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Gaming Fanatics Show Hallmarks of Drug Addiction
Game_addict writes "There's a story over at New Scientist saying that a new study has found that game addiction has the same effects on people as drug addiction."
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That certainly makes me be more careful about this than I otherwise would have been!
"[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz
Too much of anything seems to have the same effects as a drug addiction. So far we've seen Internet addictions, other Gaming addictions, News addictions, and more.
Perhaps it's related to the definition of the word "addiction"? When somebody enjoys doing something they obviously want to do it more often. The question is just how much do they let that enjoyment interfere with their lives and possibly the lives of others?
"What do you despise? By this are you truly known." --Princess Irulan, Manual of Muad'Dib
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Seems like they made the mistake of assuming the converse here. Just because drug addicts are similar to game addicts does not mean game addicts are necessarily like drug addicts.
Drug addiction, being primarily metabolic, may have a more limited set of idenitifying characteristics. Game addiction, being primarily mental (or maybe even social) has more varying charactistics as psyches and social structures have a lot of built-in variance.
I'd have a much easier time buying the argument that drug addict behavior/characteristics fit in as a subset of the acceptable behaviors/characteristics of gaming culture.
ACA whole lot of people spend around 4 to 5h in front of a TV every day of the week, mostly without interruption and that's considered normal. TV addiction is much more widespread than computer game addiction. Yet I haven't heard of a TV user anonymous. IMO most TV viewers have serious issues.
Well if you define addictions by what generates a positive response in the brain, just about anything that is fun can/will become an addiction. On the other hand I'd like to quote a line from Bob Sagat in the Movie half-baked.
"Have you ever sucked cock for pot!? You don't have an addiction."
^substitute games for pot. Serious addictions can cause a serious breakdown in self-image to the point where anything is acceptable to get the next fix. When I start seeing offers for people to give the ass-secks and other such non-social openly acceptable behavior then I'll deem "game" addiction as a serious threat to the youth of the world. But honestly I don't think that will happen anytime soon.
"Hey man I'll give you head for an hour with your Xbox360...."
"If I were bound by all laws everywhere I'm sure I would have committed a capital crime somewhere."
Therefor I don't think a person can be addicted to religion, how can you be addicted to something that is not real?
God-belief and adherence to dogma are quite real, regardless of the reality of the gods in question and regardless of the validity of the dogma.
STOP MISUSING APOSTROPHES, YOU MORONS!!!
Like most things that are sinfully delicous (pr0n, booze, pot) - video games provide so much satisfaction, even though its totally synthetic. Would I get a "high" reading a Tolstoy novel? Yes. Would I get a high getting wasted and watching Robot Chicken? Yes. One takes dicipline and the other is cheap, but they both work.
Can someone become addicted to any of these things? Absolutely. Anything that is enticing enough to detract from the dicipline of the daily grind can become an addiction (/. anyone?)
The article talks about "drug memories" - how about my keyboard? Man, it feels so familiar. My PS2 controller? Oh, yeah, totally an extension of my hand.
A point about video games specifically - does anyone know a casual+ gamer that hasn't gone on an 8 hour binge? I recently introduced my 30-something neighbor to video games (GT4 + logitech wheel). Sure enough, he did an 8pm-4am addict session after only two days and he'd never played video games before.
If you show me a screenshot of Super Mario Bros or Starcraft...hell yeah, I'm going to want to play that game.
One last comment - has anyone seen the Marco Brambilla exhibit called Half-Life? Its a room with three screens - the front is a 2x2 display of kids playing counter-strike and the sides are videos from the conter-striker game they're playing. Its done really well - watching their faces hit me like a rocket launcher. I had to sit down and watch it for 15 minutes or so. I almost totally broke down. All those empty souls just wanted a kill. I'm not against video game violence but you can't deny its impact on your inner being.
Marco Brambilla link #1
Marco Brambilla link #2
"Religion is the Opiate of the Masses."
"All warfare is based on deception."
