Gaming Addictions; medical or just mental?

I wouldn't classify gaming addictions as a medical issue. It's really just a mental thing and having self-control. It shouldn't really be a problem unless the person is driven to the state where they eat, breathe and drink for the sake of playing a video game. Then of course, they would require help.

In a way, I suppose, this also relates to the issue of parents/guardians taking the responsibility of teaching when to work and when to play.

 

Well this still implies nothing more than that we have a choice in the matter. To play is to be conscientious of the fact that you are doing so, and thus you control how involved you become. There is definitely a social phenomenon at work when a person socializes more on an mmorpg than in face-to-face meetings. Whether it is good or bad is a matter of debate. It's obvious that their needs for interaction are being met through another medium, so would calling it a "condition" or "psychological issue" really be right? As always there are those that take it too far and engage in a mindless, gaming stupor- of course chances are there's more wrong with them than just being addicted to a game; they could be high in situation anxiety, avoidance, and a multitude of other traits.

 

i can't see how it can be medical so i would say mental becuz it's something done by choice

 

149 people so obsessed with a game they lost their lives out of the few millions who play...it's not that big of a margin here to call it a medical condition.

I think more that it is an addictive personality and possibly Obsessive Compulsive Disorder still as there does not seem to be anything that implies someone will get addicted to it despite their efforts to say no. I think it's the feeling that those with an addictive personality get from playing the video games. It's no different really than a person who drinks obsessively, overeating, over collecting things/hording, does drugs, gambles, etc. The thing that makes it different from drugs and alcohol is that these can be chemically addicting where someone can get physically ill and go through heavy withdrawal symptoms as the body repairs itself. However, gambling, watching too much TV, collecting/hording, video games, music, food, etc..these are not that way. I believe it's a problem with the person then, and not the video game or the other things that regular people just entertain themselves with.

I'll explain in another essay, much to the dismay or pleasure of some. =:) Some people simply cannot say 'no'. They will let their lives go down the toilet because of an addiction to something and they are usually in denial or avoiding other things. It can be hard for people to get a grasp on their addictions.

We do tend to however just get mad at people who get absorbed in behaviors of addiction. They irritate the vast majority of others with the fact they can tune out their lives and just do whatever as if no one around them suddenly matters. When people leave the addictive person, it only furthers them to grow worse because to avoid the depression, they turn to the one thing that won't let them down and makes them feel better, even if it is the cause of what is destroying the person's relationships.

We have not really found a solid way of helping people with addictions though, as 12 step and other things are just replacing one addiction with another. Sometimes the people are fortunate to find their own ways of dealing with it. Sometimes they cannot and need medications to aid them and some reconstruction habits are required to teach them how to stave off the addiction. More research really is needed in helping people with addictive personalities to overcome the ailment. So while I don't see 'video games' as causes of addiction, I see that that the person who gets addicted to them has a problem, just as with any other thing someone can get compulsive about. It's the person that requires help because their wiring is somehow messed up and to classify this as a medical condition because they are addicted to 'video games' seems to be silly.

We need to instead analyze what gets people addicted to -anything- that isn't chemically altering in itself to make someone dependent on it. There is something wrong that the person cannot simply stop doing a compulsive addictive thing. Asking questions like 'what makes us able to drop something and go while someone else you have to drag from the table or couch?' 'Why is this person watching TV for 15 hours a day and yet others can move away and watch maybe 2 to 4 hours a day or no TV at all?'. 'Why can we win some games and lose..and when we lose enough we quit, but that guy can't be dragged away from the table until he's lost all of the money he came with?' Why is this person putting his/her house up for bid to gamble it away?' 'Why is this person buying and buying things even though they are super in debt?' etc. Addiction is a self-destructive behavior and the sooner we can answer these questions, the sooner we will be to more plausible cures for it. It always destroys the person's life, can make them homeless even, lose their families, ostracize the person etc. It does not matter what the object of their passion is. It's that they find it and can't seem to peel away from it and will go at great lengths to do or possess the thing of their obsession.

 

that's so true... I mean you can spend a week in the forest and not even think of a computer... but you can't stay out there without a smoke (if you're addicted and don't want to quit), It's just something to do for fun

besides im a chocoholic XDD

 

If your understanding of reality alters, I think its a mental issue. Like that little boy that killed himself of World Of Warcraft because he wanted to live with his "heroes". That's not healthy.