Post: Video Games - An Addiction?
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03-26-2012, 10:24 PM
#1
Pichu
PICHU.
PICHU.
Please take the time to read the whole article, I know it is about 3 years old but it is a decent article. If you wish not to read then here are some of the main points to it...
Originally posted by another user
The definition of addiction is murky. In fact, many psychologists prefer the term "pathological use" for excessive consumption of drugs, alcohol and other stuff.
By that fancier definition, about 8.5 percent of youth age 8 to 18 who play You must login or register to view this content. games look to be what most of us would call addicted, a new study finds.
By that fancier definition, about 8.5 percent of youth age 8 to 18 who play You must login or register to view this content. games look to be what most of us would call addicted, a new study finds.
Originally posted by another user
"What we mean by You must login or register to view this content. is that something someone is doing — in this case, playing video games — is damaging to their functioning," Gentile said. "It's not simply doing it a lot. It has to You must login or register to view this content. in multiple ways."Gentile compared the 2007 Harris Poll survey to standards and symptoms established for pathological gambling — causing family, social, school or psychological damage because of their video game playing habits. Gamers were classified as "pathological" if they exhibited at least six of 11 symptoms.
The You must login or register to view this content. in the study played video games 24 hours per week, about twice as much as non-pathological gamers. They also were more likely to have video game systems in their bedrooms, reported having more trouble paying attention in school, received poorer grades in school, had more health problems, were more likely to feel "addicted," and even stole to support their habit.
The study also found that pathological gamers were twice as likely to have been diagnosed with attention problems such as Attention Deficit Disorder or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.
The You must login or register to view this content. in the study played video games 24 hours per week, about twice as much as non-pathological gamers. They also were more likely to have video game systems in their bedrooms, reported having more trouble paying attention in school, received poorer grades in school, had more health problems, were more likely to feel "addicted," and even stole to support their habit.
The study also found that pathological gamers were twice as likely to have been diagnosed with attention problems such as Attention Deficit Disorder or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.
Originally posted by another user
"I started studying video game addiction in 1999 largely because I didn't believe in it," said Gentile, who is co-author of "Violent Video Game Effects on Children and Adolescents: Theory, Research, and Public Policy" (2007, Oxford University Press). "I assumed that parents called it 'addiction' because they didn't understand why their children spent so much time playing. So I measured the way you measure pathological gambling and the way it harms functioning, and was surprised to find that a substantial number of gamers do rise to that level (of pathological addiction)."Now he's calling for more research to figure out how to treat the condition.
"There is still much we do not know," Gentile said. "We don't know who's most at risk, or whether this is part of a pattern of disorders. That's important because many disorders are co-morbid with others. It may be a symptom of depression, for example. And so we would want to understand that pattern of co-morbidity because that would help us know how to treat it."
"There is still much we do not know," Gentile said. "We don't know who's most at risk, or whether this is part of a pattern of disorders. That's important because many disorders are co-morbid with others. It may be a symptom of depression, for example. And so we would want to understand that pattern of co-morbidity because that would help us know how to treat it."
03-28-2012, 07:04 PM
#11
mattman6396
Do a barrel roll!
Originally posted by Sublimity
As you would know, an addiction is
This would mean that even 1 hour a day can be an addiction if that hour meets the criteria of the definition.
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Also, to nicotine. You at first become addicted to the high that the nicotine produces, then you lose the high and the withdraw begins so you start smoking more to kill that feeling.
Pretty shitty really.
This would mean that even 1 hour a day can be an addiction if that hour meets the criteria of the definition.
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Also, to nicotine. You at first become addicted to the high that the nicotine produces, then you lose the high and the withdraw begins so you start smoking more to kill that feeling.
Pretty shitty really.
What you said reminds me to mention this:
Originally posted by another user
The gamers (who said they played video games at least 24 hours per week) were classified as "pathological" if they exhibited at least six of 11 symptoms: salience (the activity dominates the person's life), euphoria or relief (the activity provides a "high" or the relief of unpleasant feelings), tolerance (over time, a greater amount of activity is needed to achieve the same "high"), withdrawal symptoms (the person experiences unpleasant physical effects or negative emotions when unable to engage in the activity), conflict (the activity leads to clashes with other people, work, obligations, or oneself), and relapse and reinstatement (the person continues the activity despite attempts to abstain from it).
The results of the survey, published today in the online edition of Psychological Science: that 88 percent of American kids between the ages of eight and 18 play video games occasionally or more and that four times as many boys as girls in the study were considered "pathological gamers."
The results of the survey, published today in the online edition of Psychological Science: that 88 percent of American kids between the ages of eight and 18 play video games occasionally or more and that four times as many boys as girls in the study were considered "pathological gamers."
(Here is the link to the full article in case anyone is interested: You must login or register to view this content. )
To summarize what that says, basically the time spent playing video games can vary from 1 hour a day to all day, but the person is not addicted unless they meet 6 of these 11 "guidelines". To be honest, I think that there is probably a trend in the amount of time spent playing, and the likelihood of being addicted, but technically, according to this organization, the time spent doesn't determine addiction. Hopefully that makes sense.
03-29-2012, 04:34 PM
#12
Jemmy
Level 2 Trustworthy
I believe it is possible to be addicted to video gaming but that being said I think that anyone who plays them "responsibly" and understands that it is nothing more than a game will be fine. Personally I play video games a lot and it doesn't really affect me; I can get my work done, exercise and do other things like hanging out with friends. It's really about finding a balance. Obviously finding this balance is harder for smaller children and they are likely to be addicted or have any number possible mental health issues from excessive gaming. In the end though, I think the real problem is child gamers; a few drastic cases make video gaming seem highly addictive and a cause of many problems but I think most mature people can balance themselves.
04-01-2012, 06:47 AM
#13
VHS
Has been a while
There are just too many confounding variables when it comes to categorizing/generalizing the physical/mental attributes of a video game addict. That's why I never really rely on the data given by articles similar to this one because the sample size of their "study/survey" is just not big enough. In my opinion, video gaming addiction is something ominous that is present in the community. But I see these addictions at different levels of severity for certain people.
For me personally I think video gaming is a hobby and a passion. Yeah I play a good amount of hours a week playing video games but I never allowed gaming to affect my life negatively; I may have the luxury to say that for myself but unfortunately other people have a "stronger passion" for video games and actually allow it to affect their lives negatively.
Check this article out: You must login or register to view this content.
~When I read this piece on my Wall Street Journal I almost had a heart attack lol... I never expected the journalists there to write a piece about video games.
For me personally I think video gaming is a hobby and a passion. Yeah I play a good amount of hours a week playing video games but I never allowed gaming to affect my life negatively; I may have the luxury to say that for myself but unfortunately other people have a "stronger passion" for video games and actually allow it to affect their lives negatively.
Check this article out: You must login or register to view this content.
~When I read this piece on my Wall Street Journal I almost had a heart attack lol... I never expected the journalists there to write a piece about video games.
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