A short while ago, I reported that gaming addiction could well be classified as a mental disorder if certain misguided folks had their way. Today however, Reuters relays that not only is the American Psychiatric Association sensibly calling for more research to be done before labels are handed out, experts in the field of addiction flat-out oppose the idea.
Dr. Stuart Gitlow from New York's American Society of Addiction Medicine and Mount Sinai School of Medicine remains highly skeptical of the theory that gaming addiction is damaging enough to warrant psychiatric tagging. "There is nothing here to suggest that this is a complex physiological disease state akin to alcoholism or other substance abuse disorders, and it doesn't get to have the word addiction attached to it," Gitlow quite adamantly stated.
As I said before, while there's no harm in exploring the idea, it will do little to ultimately tackle the root cause of any mental issue, that is, what's within someone's mind to make them addicted to games. Isolating games as something more than a variable catalyst seems like a bit of time wasting in the wrong direction to me. But then, I'm no expert. I'm just pleased that the AMA is motivated by actual research, rather than sensationalistic political hot potatoes.
[Via Slashdot]
Jim Sterling serves as reviews editor for Destructoid.com, head of the Podtoid podcast, and produces a number of news stories, original features, one-of-a-kind videos. With his passionate argumentative style, controversial opinions, harsh delivery, and dedication to brutal honesty Sterling is a name that you can't help but recognize.
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Contest:
7:31 AM on 06.25.2007
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NBC Nightly News is doing a special on Game Addiction tonight. I plan to check it out and scoff at appropriate times.
If you're an addict - you have an addictive personality. It's that simple. The only difference between drug users and gamers who choose to spend their time, effort and money on their chosen pastime - is that games in no way, shape or form have a direct effect on your biological chemistry, other than a few feelings of bliss, empathy and excitement from scoring over a million points in Geometry wars.
G4G innit :D
EDIT: oops wrong post.
http://www.olganonboard.org/
I find this website to be utter shit. While i don't disagree with gaming to be an addiction.I find it digusting that the website tries to make a persons death a reason to stop gaming.. Scroll past the blue part to read the information..
http://www.olganonboard.org/index.php?topic=1540.0
http://www.olganonboard.org/
And that's how addiction is defined as an actual disorder, having a true physical or mental NEED to have whatever you are addicted to; not just a simple WANT. With real addiction, If you try to just stop, you tend to break down a bit and suffer from withdrawl; something that does not happen when you play games... If your parents take your games away, yeah you might get pissed, but you won't have any kind of uncontrollable reaction.
Galaga?
That sight is depressing. I hate shit like that.
I believe in God and such, not a seriously spiritual person, but my point is that if any facet of your life is so empty as to where you have to FORCE "God" into it to prevent you from fucking up your life is not a whole lot better than gaming or drinking, except it's far less deadly than drinking or drugs.
Why is it that every "recovery" group is a subverted feed into religion? Jesus drank wine, do you think he turned to himself to layoff when he needed to be straight to go cure some lupus or some crap?
If you feel you have an addiction, you need to just stop that activity. If you gotta feel the need to drop something else in place of it, don't, because doing so is going to inconvenience SOMEBODY, I promise. Sex addictions piss off significant others, god addictions piss off friends who don't enjoy the "holier than thou" attitude, gambling addictions piss off loan sharks who invariably have to break your legs, etc.
If you have an addictive personality, stay away from booze, drugs, AND GOD, because you will annoy me far more with your Religion addiction than you would with your smoking, chawing, drinking, toking, tripping, fecaphilia, necrophagia, or bulimia.
Quoting bible verse code is an instant conversation killer for me, and throws you right into the GTFO pile.
"Last night's game was awesome!"
"I know, it reminds me of Psalm 32:10. Wher..."
"GTFO!"
Would you call off work just to play games?
Would you lie to your gf/wife to play games?
Would you steal to play games?
Would you spend money you don't have to play games?
Would you stay up all night to play games when you know you should be sleeping?
All of those things are characteristics of an addict. I know I've done all of them (except for steal... I never steal).
One of the key pieces of an addiction diagnosis is that it must interfere to a damaging degree with other typical aspects of one's life, like: working, socializing, sleeping, eating, etc. Losing a few hours of sleep to some late night Haloes doesn't make an addiction, but doing this until you start to compromise your health or lose you job? I dunno, maybe.
Holy clinically depressed fecalfeliacs batman! I checked out that site... At first I thought it was some kind of satire or something, but if all that shit is for real.... wow.... really!? just wow.......
I was reading through the 12 steps and was waiting for the line that said.... don't worry about a thing... due to intelligent design you're just as fucked up as god wanted you to be...
Oh and referring to BuckF1tches post, I definitely have stayed up too late a number of times playing games when I should have been sleeping... the rest on that list... nope....
Personally, I lie and steal just for fun.
Thats all on the list you addict.