Slashdot Mirror
Coping with Gaming Addiction
Several readers submitted this story in the Washington Post about gaming addiction in adolescents and adults. The main sources of the story are two people who get paid for solving this problem, so they have an incentive to make it sound scary and widespread, but on the other hand, most Slashdot readers probably have a... friend... who spends too much time playing video games.
Here's a hint: if you're one of those idiots who insists on giving your kid a name with "unique" spelling, at least don't pick a "gaye" name.
John
pay me to do a slashdot addiction survey. please.
------
insert sig here,here, and here
but instead, play games all day.
Can have a problem with just about any activity.
If you don't know someone who's addicted to gaming or online chat, I'm sure you know someone who's a work-a-holic - not just a hard worker, but someone completely obsessed with the trivialities of their work.
A lot of people are addicted to television. People who literally can't cope properly without it. You've seen them. I saw plenty them the last time a hurricane knocked the power out around here.
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
I don't have a video game addiction, I only make them, play them, and spend every waking moment thinking about them ...
This goes with spending all my free cash on them, dreaming about them, and of couse the occasional pleasuring my self over them.
- MOSKIE
When I was growing up, a lot of kids spent all day watching TV. They'd come home from school and watch TV. Weekends meant watching TV. Guess what, its not games, its kids. When a young person can find something entertaining to do (homework tends not to be entertaining) they'll stick with it. I'm an avid gamer (at the age of 29) but it is not an addiction. Gaming is more entertaining that any TV show I've ever seen, and at least online gaming involves SOME interaction with other people. Of course the best alternative would be some sort of sport.
Gamers anonymous would rock, atleast I could get some cheat codes and strategies while being "helped"
who is dangerously addicted to Warcraft III battlenet games. He works shifts and when hes not working, hes playing the game... and swearing constantly, banging his fists on the desk and using the F word quite excessively. It scares me and my cat. When I've had enough, I log into the good ole Linksys and block ports 6112 through 6120 and the problem is solved for a little while. At this point he does something constructive, like laundry or cleaning his room. This a good solution for those who have control over their home networks. :)
I'm not addicted, I've /quit games hundreds of times
I'm sick of there being addictions to everything. Dr Pepper addiction. Sex and the City addiction. The fact is people are lazy and have no will power and allow themselves to form habits.
Want a REAL addiction? Try crack or heroin or be quiet and learn some self discipline.
"Its not a problem until you can't afford to pay for it anymore."
The only bigger waste of time is YOU SITTING THERE WATCHING SOMEBODY ELSE PLAY EVERQUEST.
An addiction is when your "addiction" creates negative consequences in daily life. An example would be having to play before going to school, and constantly being late for class and failing the class. If you play for 13 hours straight, eating while you play over a saturday night because nothing better is going on or you're going through a social life slump, that is not an addiction.
There are some pretty clear differences between a "hobby or passion" and addiction. I believe psychologists start using diagnostic language like "addiction" when the activity in question starts to interfere with the other aspects of your life, like holding down a job, paying bills on time, keeping up with friends, etc...
Also, just because someone "bounces back" from an addiction doesn't mean they don't have a problem... alchoholics, compulsive gamblers, and others may have a cycle of trying to give it up every so often when things start get get really out of control, then relapsing once they've gotten their act together.
My father in law was an alchoholic, but had been sober for over a decade when he died. He told me that drinking and going cold turkey were both possible for someone addicted to alchohol, but that the sign of a true alchoholic is that they can't drink in moderation. The idea of drinking only one or two drinks per day is inconceivable to them... and I believe this is true for other addictions as well. This is why 12 step programs don't talk about being "cured"... you're always an addict, and you're either clean, or you're not. There is no middle ground.
The measure of addiction is not the impact it has on those around you- it's about your state of mind, and how easily you can quit. Your example of someone quitting a job and playing Evercrack until they're broke is a perfect example of this... outside circumstances (poverty) forced them to stop. I can't think of a better description of addiction.
-R
"Ordinary" games such as first-person-shooters provide this sense of progression to a lesser degree. The more you play the better you get and when you perceive the progress you get your serotonin rush. However, after a while you get tired or hungry, your performance suffers and ends the reward of continued play. MMORPGS are less skill-intensive and continue to reward the player for button-mashing until they can no longer keep their eyes open.
