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General: Keeping Our Gamers Healthy
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
In this week's column, MMORPG.com's Angie Webb takes on the issue of gamer health. Angie looks at the symptoms...and the solutions...to the sometimes problematic issue of loving our games and remembering the larger world too. See if you are a healthy gamer.
What is addiction? According to Websters dictionary it’s: a state of being enslaved to a habit or practice or to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming, as narcotics, to such an extent that its cessation causes severe trauma.
If we apply this definition to us gamers, then we can interpret it as: gaming so much that when not gaming you feel as though your hands have been cut off; thus “addicted”.
Find out if you're a healthy gamer.
Comments
As a mental health professional I am getting tired of seeing computer use listed as an addiction. Addictions are mental health problems that require specific criteria to be met in order to be classified as such. Addiction should not be defined by the dictionary but by the Diagnostic and Statistic Manual of Mental Disorders 4th Edition Text Revision (DSM-IV TR). Things that are solely behaviors are not classified as addictions. If they were then any behavior taken to excess could be considered an addiction. This just isn't the case. Behaviors taken to excess are simply examples of learning. You do something, it provides you with enjoyment, this enjoyment provides reinforcement and encourages the repetition of the behavior. At this point in time even gambling is not classified as an addiction. Gambling is considered an impulse control disorder. Other impulse control disorders include pyromania and kleptomania. Perhaps with these latter examples you can begin to see the addiction metaphor start to weaken. These are two different categories of illness that are treated in two different fashions. While I admit that there is a resemblence between these two types of phenomenon they simply are not the same.
The current criteria for substance abuse and substance dependence can be seen below (there are no other kinds of addiction/dependence or abuse):
DSM-IV Substance Abuse Criteria
Substance dependence is defined as a maladaptive pattern of substance use leading to clinically significant
impairment or distress as manifested by one (or more) of the following, occurring within a 12-month period:
1. Recurrent substance use resulting in a failure to fulfill major role obligations at work, school, or home (such as repeated absences or poor work performance related to substance use; substance-related absences, suspensions, or expulsions from school; or neglect of children or household).
2. Recurrent substance use in situations in which it is physically hazardous (such as driving an automobile or operating a machine when impaired by substance use)
3. Recurrent substance-related legal problems (such as arrests for substance related disorderly conduct)
4. Continued substance use despite having persistent or recurrent social or interpersonal problems caused or exacerbated by the effects of the substance (for example, arguments with spouse about consequences of intoxication and physical fights).
Alternatively, the symptoms have never met the criteria for substance dependence for this class of substance.
DSM-IV Substance Dependence Criteria Addiction (termed substance dependence by the American Psychiatric Association) is defined as a maladaptive pattern of substance use leading to clinically significant impairment or distress, as manifested by three (or more) of the following, occurring any time in the same 12-month period:
1. Tolerance, as defined by either of the following:
(a) A need for markedly increased amounts of the substance to achieve intoxication or the desired effect
or
(b) Markedly diminished effect with continued use of the same amount of the substance.
2. Withdrawal, as manifested by either of the following:
(a) The characteristic withdrawal syndrome for the substance
or
(b) The same (or closely related) substance is taken to relieve or avoid withdrawal symptoms.
3. The substance is often taken in larger amounts or over a longer period than intended.
4. There is a persistent desire or unsuccessful efforts to cut down or control substance use.
5. A great deal of time is spent in activities necessary to obtain the substance, use the substance, or recover from its effects.
6. Important social, occupational, or recreational activities are given up or reduced because of substance use.
7. The substance use is continued despite knowledge of having a persistent physical or psychological problem that is likely to have been caused or exacerbated by the substance (for example, current cocaine use despite recognition of cocaine-induced depression or continued drinking despite recognition that an ulcer was made worse by alcohol consumption).
DSM-IV criteria for substance dependence include several specifiers, one of which outlines whether substance dependence is with physiologic dependence (evidence of tolerance or withdrawal) or without physiologic dependence (no evidence of tolerance or withdrawal). In addition, remission categories are classified into four subtypes: (1) full, (2) early partial, (3) sustained, and (4) sustained partial; on the basis of whether any of the criteria for abuse or dependence have been met and over what time frame. The remission category can also be used for patients receiving agonist therapy (such as methadone maintenance) or for those living in a controlled, drug-free environment.
