiction doesn't always have to stem from something physical - I could become addicted to something as simple as wiping my ass. People get addicted to work, drugs (the kind with no physical addiction), and then of course I'm addicted to air, I don't know about the rest of you.
Restating the obvious since nineteen aught five.
karma cap rant: what you're saying is 100% correct, except for the fact that 47 karma is exactly as valuable as 50 karma. once you can post at +1, what is the point?
The karma cap is a good idea, if only to prevent people from playing slashdot like a video game, trying to "max their score" by any available means.
My roomate and I have been roommates for 4 months, but friends for 15 years. We are both IT professionals, but have very different lifestyles. We are in our mid twenties and have been working for several years.
We used to have similar interests when we were 11 and 12 (ie video games), but his never changed...mine did. I like people, sports, nature...all the standard "normal" things people enjoy in life. He is still like a 12 year old...
He on the other hand divides all waking time after work AND on weekends/holidays split approximately 70:30 between computer gaming and TV. When I'm not around, the apartment is like a dungeon. Lights off, windows and curtains closed. The only light is the endless flickering of the CRT or TV. It is like a high-tech purgatory. We're talking 8 hours per day weekdays, 16 on weekends...
Garbarge piles up, dishes pile up, instant food wrappers (anything that can go in the oven) pile up, personal hygine and health are given no thought at all..
Unless I cleaned up we wouldn't be able to get into the house. It stinks because he he is too lazy?/busy gaming? to do laundry or clean up his old food.
I on the other hand, have an active social life. I date regularily and play on a number of sports teams. I don't try to judge my friends lives, but its hard not to when you live with someone this different.
This guy hasn't touched a woman in 6 years, has gained 150 pounds and has lost all but vestiges of the social skills he once had. Thus, some serious resentment of my friends and girlfriends has built up...of course he feels like crap when I bring home 2 different woman a month and all he can do is lock himself into his room and pretend that others don't get laid and laugh and enjoy human contact, love and affection...
Because he is my friend, it tears me up to see the guy waste his time...YES waste his limited time on this planet. He has been power gaming for 15 years and counting..
Games might be FUN, but he has no friends, terrible health, and a grim, sarcastic outlook on societs. It is twisted; he'll sit there and curse at Everquest for hours on end, more stressed out than work could ever make him, but will continue to play.
I have tried to invite him out and to get him involved in anything and everything else, but everything seems very threatening...
His idea of socialization is inviting someone over to watch HIM play games!
I have buddies over to watch Hockey (which he likes), but he would rather play Return to Castle Wolfenstein because he's "..almost done this level..."..."this level" of course lasts another 4-5 hours. LOL
He is a very hard person to talk to, and has difficulty dealing with problems head-on...he is very much in denial about the twisted nature of his lifestyle...I have brought it up once and he got super angry and defensive "I thought you were my friend, don't call me a loser and judge me ever again!"
I DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO. I want to intervene in some way, to help improve his quality of life, (as well as reduce the impact on mine...living in this environment is DEPRESSING! I can't stand to be at home).
Just like any other activity, hobby, etc., gaming can be addictive, if you have the right personality for it. It's not like a drug, which anyone can get physiologically addicted to, but if you are they type of person who enjoys spending time on your computer, it's certainly possible to become addicted to a game.
;-D ), so my obsessive tendancies don't hurt others' feelings. I can happily while away the hours playing my game of the month without feeling guilty for avoiding anyone. There ARE advantages to being a loner, ya know... ;)
;)
Take me, for instance...I'm obsessive-compulsive. When I "get into" a new game, it ain't pretty...I will spend all my free time, and a lot of time that really isn't free, playing it. For a while. Then, one day, I'll just wake up and won't feel like playing it anymore, or something new will come along and I'll become obsessed with that instead. Once that happens, I can go back and play the old game like *normal* people do, once in a while and for reasonable stretches of time, not obsessively for hours on end every day. Fortunatly (or unfortunatly, depending on how you look at it), I don't have a girlfriend or a social life (yeah, I'm introverted too...
Yeah, I could probably get treatment for my various mental disorders, but why? All they'll want to do is load me up with happy pills, and there's no way in heck I'm taking mood-altering drugs. I'd rather be an obsessive-compulsive introvert than a Prozac giggle-zombie, thank you very much.
DennyK
A master programmer passed a novice programmer one day. The master noted the novice's preoccupation with a hand-held computer game. "Excuse me," he said, "may I examine it?"
The novice bolted to attention and handed the device to the master. "I see that the device claims to have three levels of play: Easy, Medium and Hard," said the master. "Yet every such device has another level of play, where the device seeks not to conquer the human, nor to be conquered by the human."
"Pray, great master," implored the novice, "how does one find this mysterious settings?"
The master dropped the device to the ground and crushed it under foot. And suddenly the novice was enlightened.
This is exactly what I did after playing Half-Life life non-stop for about 8 hours. I was "master of my domain" and shattered the CD and uninstalled it from my system. Haven't touched a video game since. They just don't go well with my obsessive personality.
ts just the games that have changed. Everquest is no more addictive than Quake, which is no more addictive than Civilization, which is no more addictive than Nethack, which is nore more addictive than Zork, which is no more addictive than TinyMud, which is no more addictive than pac man, which is no more addictive than space invaders, which is no more addictive than combat, which is no more addictive than pong. Each had their addicts that had the journals, the "Wired"s of their day, all claiming we'd all end up "game-heads" by the end of the century...