The community of MMORPG players can also reinforce this addiction, by providing a surrogate to a "real life" community, thus making it easier to withdraw from personal contacts and harder to start them up again. Cults use much the same technique to make it difficult for members to leave and rejoin the larger community.
How many times do we have to go over this?
BLAME THE PARENTS...
First it was Ozzy Osbourne records, then D&D, now video games.
Case in point... This woolley lady...
The mother of a 21-year old EverQuest addict who killed himself last Thanksgiving morning is filing a lawsuit against Sony Entertainment on the grounds that the addictive nature of the game weakened her son to the point of suicide. Elizabeth Woolley of Osceola, Wisconsin says that her son, Shawn, was so addicted to EverQuest that he surrendered everything - his home, family, and job - to play the game.
Shawn had more than his share of personal problems - in fact, if you've been reading this site for a while, you can practically recite them along with me. He was diagnosed with "depression and schizoid personality disorder, symptoms of which include a lack of desire for social relationships, little or no sex drive and a limited range of emotions in social settings." He was also an epileptic, and according to his mother, his last eight seizures were due to computer use.
Woolley's lawyer is the "colorful" attorney Jack Thompson, who is most famous for the 1990 debacle over rap group 2 Live Crew. Thompson attempted to get the members of the infamous rap group thrown into jail because their album As Nasty As They Wanna Be contained numerous instances of words that he just didn't like.
Elizabeth Woolley wants a label on games like EverQuest, to warn people of the potential dangers of playing them for extended periods of time. This has two problems with it:
Woolley herself had no need of such a label, as she was fully aware of her son's mental and physical problems, and knew that his game playing was getting out of hand.
Neither Woolley nor her son were likely to heed such a label if it did exist previously, since they both seemed to have ignored the epilepsy warning that came with EverQuest - the same warning that is voluntarily printed in the manual for practically every video game on the market.
Lets blame Sony for making the game, Walmart for selling the bullets, Ozzy for making the records, and leave the innocent parents alone.
There are alot of gamers out there... Im one of them, I go to lan parties, have a ton of cyber friends, but I also have a girlfriend, a job, a car, and many friends in RL... because my parents taught me the ability to differentiate between REALITY AND FANTASY
I wish more parents would do the same.
Fire in the hands of the village idiot is no tool, but a weapon of mass destruction
Any negative results those people experience are because of social and mental problems they have...not because they play games. If someone took away their computer, they'd spend all of their time reading, watching TV, working out or staring at a wall. They are depressed, suffer from OCD, anxiety issues, self-esteem issues...lots of things.
For example, if you know a man who washes his hands every 30 minutes, gets up in the middle of the night to wash his hands and mostly stays at home so he is able to wash his hands at regular times do you say that he is addicted to washing his hands? No, you recognize that he has a mental disorder and get him treatment. Does that make hand washing bad? No, its not the activity, its the illness that should be corrected.
I've been playing games for years and have managed to get an education, maintain a successful career and enjoy a healthy social life. Why? Because I'm a healthy person. I like myself and those around me, I enjoy my days at work, my evenings with friends and family and my evenings gaming. My gaming groups are just friends I hang out with.
In my time gaming, I've come accross people with social problems, anxiety problems, depression and severe self-esteem issues. I think the reason they turn to gaming is because it allows them to interact with others in a social enviornment where there is a barrier that keeps others at a safe distance and keeps their problems secret. They get a chance to be judged just on their gaming skills and their chat humor. They usually find people who like them and maybe who share their problems.
I spend a significant amount of time gaming and will continue to do so until I no longer enjoy it. I do not consider it an addiction and never will. For years, I've played games or read books instead of watching TV. While roommates and family have come home and watched mindless sitcoms and gameshows, I was in the other room reading or slaughtering my enemies. I think my time was better spent.
I discovered a couple of years ago that I'm still addicted to the original Civilization. I hadn't touched it for over a decade. I found a copy in an old box and installed. I hardly slept for a week. Good job for my employer that I was a contractor at the time because I wasn't even able to pull full work days - oh, and I'm honest to my own detriment too ;) I uninstalled it and haven't touched it since.