Sun Tzu, "The Art of War"
In the past, just like pretty much most guys involved in the computer related professions have done our fair share of gaming over the years and it is pretty much part of the culture. In fact, it is hard to socialize with fellow programmers unless you have some street credibility in Doom, Starcraft, etc. With computer use becoming as ubiquitous among the younger generation as it has always been with the "geek profession" crowd, I think that gaming addictions will continue to be a bigger and bigger problem in society.
I myself used to play an insane amount of Starcraft and Warcraft III. Do I regret all the time I spent playing those games? Sometimes yes, but hey those were fun games isn't life about having a good time so long as it is not at the expense of someone else? Then again, I am sure doing crack cocaine is fun the first few times for those who have tried it (just speculating since I have never done crack cocaine personally). Just like with any other addictable drug, gaming can consume your life and nothing else in life seems fun anymore. Before you know it you are depressed and the only thing you look forward to is gaming, but those darn dopamine receptors just won't get fired up like they used to due to the LAW OF DIMINISHING RETURNS: The greater the thrill, the harder and edgier the thrill will have to be the next time around to seem as exciting.
Now, I love playing sports, especially soccer, but you can only run around having fun kicking a ball so long before you physically get tired and the pain of sore legs outweighs the pleasure you have dribbling and passing the ball down the field and your brain tells you to stop. Unfortunately, with computer gaming the only thing telling you to stop is a parent, spouse, or your heart as it gives out playing your choice MMORPG several days straight nonstop.
But what if "gaming addiction" becomes a big enough problem to society that it causes other social problems just like many illegal drugs do when people get hooked on them. Just look at online Poker which was once a simple card game, and now has been bastardized into an internet phenomenon of largely anonymous competition. People play Poker not because they think they will get rich, but because people are addicted to the thrill of besting their neighbor. Simply put, competitive people like myself are addicted to competition and that can manifest itself in both positive and negative ways (I don't gamble BTW, because I feel gambling is a stupidity tax and I don't like being taxed in the first place).
So what should be done about gaming addiction, especially since it is not easy to just throw out your computer and function in the modern world? I know plenty of people who have thrown out their TV, but the computer? Seriously, get real. One idea is something that worked reasonably well with the arcade games when they were popular when you didn't have the Playstation 2 or the XBOX is a pay per play system. As you play more and more, the quarters you pop into the machine start to become painful after a while as you notice your wallet getting thinner and thinner. Once you are broke, you are forced to go work to get more money to play more games. Also, if you want to play games you have to make a conscious decision to spend money, whereas if you had a monthly rate of unlimited gaming (such as a Wow subscription), then you would probably overindulge in gaming just as fat people generally overindulge at all you can eat buffets.
So, one easy thing that can be done for any form of online gaming whether it be WoW or Poker or the RTS games I love is to force vendors to charge by the minute and tax that income so as to provide revenue for programs dealing with the social pollution generated from "addictive gaming". Kind of like how we tax many other vices or how we fine companies that pollute the environment under the premise that companies should be held accountable for the negative side effects their business has on society at large.
I know I will get flamed for suggesting this, but as an ardent gamer myself, I know it does not bode well for society if everyone is spending their time searching for loot in some MMORPG, rather than actually getting a good night's sleep so they can be productive at making loot in their real life.
The physical habituation aspect of drug addiction is actually a fairly minor aspect of it. But there's a "middle layer" between the "purely" physical (e.g., the decline in endorphine or dopomine production for 'physically' addictive drugs that leads to withdrawal symptoms) and the "just" cognitive (you keep doing something you like for relatively 'rational' reasons) - the displacement of normal goals (by one definition or another) with those rewards created by the object of addiction, whether it is a substance or a behaviour, is the most intractable type of addiction, and the one that tends to come back the most.
90% of people who become addicted to opiates do not seek them out after they go through withdrawal and detox - their addiction is just physical.
Ultimately, remember, it is all physical, even the act of you reading these words is an electrochemical process that probably even involves the endocrine system.
However, if this is right, there may be a very positive side. Does being a game addict mean that you aren't going to become a crack addict and become a huge nuisance to society stealing things to pay for your addiction? Or is there an "intelligence" factor in this, i.e. people who become addicted to drugs do it because they are too stupid to become addicted to something less socially harmful, like chess, computer games, share dealing or politics?
