Author Topic: Do you think gaming should be defined as an addiction?  (Read 5477 times)

Re: Do you think gaming should be defined as an addiction?
« Reply #15 on: August 04, 2016, 01:20:43 am »
Excuse me. I made the argument of something totally useless, is not the same as something useful. You can't compare playing a guitar, learning a skill, or self improvement to sitting in a dark basement playing video games alone. You're improving yourself by doing those activities, and they don't have deadly side effects for some. I defined it the way I saw, instead of semantics. You can define it whatever way you want.

Just because gaming doesn't technically improve anything in that you are learning a skill or new ability, doesn't make it an addiction.  That's not what the word means.  If you want to argue that anti-social gaming in excess is an addiction, then that would likely be a yes, but gaming in itself is a hobby, a form of entertainment, it's no worse than watching sports or movies.  I'm not even sure what you are really trying to argue here and it doesn't do yourself any favors by bringing in some tired stereotype of gamers.

maximo310

Re: Do you think gaming should be defined as an addiction?
« Reply #16 on: August 04, 2016, 01:24:51 am »
Anything consumed in excess can become an addition; therefore, gaming by itself is not an addiction.

This is a pretty silly topic anyways; according to the topic creator only certain kind of activities are defined as "addiction" by his standards.
Excuse me. I made the argument of something totally useless, is not the same as something useful. You can't compare playing a guitar, learning a skill, or self improvement to sitting in a dark basement playing video games alone. You're improving yourself by doing those activities, and they don't have deadly side effects for some. I defined it the way I saw, instead of semantics. You can define it whatever way you want.
Yeah, because no one ever plays video games in a bright lit room with friends, or makes connections online or in person because of games.  But I guess some are more interested in certain hobbies then others; there's no need to make hasty generalizations to bolster your opinion.  Your argument is just based on opinion alone, and you don't have anything to back it up.

By the way, you're excused. ;)
« Last Edit: August 04, 2016, 02:33:11 am by maximo310 »

necrosexual

Re: Do you think gaming should be defined as an addiction?
« Reply #17 on: August 04, 2016, 02:48:43 am »
defined as? no. i mean, there are people who casually game, and people who game a lot, all the time but are still perfectly functional, then there are people who take it so far (like the guy in the RoK) who end up dying.
so no

but can gaming become an addiction? yes. i mean, almost anything can be psychologically addictive. my ex was definitely addicted to cannabis... a substance that isn't chemically addictive, but take that boy's weed away from him for a week or more, and you'd watch him get more and more withdrawn, depressed, with explosive anger, he slept a lot, he didn't eat, he was miserable and a drain. almost dysfunctional. reintroduce it and suddenly, he's back to normal. (he went off it for a month at one time and he basically sunk further and further until he couldn't take it anymore)... he had literally every single symptom of psychological withdrawal. there was no room for error there, i, nor his mother, had to be a psychology major to realise he was having severe withdrawal. mind you, he argued to the point of violence that it was simply a craving, not a dependence, that he didn't 'need' it (thus me rolling my eyes and telling him if he "didn't need it" then he could quit for a month... he failed at the contest). ...everyone around him knew better.

in some ways, gaming can be similar. one stops playing, and they become demotivated, overreact to stress and rapid mood changes, depression, etc etc. i mean, it's not impossible.

the problem is, is psychological addiction is not as common.
and also, psychological withdrawal is hard to pinpoint, as many of the symptoms can also be pointed to as simply lack of relaxation. so it's really, really hard to say, and that, i think, would need an actual psychological evaluation, and most of us here wouldn't be qualified to make the call. but video games (like weed, actually) affects your dopamine receptors... you DO get a flood of dopamine when you achieve well in a game, and if there's nothing else in your life that gives you the same rush, it's really easy to see how games can become disastrously addictive to some... ie, a teenage kid in an abusive and/or neglectful household, where his accomplishments aren't acknowledged as important... or, say, an asian student in a competitive environment who is never rewarded for doing well enough in school (even tho they have near perfect marks)... which would explain why gaming psychological addiction may be more prevalent in those regions.