In the latter part of the 90s a group of us had a major Quake 2 addiction. Up to 8 of us would play after work everyday. We found as the day went on that we got less and less productive and about 2.30 people would start talking to each other about how long it was until Quake time. Some people even had to play in the morning before coming to work because they couldn't do anything else until they got their fix. There have been plenty of other games too that I've been addicted too, but I won't bore you with the details.
These days I have to be careful. I have an XBox, but rarely play it because I know I will get sucked in and not accomplish anything else, be it life maintenance tasks or spending time with the people I care about... who are far more important. I honestly prefer to spend time socializing or with family, or doing more selfish things like reading, or running (another addiction!), or pottering around... but games seem to over power that, even if I'm not enjoying playing at the time! I definitely will not buy XBox Live!
At least when you're playing Madden NFL 2004 you know your dad won't yell obscenities at the other team, shit on the ref's car hood after the game, or beat you for not "giving it 110%". There's no chance of your coach molesting you, or of losing your first adult teeth to a cleat in the face. And the other players won't stick pine cones up your butt when you join the team.
Freedom: "I won't!"
I bought a Mac
in bed.
I watched him kill bugs for an hour in Everquest to build experience points (I made fun of him till he quit). I'm sorry but that's just a waste of time.
You did the right thing. I too would have taunted him. The wolves offer much better experience.
Here is my story
I started playing games back when I was about seven years old. It all started with my NES, and man did I love it. I played it hard for a while, about 3 or 4 hours a day. Not much longer, we got a computer, and I started playing Dune 2, I lost so much time to those games. By the time I got to high school, I was the biggest gamer in my school.
I remember back in grade eight, the teacher had us all write something nice about each of us on a piece of paper. Out of about 25 people, 15 or so all said either, he is good at nintendo or video games. I never realised that this was bad. I am naturally intelligent, and I did no homework or notes or studying for tests. I was able to pull about an eighty average, while playing these games.
Once I got to high school, I started to get more advanced games, I had an N64, SNES, and a powerful computer (heck, I am typing this on that computer) I was playing hardcore my Command and Conquer and zelda on the nintendos. My marks were slumping a bit, but I was not challenged by the classes and I didn't care. Then in grade eleven we got the internet. I started downloading so much junk, and playing online games like a crazed heiena on crystal meth. My marks were about eighty because I was "learning" so much from the internet. Then I discovered pokemon, Final Fantasy, and a few other games that I hardcore played.
I was logging on about eight hours a day on those things, that and downloading music. I never did any homework, all I was doing was playing games of half-life, and Total Annihilation. It was about halfway through my final year, and I started to really think about what I had been doing.
I was by far the most intelligent person in the school, but I wasn't going to get any scholorship because I did not work in the classes and that brought down my grades. (I ended up second in the class by about 1%) I have never had a girlfriend. I was drastically overweight. I had spent tons of money on games and internet connections. I had never learnt how to do homework or to study. My grammer and language skills were degrading and as were my skills in the real world.
After that I entered university, and I made a promise to myself. No more video games. I packed up my nintendos and my computer games and left them at home, while I went off to the university. Now in my second year, I am faced with the aftermath of my life I had when I was younger. I have already lost about 50 lbs in the last year and a half. I have made numerous friends. My self-esteem has skyrocketed. I will freely admit that I was addicted, but I have worked with it and now have it undercontrol.
Like all addictions, one never gets over it. I have on this computer very few games, like solitare, and I catch myself playing them, even though I try not to. I surf the web far to much, like right now, I am typing on slashdot instead of studing for my econ final tomorrow that is worth 100%. They are hard to deal with, and when I first stopped the games, I felt strange.
I still to this day have problems stemming from the games I played in my youth. I have poor workhabits, and at university that causes failure. I have never had a girlfriend. However, I do have some good things that came from the video games. I am a CS major, learning how to program in C++ probably inspired from all my computer games. I can hold my head up high and say to all my friends that I am a better game player than them. When I hear them talk about everquest, I laugh inside because I can see their addiction and they can't. They still get to beat thiers. I don't have the added wasted time here in universtiy of playing games, unlike some of them. I never watch TV, because I never got into it, and since I don't play games anymore, I have more free time than ever before. My work ethic is slowly growing better here in the University. My collection of video games it worth a lot.
