University: Gaming addiction is real but over-diagnosed

[wraggster]

via joystiq (http://www.joystiq.com/2007/03/27/university-gaming-addiction-is-real-but-over-diagnosed/)

Research at the U.K's University of Bolton says that gaming addiction may be over-diagnosed up to 10 percent of the time because indicators that were previously thought to relate to a gaming addiction had been borrowed from gambling addictions; what are the odds? Those markers may not translate between the two behavior patterns as well as previously thought.

10 percent doesn't sound like a major mistake -- unless you're in that group -- but the study balances some recent reports that hype and overstate the problem. (Oh Tyra, we thought you were better than the local news.) Still, the research stresses that gaming addictions are real.

[wiredforpower]

Gaming addictions aren't real. I can quit any time I want to :D

[Dbgtgoten]

i doubt they are real its just the human mind trying to make addictions...lol...

[gronne]

It's funny how this side(the gaming side) ALWAYS and under no circumstances agree with the critics. I don't game as much as I used to, but sure as shit anyone ought to understand sitting in front of a videogame all day long will have negative impacts on you. It's by all means addictive to you. When you're in school only thinking about coming home to game, you're obviously addicted to it.

Human beings are not evolutionary built to sit in front of a TV all day. Soccer is lovely too kids, if you want to get a little older than 30, not dying from obesity.

[wolfpack]

Im not addicted, i just need something to do... yea thats it

Besides, better addicted to games than addicted to drugs

[Yobumtin]

Your mind can't become dependent on games..Unless it makes you feel better when your down or something. Then I guess a case might pop up. You could really love games and hate not playing them..But you can't be addicted.

[IM back!]

don't afect me.

game, game, game (O)(o) game, game, game :D

[caio6939]

I'm thick

[Basil Zero]

its just another reason for rehabs to make money

seriously, who plays games 24 hours straight, hard to believe

[JKKDARK]

Luckily I'm not addicted. I always have something to do, which is more important than video games.

[Kramer]

Im not addicted, i just need something to do... yea thats it

Besides, better addicted to games than addicted to drugs

Too right.


Luckily I'm not addicted. I always have something to do, which is more important than video games.

Lol:rofl:

[tsimehC]

Well I use too play a lot but now other things take more of a priority so I play very little nowadays. Being a child rocked.

[gronne]

Your mind can't become dependent on games..Unless it makes you feel better when your down or something. Then I guess a case might pop up. You could really love games and hate not playing them..But you can't be addicted.

That's a purely false statement you cannot backup. You very much so can be addicted to games, and a lot of kids are. Personally I have a slight addiction to browsing internet pages. It's not an issue, but it could be if I didn't try to control it. If I only had a better substitute it wouldn't be an issue at all, but as long as I don't, it's a possible problem for me.

Why can't people be a bit more sober on this problem? I've got friends I'm really worried about as EVERYTHING revolves around games. There's not a discussion that doesn't end with games... that's not a hobby, that's an addiction.

[Yobumtin]

Well either way its not that serious. Its just a psychological thing. The addictions I see that are more of a serious thing are the kind that if you don't recieve the substance or activity you're addicted to it can cause many problems (Not just boredom and sadness that you can't play a game.)

With minor changes one can be relieved from these "addictons".
Take up another hobby
Force your self to go outside and enjoy whats out there.
I mean usually when topics about computers or games are brought up in conversation its because you want to talk about it. You are not forced to talk about it as if you were addicted to niccotine you HAVE to have a cigarette. Its just a common social behaviour to talk about what you're interested in.

Even if its all a person does and its all a person talks about Its not good enough to call an addiction.

[StormB]

This has been written like the 'university of bolton' is a well known worldwide recognised institution :) i'm pretty sure it's just an ex-poly uni..

not that i'm saying their research is wrong of course - i can't prove either way. but bolton.. come on!

[iniquitous_beast]

I've got a roommate who I think has a gaming addiction. He plays online games mostly, but that is just about everything he does. He has even refused to go out to the movies with the rest of his friends, because he didn't think the movie would be better than the game he had been playing every night for the past 4 months. He sees no value in socialization, only in the entertainment medium he is currently using.

For many folks, I imagine that gaming addiction can be a temporary thing, often tied to one really loved game. While I've never seen someone try to kill to get their gaming fix; people can still get strongly hooked. My advice is like what everyone else has given: Go outside or hang out with friends in a non-videogame setting (But not soccer...anything but soccer).

Most people have the self-control necessary to pull themselves away from the game, but some, like my roommate, have addictive personalities. They will try to rationalize why it is better to play games all day instead of doing anything else.