the internet can be addicting, as well. to a crippling degree. i can't say i'm 'diagnosed' but i can draw from myself on this one and say the internet absolutely can and it has less of the dopamine firing-off than games, so i can totally see how games would be. i'm probably absolutely addicted to the internet, to the point i've been late to work on accident as a result, forgo sleeping almost every night, have forgone food and have even forgone cigarettes to keep browsing the internet... i've tried to quit using the internet as much at different times in my life as i realised how pathetic it was, but i get sucked back in every time, no matter how much more accomplished i feel when i'm NOT using the internet as much/often as i otherwise would. it feels really shitty, but it does affect me every fucking night... half the reason i don't play games as often as i'd like is due to this, so yeah... and honestly, at this point, i think the only thing that would quit the cycle is getting professional help. pathetic as shit, and sad, but there you go. mundane shit CAN be addictive. it's almost every fucking day i use the internet and think "i should be drawing" "i should be playing vidya" "i should learn more russian" but two hours later and i'm neck deep in a reddit AMA thread about the USSR or north korea or browsing the consumerist or snopes or some other site i use to "not be on forums all night". this is really anecdotal, but i don't know of any studies about psychological addiction for the internet and video games (and other technology) to draw from... so i'll parallel gaming addiction to my own (probable) internet addiction. because i'm shameless i guess (jk, i'm actually a ball of shame, but anonymity, amirite)

psychological addiction is a kind of addiction that doesn't get a lot of time spent to it, and, just like mental health in general, isn't taken as seriously as 'physical' addictions and health (drug addiction, alcoholism, these are more physical addictions). there is a massive stigma against psychological addiction, which causes it to be seen as 'not as serious'. and because it's pretty much invisible and seems harmless on the outside, a lot of people make fun of it. even people in this thread have made light of it... with the "well that RoK guy is an exception..." but the thing is, is addiction gets much worse the longer it's left unchecked. you have to kill the addiction before it gets that bad, and saying it's only when it gets that bad that it's an addiction is... well, telling enough for how we take addiction and mental health as a non-serious issue.

play responsibly.

tl;dr: defined as addiction? no. can it be an addiction? absolutely, gaming fits almost every check for a high capacity to be psychologically addictive under the right circumstances. but for most, no.

edit: and no, just because gaming doesn't directly enhance a set of skills (other than hand-eye coordination, reaction time and maybe some other minute skills) doesn't mean it is easier diagnosed as an addiction than any other psychological addiction. someone who spends 8 hrs a day drawing and calls out of work on the regular to just "finish one more painting" and who wishes they could stop drawing to hang out with friends or family or do something else productive like learn a new language is just as addicted as the people in those everquest horror stories. that you learn a skill or not isn't part of the diagnosis, that's ridiculous, and would mean that the psychologist in question would be able to denote what is, or is not, a "worthless" activity over a "worthwhile" activity... which would cause a bias in the analyser, which is grounds for malpractice. whether something is worthwhile/worthless has no bearing on the question "is [person] exhibiting signs of psychological addiction to X?" the patient will give worth to their addiction, anyway, that's the fucking nature of addicts of ANY kind, physical or psychological.
« Last Edit: August 04, 2016, 03:08:16 am by necrosexual »


if i'm an NPC, i want to be the secret boss in a low tier niche JRPG.

Re: Do you think gaming should be defined as an addiction?
« Reply #18 on: August 04, 2016, 08:55:04 am »
This entire post has gone off the rails.

Yes, anything CAN be an addiction.  Addictions are situational and contextual.  If anything has adverse effects, and you can't stop yourself, it could be considered an addiction.

Yes, jogging can be an addiction.  If you are choosing to jog over going to work, paying bills, and overall taking care of your life, using it as a crutch to get you through your day, that is an addiction.  Absolutely, reading can be an addiction.  This is commonly associated with bibliophiles.  Ever see the anime R.O.D. (Read or Die) TV?  That's a damned good example... and anime.

Gaming in general is not considered an addiction.  Drinking alcohol is not considered an addiction.  Drinking too much alcohol isn't even considered an addiction (I think technically that's considered drunk?).  Using alcohol as a crutch to get through your day would be considered an addiction.

Can we move this to "Off-Topic"?


kashell

Re: Do you think gaming should be defined as an addiction?
« Reply #19 on: August 04, 2016, 11:07:14 am »
Better yet, can we close it?

dreama1

Re: Do you think gaming should be defined as an addiction?
« Reply #20 on: August 04, 2016, 11:36:22 am »
Anything consumed in excess can become an addition; therefore, gaming by itself is not an addiction.

This is a pretty silly topic anyways; according to the topic creator only certain kind of activities are defined as "addiction" by his standards.
Excuse me. I made the argument of something totally useless, is not the same as something useful. You can't compare playing a guitar, learning a skill, or self improvement to sitting in a dark basement playing video games alone. You're improving yourself by doing those activities, and they don't have deadly side effects for some. I defined it the way I saw, instead of semantics. You can define it whatever way you want.
Yeah, because no one ever plays video games in a bright lit room with friends, or makes connections online or in person because of games.  But I guess some are more interested in certain hobbies then others; there's no need to make hasty generalizations to bolster your opinion.  Your argument is just based on opinion alone, and you don't have anything to back it up.