True games have cost me alot, financally, physically, and mentally, but I have started to get out of the hole. I feel t
henceforth known as a "Ghetto Name". A Ghetto Name implies a lack of education or sophistication
on the part of the one who gave the name. By no means is having a Ghetto Name indicative of anything
negative about the individual unfortunate enough to bear it.
The list applies only to those of us who are native born black Americans. I will leave the list of Red Neck names or
Trailer Park names to Jeff Foxxworthy or someone else. This list is mine.
#1. If your name is misspelled, it is a Ghetto Name.
#2. If your first name includes an apostrophe, it is a Ghetto Name.
#3. If your first name includes the sounds "eeta", "ona", "eekwa", "onda" or "eesha", it is a Ghetto Name.
#4. If your first name is an adjective or an adverb, it is a Ghetto Name.
#5. If your first name is the last name of a former president of the US, it is a Ghetto Name.
#6. If your first name consists of a regular name preceeded by "Ne", "La"
#7. If your first name begins with the sound "My"/"Mi", "Ty", or "Shy"/"Shi", it is a Ghetto Name.
#8. If your first name consists of a monosyllabic word repeated two or more times, it is a Ghetto Name.
#9. If your first name is the same as a City, State, Country or Emotion, it is a Ghetto Name.
#10. If you have never known of another human being who bears your name, it is a Ghetto Name.
LK
"Hi. This is my friend, Jack Shit, and you don't know him." - Lord Kano
Perhaps you should learn a little more about addiction before you spew this crap out.
Addiction is based on a genetic predisposition. Some people have it; some people don't. A good test for if someone is addicted is if the consequenses outweigh the benefits, yet the behavior persists.
For example, there are people who drink a beer every day, yet can quit should they need the money, or if their family starts to suffer because of it.
Then again, there are alcoholhics, who are unable to stop even when it costs them their spouse, children, job, and respect of their peers. That is addiction. Is knocking back some booze worth the loss of everything else in your life you hold dear? To an addict, the answer is yes.
The same thing can hold true for an MMORPG. Lots of people play them, and have no problems. In some cases, the game fills a need, and is rather enjoyable (and thus hard to give up, because there is no good reason to.) However, for some people, the game _is_ addictive. People have jost their jobs, and their families, because they could not get away from the screen. That is addiction.
Anything that fills a need can be addictive. Some things are naturally more addictive than others. However, whether you end up an addict is largely based on genetics. Come from a long line of alcoholics? You probably should not drink, as you are predisposed towards alcohol addiction.
So what exactly about video games isn't a 'real life' experience? Are the people you talk to not real? Is it not real because they act a little differently online than they would if, say, you were hanging out with them after work, or at school, or whatever the suitable scenario was?
Quick newsflash: Video games are as much a part of 'real life' as anything else. The fulfillment, enjoyment, and socialization is completely real, just different. Many of my friends these days are people I've played video games with competitively for 5 years now. Some of us come and go, some of us find other things to do, but this is no different than any other hobby.
People need to get over referring to communication and socialization over the internet as not being a part of 'real life'. It's very real, people have gotten married based on internet-founded relationships, people have gotten divorced because of them, and the gamut of experience is far wider than that. It may not seem normal, or healthy, but that's your own opinion to deal with.
For the purposes of disclosure, I've been playing video games almost compulsively since I was a child. I have been diagnosed with ADD, and at one point they went so far as to suggest I had a particular disposition to impulsive/compulsive behavior. Yet I still live a fairly cultured life. I go out on weekends, I enjoy beautiful weather, I absolutely love trying new restaurants, I enjoy independent movies - most of which I watch in a theatre, not on my computer. I've been in a happy, steady relationship with someone for just short of 4 years. I hold a full-time, well-paying job in the Software industry. I finished school.
Yet, there are frequent nights when I play 5-6 hours of video games, and occasionally on weekends I'll spend most of the day playing them.
The point here is that there is no disconnect between my 'real life' experiences and my video game experiences, because there's no disconnect between the 'reality' in both. I got hooked on the internet at the age of 13, some 11 years ago, and I've been there ever since.
Part of the reason for that is that these precious 'real life' experiences you're suggesting were one or more of the following: trite, unfulfilling, unwelcome, overrated, or destructive. It wasn't until I reached young adulthood and found that the barriers of who I associated with were based less on age and more on character that I really started to enjoy 'getting out'.
Moo