Help me, I'm addicted to games!

[GagaMan]

All this recent news about gaming being bad for you is just coming from people that didn't grow up with video games around them, so their nick-picking at everything they can because they don't understand it. I bet there was a lot of stuff like this about TV when that first came around too. Mind you, TV really does feel like it rots your brain a lot of the time, since you are doing nothing but using your eyes. Mind you, I find it hard to be addicted to TV when most of it is so rubbish to me anyway XD

Gronne: Sorry, I missed that first post of yours *adjusts dodgy glassies*

[robotdevil]

Perhaps gaming is addictive, but for you to be completely anti-social I think there's a different underlying cause. Games aren't really the addiction, more of the release. Example? Most alcoholics (that I've met) have had other reasons than to just get drunk (with the exception of the college crowd). They can't handle the life they have to they do what they can to avoid it. I think games are the same thing. The only question is should they be regulated or should the public be better educated? I remember not too long ago when a certain game (Doom) was blamed for alot of teen-age violence. And before gaming got big it was all blamed on TV. And before TV got big, it was all blamed on movies. And before movies got big, it was all blamed on cocaine. Ok, maybe that last one might be true, but you get my point.

People need to blame something for their troubles because they can never accept the fact that it may be them. True, I play alot of games, but I wouldn't say that I'm addicted. When my GF wants to, uh, you know, the game is turned off, FAST. When my bud calls and say "hey, wanna hit the gun range?" Again, the game gets turned off (just not as fast).

And (slightly off topic) there have been alot of studies that say gaming may be good for mental development (depending on the game). Alot of RPG style games include extensive puzzle solving, and FPS style is proven to improve hand-eye coordination. And before you ask, no I don't have links to these stories anymore (My HD died about a month ago and all my good stuff left ). But I'm sure with a bit of google searching you can find these articles.

So if you think you are addicted to games take a good long look at why. If you have severe leg and neck injuries, then I wouldn't call gaming an addiction. It may actually be a way to connect socially with the outside world. And if forums like this aren't a social meeting place, then what the hell are they?

Hope that helps put this in a different light.

[jman420]

EXCACTLY! exactly! I have tried to explain that to people before, the human persona seems to be, blame everything on someone (or somthing) else! like you said robotdevil, people have been blaming violence on whatever they can for hundreds of years.. and if you honestly think about it, our poorly thought ideas of exsistance rely on blaming creation on another being...

from what I have noticed, people need to blame their hardships and problems on somthing else (I think you know who I'm speaking of)
all of religion is people asking for more, when people pray.. its not to say how happy they are, its to ask for more.. just in general, church is where you learn about a book, and ask for anything and everything....

I know I have gone off subject, but I say this because I agree, people will always need to blame someone (or something) else for the problems they have..

consider this if you will.. almost all parents I know would rather sit down and watch TV then do anything consctructive, (or do anything with their kids for that mater) and yet this is not considered "addictive" ??

its just another complaint, and as i said yesterday, the way a person can get rich by exploiting the parents of video gaming kids into thinking that their kids arent just having fun, its a mental illness.....

[gronne]

Even worse, the criminality in like the 14th century was worse than now, even more violence, as I've come to understand it. But so what? Does that mean it's OK to stimulate negative behaviours, just because it may have been worse 7 hundred years ago? Does that mean we've got some "buffer" to take from or something?

The problem today, when we apparently are so civilised, is that our society is so far away from what the evolution has made us into, that we in _NO_ possible way can cope with it. When I'm in asia, in the poor parts of e.g. Thailand(I'm in Malaysia now though), I realize that these kids, who have never even heard of a videogame-console, live so much more "natural" than we do. In my country we've got heaps of people with various mental issues, and it's getting worse by every year. The poor kids over here sleep in the same bed as their parents when they're having sex, and get to live under very (for us) harsh conditions, yet you don't see any mental problems here. Why? Because they're still humans. 100 years ago, people in my country were heavy farmers(roughly 95%), today only 3% are farmers(they do produce more than when we were 95%, though). If you can put two and two together, you'd pretty fast realize that it's an impossible equation. The human body can under no circumstances adapt to this change from working hard on the field for millions of years to instantly change that with sitting 8 hours straight infront of a computer every day. That means that we've CHOSEN not to accept the reality. It's like with alcohole, everyone who drinks, can with no problems "handle it", yet every year we get an increase of alcoholists in our society. Which means that some refuse to believe in the reality. JUST LIKE US ADDICTED TO GAMES. But it's very convenient to play games so we chose that infront of dealing with our boredom. All of these problems you now refuse to admit you have are most certainly cureable, but the more you refuse it, the harder it gets to come back. I'm not here to promote any philosophy, but meditation and Buddhism(non theistic "religion", you pray to the nature - Dhamma) has the answers. Meditation is something quite amazing, and I have no idea why it's not a big thing, like yoga became.

[Ennohex]

Idiots, the lot of them. ANYTHING can be an addiction. You could be addicted to Marmite or sport or brushing your teeth. It doesn't matter. The only thing that bugs the hell outta me is now, once again, gaming is given the negative press treatment.

Someone is always trying to attach a negative stigma on gaming, "addiction" is just today's catch phrase lure the uninformed to the subject, so that someone can press their point home. "What, my kids are gonna get addicted? How much money can I pay you Mr psychiatrist/therapist to make my kid better? Oh, you say there's a book?" You get the idea.

Some people... waaaay too gullable.

So now we get seen in the same light as the drug addicts? I tell ya, everytime I think I'm going nuts, I just read something like this and I feel sane again.

[Cap'n 1time]

I heard about the starcraft thing years ago.. but i didnt think it was true! anyway i find that interesting because i had a friend who was OBSESSED WITH SC!