While common language may lump behaviors in as addictions, this is simply not the case. Certainly, parallells can be drawn. You can replace the word substance with a specific behavior in the above criteria and create the vision of an addiction to that behavior. However, the formation and maintenance of these habits or impulse control problems is not the same as the formation and maintenance of an addiction.
The move to turn behaviors into addictions, is simply a move by mental health professionals to be able to bill insurance companies for more money. The more disorders we create the more money we can make; sad, but true.
I don't mean to come off as rude, this is just a pet peeve of mine.
Edit: I get the point of this article. I am not saying playing games until you basically drop dead of exhaustion or ignoring all of your social, occupational, educational, etc. responsibilities is appropriate. I'm just saying it's not an addiction.
Steam: Neph
I'm sorry but life sucks for most people. You work your ass off to barely make ends meet, all your 'friends' are really just aholes that you kill time with, and deep down you know you will never really be anyone of importance. Your kids have taken away most fun aspects of your life, though you know that after 25 you are obsolete anyways.
What point is there in putting mental health above the ability to cope with how horrible reality is?
Having a sense of well-being or euphoria while at the computer. - uh duh why else would you do it.
Inability to stop the activity. - odd. if you can't stop then what's the point of lecturing people about it.
Craving more and more time at the computer. - or doing something else that's an escape, what's the difference
Neglect of family and friends. - you mean aholes and bigger aholes, yes and yes please.
Feeling empty, depressed, or irritable when not at the computer. - Life is empty, irritating, and depressing, go figure.
Lying to employers and family about activities. - you mean telling aholes something, ANYthing to avoid them, yes.
Problems with school or job. - oh let's see, you mean besides both being pointless timesinks?
Truth is you can apply most of those to every single person on the planet. People get absorbed in their work, their children, their spouse, their games, their booze, their hobbies etc. Everyone has an escape. Hygiene, proper eating, and other habits have nothing to do with addiction. You can be highly addicted and still highly functional, and you can be just a sloth who doesn't do anything at all.
The older I get, the sadder my life becomes. I won't go into details, but most people who read this will know eventually, under a pile of denial, that they are the same. They will watch their projects turn to failures, their passions fade, and the people they know and love become estranged or die.
Just let us be.
*emerges from his cave*
Wha?! This is news to me!
Thank goodness I still have my cigarettes and McDonald's to keep me feeling good and healthy.
But seriously, I'm getting tired of these pseudo-journalists/bloggers posting shit like this and calling it news on this site. But, of course, like a alzheimer's patient I keep clicking on them expecting something insightful and new.
Currently Playing: Nothing...I'm developing.
Looking Forward To:
Well said. You can be "addicted" to multiple things but this article proves again that some people want to put the gaming industry in the corner and be able to call "witch!" upon it when needed.
Life is a lot more retarded than being "addicted" to gaming.
I'm not going to step in and tell another adult to manage his life better, some people just plain suck at it and always will. When it wasn't computer games it was nintendo, when it wasn't nintendo it was tv, when it wasn't tv it was books. People who act like that will always find an escape mechanism to drown out real life, it isn't computers or games fault.
Just like the posters above I'm tired of people blaming computer games just because certain people can't manage their lives. Those same people would lose all their money gambling and casinos would be to blame, or get out of shape by watching TV for 18 hours a day. No matter what you regulate those same people will find a way to destroy their lives, how about we blame the people for once.
If you can't manage real life and computer games then to be honest you are pathetic or you are not yet an adult. If you're not an adult yet, then one day you will realize the importance of the rest of your life as you grow up, the majority of people do. If you are in the other group you always will be, regardless of how you ignore life.
Perhaps it is just modern survival of the fittest. Those who can't manage real life with recreational activities are now less likely to breed, so the stronge genes go on. Let's not interfere with that process or we will constantly have to cater to the weak and regulate stuff that doesn't need to be.
i fell empty, depressed, or irritable when I AM at the computer.
so im good? =p
now: GW2 (11 80s).
Dark Souls 2.
future: Mount&Blade 2 BannerLord.
"Bro, do your even fractal?"
Recommends: Guild Wars 2, Dark Souls, Mount&Blade: Warband, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning.