It would be interesting to know. The traditional solution to heroin addiction was to wean addicts off on methadone - which is not terribly effective. Is the answer to provide some of them with wall to wall games until they find one that makes an addiction substitute?
Anecdotally, it's interesting how some "reformed" alcoholics seem to go into politics (G W Bush, Alastair Campbell in the UK) suggesting that there is indeed some sort of crossover compensating mechanism.
I think too we need to make a distinction between the things people do in young adulthood - often very stupid and subsequently embarrassing behaviour - and what they do in later life. Young men in particular may pursue an activity obsessively, but as they grow older it takes a more balanced place in life - whether it be drinking, fishing, or the pursuit of women. Perhaps it's a "normal" addictive phase, in which case again, the less anti-social the effects, the better.
Pining for the fjords
Basically, they were dealing with a loss of their own, and that was their way of dealing with it. It took over: Their health and money problems took a toll, and they ended up passing away at a relatively young age.
You know, I get bitter every time someone comes up with this "personal responsibilty" crap that comes up every time something related to an addiction comes up. THEY TRIED THAT -- THE ADDICTION IS TOO MUCH, AND THEY NEED HELP.
I'm just angry that our society is molded in such a way that people who need help get laughed at if it's a certain kind of ailment. I just hope your family doesn't have to go through what mine did.
ShortFormBlog: Writing a little. Saying a lot.
Addiction is addiction is addiction.
It doesn't matter if you are fast-twitching, snorting, drinking, praying...
Addictions can be managed in some cases. In some types of addiction, the physical need can be destructive.
TFA seems to indicate that the addictive tendency alluded to here is behavioral, unlike the chemical cravings that nicotine, alcohol*, and heroin produce.
I think the article's lead paragraphs should have been more clear on the difference between these types of addiction. I know people who are self-described as "addicted" to Marijuana. Clinically, there is no such thing.
*Based on the theory that alcohol is a disease; see also Jellinek's disease.
So do alcohol, gambling and tobacco. We regulate those things. Why not games and religion? (aside from that pesky first amendment)
A belief or world view that includes beings of non-earthly origin, transcending the self-centeredness of secular humanism and corresponding to reality doesn't necessarily contain or lead to qualities of addiction.
Just as the act of pressing controller buttons to make mario jump or master chief shoot doesn't necessarily contain or lead to qualities of addiction.
It's all subjective. Or more accurately, it's all political.
May the Maths Be with you!
It's more accurate to say "gaming fanaticism" and drug addiction both show characteristics of obsessive compulsive disorder. Both exhibit mental preoccupation (obsession) and a repetitive behavior pattern(s) that may or may not be reinforced with a positive stimulus (compulsion). If the individual tries to break the compulsive behavior pattern, he/she is pressed by the obsessive thoughts and becomes uncomfortable. It's as if the brain had imported a subroutine with an ill-placed GOTO loop.
... people don't kill each other or themselves on account of Sonic Hedgehog.
Any behavior repeated constantly over a period of time that provides some sort of positive effect is going to be difficult to tear away from and may bring about OCD type symptoms. But comparing it to drug addiction is sensationalism
Eh. I've spent probably close to a month playing World of Warcraft since it came out (I can nail for a fact 26 days)...So 1/12th of my time over the last year. That qualifies as addiction by any standard. It's certainly more time than I spent eating.
In that time, I also got a job, got a raise, bought a house, lost 20 pounds, and kept my sideline freelancing business going.
I'm not seeing the problem. I was all geared up to play 5 hours of WoW last night, and I got a call at the last minute for some emergency network engineering, and I zipped off, made $380, and still got an hour and a half of WoW.
There are always habits that people don't deal with well. But don't lump all people together. If it doesn't impact your life negatively, who cares? I like my addiction. It's a hell of a lot better than watching TV.
ad logicam Claiming a proposition is false because it was presented as the conclusion of a fallacious argument.
Wait. So people who exhibit obsessive behavior exhibit obsessive behavior? Wow! how much did THAT particular research gem cost?
Why yes, I AM a rocket scientist!