You are absolutely right. In any momemt of time there are people who cast things they don't like/understand as social problems. They didn't realze they are, in fact, part of the social problems. Like this guy:
"The pop-singers should be responsible for kids' misbehaviors....yes! TV and Internet are responsible too.....hell, why do I need to talk the the kids!"
Addiction: A pathological relationship with any substance, person, event or experience that has life damaging consequences
:)
:)
Yes, you can be addicted to people, emotions (worry, rumination, etc.), events (gaming, coding, etc), as well as substances. The key is that the relationship with the addictive target is unhealthy (pathological) and that it causes harm in your life. I interpret this quite broadly. If the addictive experience causes me to have an unbalanced life, that's pathological. If the experience causes me to be out of touch with myself and my feelings, that's life damaging.
In attempting to recover from my addictive processes, I had a simple test. Am I engaging in this activity to avoid some other feeling that I really need to feel and/or resolve? If so, the process has the capacity to be or become and addictive process.
Addiction is usually about trying to avoid painful or unpleasant feelings (mostly from childhood - anyone identify here?) rather than to experience them, grieve them, release them and move on to a healthier life. It's about trying to find some process that reliably produces a good feeling (food was always reliable for me), unlike real life experiences which have ups and downs.
Gaming can certainly be a reliable method of avoiding other things. It sure can be an addictive process. I have lost myself in that world many times.
I guess the ironic part of healing from addiction is that one works toward having a more balanced life and developing and nurturing healthy relationships with other human beings -- things that, stereotypically, are not the strong suit of the computer geek. (No flames please, I said 'stereotypically'
All those admonishments to go out into the big room undernearth the blue ceiling and to get a more balanced life really do have their value.
I still spend waaayyy too much time in front of this here glowing box, so I'm not trying to put myself above anyone else, but I do try to spend as much time as I can IRL. There really are some good things, people and experiences out in that big scary world.
Nurture and maintain your F2F relationships, experience some variety and come join me, here's your
permission slip.
Enjoy yourself, your friends and your life.
War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is Strength. - George Orwell or George Bush?
Well, a widely used, and fairly good, operational definition of addiction is something like: continuing a behaviour in spite of consequences .
The very important issue here is consequences.
For example, someone may smoke cigarettes every day, and feel very uncomfortable if they can not smoke for some reason. This person is dependent on cigarettes, but as long as they are able to go to work, form meaningfull relationships with other humans, not commit crimes in order to smoke, and otherwise not have their monkey f-up their life, they are not addicted. Doesn't matter if they can stop or not, as long as the rest of their life is working.
Likewise, if someone plays EQ all the time, but the rest of their life is working, then they are not addicted; even if they find it hard to stop playing. They are dependent, but not necessarily addicted.
And yes, a person can become addicted to almost anything: games, alcohol, drugs, shopping, even sex or slashdot.
No matter how enjoyable the activity, if it is disturbing other areas of your life, and despite that you can not stop, then you are an addict.
Let me play devil's advocate.
If you inject heroin to procrastinate, then you're an addict. If you inject heroin because you love it, you've found something you love.
P.S. My ex was a heroin addict, so I've seen it firsthand.
Good points. Too bad you got modded as a Troll :(
I was born when Ritalin was a big thing for unruly children, although I was too young to take it. I was diagnosed as autistic at age 2, then as hyper-intelligent, then it was determined that I suffered from Hyperactive Disorder©, and put on a special sugar-free diet for a couple of years. By age 8 I was Manic Depressive© and hospitalized and spent most of my late childhood/adolescence on antidepressives. I stopped needing to take meds by my late teens and for a while I was OK, but I don't feel so good or interact that well anymore. The thing is though, no matter what "it" is called and what meds I took, I never did interact well anyway.
Seems it was all just marketing and hype. Now we have chemical imbalances, ADD and ADHD and other snazzy marketable names to describe a general tendency to become easily distracted and/or frustrated. Personally I think our brains are having a difficult time evolving to our increasingly input-intensive environment, and need to catch-up.
I think I would feel better about things if I grew up thinking I was just "an asshole" rather than chemically unbalanced.
...when I was 14-22. *grin*
"Rub her feet." -- L.L.
Don't label something "offtopic" unless you know the topic well enough to tell what's on topic.
Tell that to the people who decided to make moderation dependant on karma score.
Don't label something "offtopic" unless you know the topic well enough to tell what's on topic.
Tell that to the people who decided to make moderation dependant on Karma, or who change the initial filter score from 1 to 2 after a certain Karma is reached. *I* wouldn't care about it if the slashcode didn't care.
Don't label something "offtopic" unless you know the topic well enough to tell what's on topic.
Right now I can't moderate until someone finds something else of mine worthy of modding up.
/. may have changed recently. I couldn't find anything in the FAQ about this, though.
Are you saying that if you aren't at 50, you can't be in the moderator pool? This hasn't been my experience (I've been dinged down but still given moderator access), but
-no broken link