Well-being intended by the article, no doubt.
But generally mental fitness as well as physical fitness are both to be aspired to for full health and well-being. this sort of stuff should be a bigger part of the curiculum for kids as it's for life, not just for exams.
http://www.gdcvault.com/play/1014633/Classic-Game-Postmortem
You are assuming far more than you could possibly know without robust research. How the hell are you so sure that a person, that is currently "addicted" to computer games, would not become "addicted" to something more healthier or productive such adrenaline from physical exercise or stimulation from working, if the computer games did not exist?
While you have a responsability to take care of yourself as an adult, you can't ignore underlying causes. Which is one good reason why many drugs are not legal.
One really good reason that ive avoided getting kids is that i consider myself a "big kid".
I pay my bills and do what i gotta do, but being resposible for a baby is not something i wanna spend time on. If i did have an "accident" and got a little one, id have to quit or seriusly moderate my gaming and movie-watching.
Without going to deep into my personal history, its iterresting to see that to me computer games were more addicting than any drugs.
Even today, if i find a good game, i might end up loosing track of time and play for hours.
In the life i live today, computers and games/movies are more a thing to pass time than anything else.
Back in the days when i were really addicted(age 12-16) id get really moody and think about playing games when i wherent playing.
I remember getting dragged along on "vacation" with no computer and not being able to think of much else. Its funny to think back on, i actualy were addicted to games like "X-Com: Terror From The Deep" and "Dune II" among others.
When World of Warcraft came out i got addicted to that for a time. This is most likey the reason why i got really burned out on MMOs. Beacouse of "how blizzard fucked over the original players" ive sworn to not touch any blizzard game ever again.
So now iam just using my computer way to much. Its ether that or get more hobbies.
Or start a family. Its not tempting to take care of a baby or 3 for the next 20+ years.
But who knows, maybe in 6 months ill be obsessed with some woman. Maybe tomorrow.
A m8 once said "no time is wasted, unless you think it is".
The rest of society might not agree, but i get it.
For a gamer i think the rules are:
How to fight addiction:
"An obsession beyond your control, is an addiction."
Thats my thought. Maybe stating the obious :P
http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/261448/page/5
"I'd just like to see more games that focus on the world, and giving the people in it more of a role, im tired of these constant single player games that you can walk around with millions of people."
- Parsalin
Here is my observation
Video Games like MMORPGs are the largest time sinks. However, in China they declared such habit to be an addiction and spent money on furthering their education system and after-school programs....they posted top results for several years consecutively.
Video games are supported by the government because it gives people something to do. If you are kept online at a video game, it means one less voter out there.....and one less person to actually stay on top of the government. Corporations love Video Games as they are money generators.
The reality is that someday one person wakes up and finds out the truth:
Video games are cool, but your years are burned away playing them. They retard your growth in the real world since time is Finite. Playing a game for 8 hours a day means you are not doing something else you should be doing. Now this isn't me targetting games...this is me targetting the Internet itself.
More and more people stay online in forumboards posting day in and day out, just staring at a screen for hours. Before the Internet Existed people were fighting Television and Cell Phone Addiction. Before Television existed, people were addicted to radio..Before then people were addicted to endlessly reading Novels and not doing anything else...
Addiction has existed before, but the internet is on a mass scale.
What I do for my health is the following:
1) I learned to cook a lot of recipes that take 4 - 10 minutes. Its true! I like cooking and can cook pretty well.
2) Be a leader, but also be a follower too. Nothing is worse than a teacher without a master...Do not be afraid to find cold spots in an area online during long hauls in MMORPGs or Shooters and tell your friends "Lets take a 10 minute break to eat or do whatever we want, stretch out...etc" But don't be afraid to also play the morale player...:)
3) Meet one person in your game on another medium and establish a relationship that goes beyond the scope of the game. Become friends and make it a task and agreement for the two of you to check up on each other where it counts. This is what has kept me going online for years... ^_^
4) Something that I do is stretch regularly and switch to another, but active hobby to do something more physical than pressing buttons and give my body a rest with something else.
5) Play multiple Games. Mental health is important and playing one game for long periods of time is an easy way to be cut off from the rest of the world of gaming. Its also the easiest way to become a dependent on a game and be prone to a lot of things. Having another game to play is a great way of dealing with the elitist One-Game crowd that believes anything they do is higher than the actions of anyone else.