By the way, you're excused. ;)
As I said not everyone. But i'm guessing you're talking about couch co-op? Isn't that kind of dead these days with the whole online aspect?


dreama1

Re: Do you think gaming should be defined as an addiction?
« Reply #21 on: August 04, 2016, 12:01:25 pm »
Better yet, can we close it?
I was reading an article about debating if gaming addiction should be considered a general addiction.
I had to make some push back or this would be one sided. I don't think it's an addiction but I can educate other views. It's obviously a personal subject. If it's to much for you as usual you know where the door is.


kashell

Re: Do you think gaming should be defined as an addiction?
« Reply #22 on: August 04, 2016, 12:04:44 pm »
Lighten up, sunshine. I was making a joke.

dreama1

Re: Do you think gaming should be defined as an addiction?
« Reply #23 on: August 04, 2016, 12:10:21 pm »
Lighten up, sunshine. I was making a joke.
^_^


retrogemcollector

Re: Do you think gaming should be defined as an addiction?
« Reply #24 on: August 04, 2016, 02:41:27 pm »
gaming no, excess of it yes.


maximo310

Re: Do you think gaming should be defined as an addiction?
« Reply #25 on: August 04, 2016, 04:17:13 pm »
Anything consumed in excess can become an addition; therefore, gaming by itself is not an addiction.

This is a pretty silly topic anyways; according to the topic creator only certain kind of activities are defined as "addiction" by his standards.
Excuse me. I made the argument of something totally useless, is not the same as something useful. You can't compare playing a guitar, learning a skill, or self improvement to sitting in a dark basement playing video games alone. You're improving yourself by doing those activities, and they don't have deadly side effects for some. I defined it the way I saw, instead of semantics. You can define it whatever way you want.
Yeah, because no one ever plays video games in a bright lit room with friends, or makes connections online or in person because of games.  But I guess some are more interested in certain hobbies then others; there's no need to make hasty generalizations to bolster your opinion.  Your argument is just based on opinion alone, and you don't have anything to back it up.

By the way, you're excused. ;)
As I said not everyone. But i'm guessing you're talking about couch co-op? Isn't that kind of dead these days with the whole online aspect?
Couch co-op is not really supported on XB1/ PS4 because both companies realized that w/ online, you don't have to worry about optimizing framerate for multiplayer, and consumers have to pay to play online. You can also play online with friends, even when you're right next to each other as well.

Edit: Thanks for correcting me; its the dev decision for this, not Sony/Microsoft ignition!
« Last Edit: August 04, 2016, 05:10:19 pm by maximo310 »

doctorlaudanum

Re: Do you think gaming should be defined as an addiction?
« Reply #26 on: August 04, 2016, 04:40:03 pm »
I don't think it's an addiction but I can educate other views. It's obviously a personal subject. If it's to much for you as usual you know where the door is.

If you can't handle someone disagreeing with you, then perhaps opening a "debate" thread wasn't the best idea.
Always looking to buy Drakengard, Nier, and Siren collector's items.




Re: Do you think gaming should be defined as an addiction?
« Reply #27 on: August 04, 2016, 04:42:33 pm »
Anything consumed in excess can become an addition; therefore, gaming by itself is not an addiction.

This is a pretty silly topic anyways; according to the topic creator only certain kind of activities are defined as "addiction" by his standards.
Excuse me. I made the argument of something totally useless, is not the same as something useful. You can't compare playing a guitar, learning a skill, or self improvement to sitting in a dark basement playing video games alone. You're improving yourself by doing those activities, and they don't have deadly side effects for some. I defined it the way I saw, instead of semantics. You can define it whatever way you want.
Yeah, because no one ever plays video games in a bright lit room with friends, or makes connections online or in person because of games.  But I guess some are more interested in certain hobbies then others; there's no need to make hasty generalizations to bolster your opinion.  Your argument is just based on opinion alone, and you don't have anything to back it up.

By the way, you're excused. ;)
As I said not everyone. But i'm guessing you're talking about couch co-op? Isn't that kind of dead these days with the whole online aspect?
Couch co-op is not really supported on XB1/ PS4 because both companies realized that w/ online, you don't have to worry about optimizing framerate for multiplayer, and consumers have to pay to play online. You can also play online with friends, even when you're right next to each other as well.
That's not really a Microsoft/Sony decision, that's a developer decision.


hanky

Re: Do you think gaming should be defined as an addiction?
« Reply #28 on: August 04, 2016, 04:55:52 pm »
More like collecting :D

dreama1

Re: Do you think gaming should be defined as an addiction?
« Reply #29 on: August 04, 2016, 09:28:09 pm »
I don't think it's an addiction but I can educate other views. It's obviously a personal subject. If it's to much for you as usual you know where the door is.

If you can't handle someone disagreeing with you, then perhaps opening a "debate" thread wasn't the best idea.
Wrong. It's called push back, so it doesn't turn into a monologue. Please don't get emotional again.