There are many other things I do...Just watch yourself and you'll be fine. Remember you have to balance the real world with the gaming world. If you are young like 12 - 20, don't slack too much on games...You do need to learn a ton of things or your 20s - 30s will be lousy when you get to talking to people who are not gamers who are around your age.
Have fun ^_^
Because it isn't addiction, as others in this thread have pointed out. It is escapism, so when their means of escaping the real world is gone, they will turn to another and another and another. That type of person that ruins their lives through video games are the ones avoiding/escaping real life. It has nothing to do with video games, that is just the method they are using.
The drug reference is a tricky one to pull off, because cigarettes and alcohol both have negative side effects and can both be addictive just as drugs are. Some drugs were picked to be illegal for all kinds of reasons, Marijuanna was a political agenda from a white politician who hated non-white people. It had little to do with the drug itself. Alcohol was illegal for a period of time but then it was legalized again. So just saying drugs as a whole proves nothing. The one thing that all drugs do have in common is the fact they change the bodies chemicals which ACTUALLY causes addiction. That is something video games do not meaning video games can not cause addictions.
So in short I am not assuming things, it is not actually addictions we are talking about, it is escapism and that is something a person will do with whatever outlet they can. I'd rather so people take responsibility for what they are doing, then everyone else get some kind of ridiculous regulation applied to a non addictive material.
Sounds like you're a (WoW) raider.. Raid time usually makes people depressed, empty and irritable.
Ill have to disagree with you SnarlingWolf.
Of course youre right, its escapesim. If the real world were so fantastic, then why do people and even animals like to get drunk / high?
They think reality is boring. Some people hate reality, some fear it, alot of people find it boring.
You think the people that think reality is a little bit boring wanna get hooked on some drug? Most likely they just want a different experience because of theyre boredom.
Problem is when they like it to much.
This isnt just about drugs and games. Some people are addicted to tv and food. Maybe both at the same time. You think those people wanna be 5' and 200 pounds?
Then theres the addictions thats just wierd. Like nicotine.
I lit my first one when i where 8 years old. It dont really tast that good. It dont get me high. It cost alot of uneccesary money. And for some reason it drags me back every time i quit.
I honestly think that an addiction is a psychological thing thats geneticly inherent in some people more than others. They just like something different than the boring reality.
http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/261448/page/5
"I'd just like to see more games that focus on the world, and giving the people in it more of a role, im tired of these constant single player games that you can walk around with millions of people."
- Parsalin
No time to play! Need to finish this website and then it's time to go to:
Campzone! (http://campzone.nl)
Where we, euhm, play games, but also BBQ, drink beer, socialize (haha sure) for 11 days on a grass field, with around 1000 people. Woot!
But yeah, I can easily lose myself in a game, though I often don't even get to that.
There are different ways to "escape" the real world. To be more precise, there are different ways to "escape" different aspects of the real world. For instance, some people might want to escape the tragedy of a death. They can do that in numerous ways. They can, for instance, become completely absorbed by their work or computer games. The difference is that becoming absorbed by their work would be far more productive and substainable than becoming absorbed by their computer games.
In other words, my point is that the escapism does not necessarily need to cause the persons to self-destroy themselves like you implied in your first post. The methods used to escape can be very productive and healthy. This is why I thought and still think you were assuming too much in that post of yours.
As for my reference to drugs, several of them are kept illegal because there is a consensus that a signficant amount of people are not strong enough mentally to be able to resist temptations that could screw them over and damage the rest of society. In other words: the general individual can't be trusted too much.
So when someone asks me who is to be blame for person X's excessive use of computer games, I would answer that both the games themselves are to blame but also the person in question. This is why I don't find the gaming hours/day restrictions, imposed in China, to be unreasonable.
While I didnt read the story behind this thread, I did read everyones post. umm, well I feel strongly about everyone going threw life just as everone else. Everything isnt perfect for everyone another words. I have lots to say but I cant seem to put it into anything rationally. This is obviously a touchy subject and has been for a long time. Iv made plenty threads that roam close to this but nothing quite point blank on. I think instead of jumping right into and saying keeping are gamers healthy it would be better to discuss things like attension, coherance, fun, relaxing, those type of words when we think of mmorpgs. Yes real life is a hard place, for everyone that lives on this planet, dont get fooled its not. Its easy to get stuck into thinking everyone around you is so much better off but in reality its totally not so. You dissolution yourself this way it only makes others hurt more.
I think the best advice can come from someone that you respect and love and look up to in matters of these things. Age plays no role in how cruel the world is to some one. The world is a cruel and unjust place for many souls that spend there exsistance in exile and pain. This is alot of how the world works, everyone knows some one in there life time that fits this category, its not something that just dosnt happen. Dont dissolution yourself that it dosnt cause it does.
Iv said before that gaming and mmo genre are in there infancy and now the only reason were discusing this in the first place is because its socially unacceptable by many parents, family, realatives and general public to spend alot of time gaming. First of all there are econmical issues that the vast majority of the government and citizens dilute them selves with to stay afloat in the world not to become exiles like I mentioned earlier feeding of unwilling victims that dont conform to this. In the end thats just the nature of the beast, no one person can stop it not even barack obama. So while some one is gaming alot, another is crippling his foes in the economy and waiting for his next victom which may be you spending your time gaming. IF this was reversed for hypothetical example, and gaming was a jugernaught beast like the government is with economy, everyone would be gaming and having a blast meeting new people and chating and generally having a good time with there lives. We wouldnt be saying "Why gaming could be construde as an addiction and why it really hurts people", we would be talking about what were going to be doing next year because all are time is taken up this year will be having fun and doing things we enjoy on the net with others.
so... sometimes self-gratification is boring?
I was quite shocked the other day when I saw someone smoking in the church. I almost spilled my beer. Well, ok I am not exactly sure what this adds to the topic, but I was wondering the same with the column.
But I have something to offer. There was a news report once about the addiction clinic in amsterdam, where the head of the clinic told the journalists that gaming isn't really the issue with the "addicts", it is merely a symptom.
This gaming problem is a result of the society we live in today," Mr Bakker told BBC News. "Eighty per cent of the young people we see have been bullied at school and feel isolated. Many of the symptoms they have can be solved by going back to good old fashioned communication. [...] "It's a choice," he says. "These kids know exactly what they are doing and they just don't want to change. If no one is there to help them, then nothing will ever happen." BBC News
Bottom line, far most compulsive gamers aren't addicted to games, they are addicted to the acknowledgement they get from fellows, and addicted to success these games give them — what they didn't get in Real Life.
ADdiction FTW!!!! =D
Why was euphoria listed as a symptom... I mean just because it's truly what you love to do and the feeling you get from it is like no other... this does not have to mean that you're addicted or that it's even a part of the addiction. Euphoria is a good thing and keep it active!
)
Oh and btw... not all of us are facebook addicts like yourself OP. In fact, you kind of let us know just what type of person you really are by posting something like that. ><
I'm not "addicted" to my computer, or to games.
I'm fundamentally lazy, but with a very active mind. So the computer helps occupy my mind in addition to watching television simultaneously.
So, what I may be addicted to is laziness.
As a mental health professional I am getting tired of seeing computer use listed as an addiction. Addictions are mental health problems that require specific criteria to be met in order to be classified as such. Addiction should not be defined by the dictionary but by the Diagnostic and Statistic Manual of Mental Disorders 4th Edition Text Revision (DSM-IV TR)....
http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/165/3/306
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2719452/
I tend to agree with Block -
"In Blocks view, all three subtypes of IA show the features of excessive use, withdrawal phenomena, tolerance, and negative repercussionsfeatures that characterize many substance use disorders, such as opiate or sedative-hypnotic abuse. "
The article goes on to state that putative withdrawal has not been established but I have seen it in practice too many times to wonder why no data has been brought forth.
I have observed withdrawal symptoms that would be considered classic for other types of addiction - agitation, aggression, malaise, and depression - when the user is unable to get online. As I said, I agree with Block and believe that yes, it does constitute an addiction, and as such should be included in the DSM-V.
body everything u said is so true i agree with you 100%. everyone have a escape even if is not gaming. just let us gamers be. when we are ready pay attention of what going in the real world we put down our contolers or mouse and see what disappointments or enjoyment life have to offer us today.