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Read what I think is a hugely interesting article on games, drugs, addiction and other related subjects.
http://cmcguckin.blogspot.com/2004/10/addicted-gamers-losing-their-way.html
In short it argues that people with mood disorders (depression, bipolar, etc.) and psycoses are drawn to games because certain chemicals (adrenaline, serotonin and dopamine) are out of whack in that person’s system and that games, along with drugs helps produce them.
Thoughts?
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Definitely true, well for my self anyway,
I’ve cut down the amount of time I play games cos as soon as I get a new one I absolutely refuse to stop playing until it’s finished. That and drink about 3 gallons of coffee a day.Perfectly normal :rolleyes:
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Its true, I’ve seen his stainless steel 1.5 gallon thermos cup!
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Pretty good article, i remember reading somthing about people wanting to use games as a too for rehab, suppose it would work, take away one addiction and give them another (less harmfull one)
I don’t have enough time to play games anyway these days, well not as much as I would like. Soldiering through KOTOR II and Resi 4 at the minute.
Though no matter how little time i have i still manage to keep buyin them though. Thats all i need, games, tea and smokes.:cool:
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I hear desperate attempts to win humour awards at the last minute and a tragic dissociation with bit-part has-been actors are also symptoms Pete :)
But back to the point, some of the things that could potentialy be argued from the article:
– a certain part of society are far more likely (genetically) to play games, and from an early age.
– people who play games are far more likely to already have emotion related illnesses and not vice-versa as the media might like to make out.
– Gamers are more likely to partake in alcohol, drugs etc as it provides a similar high.Dave
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Maybe I’m not normal here, but I don’t ever get a “high” from playing games. I enjoy them, but I wouldn’t get the same feeling as I would from alcohol! ;)
I also don’t think replacing one addiction with another is good. Yes, being addicted to games is not as bad as being addicted to drugs or alcohol, but replacing this addiction with another is not fixing the problem…..
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bit-part has-been actors [/quote:072d02e383]
To whom, exactly, are you referring?
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I think he means Jean Claude Van Damme…..
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Maybe I’m not normal here, but I don’t ever get a “high” from playing games. [/quote:2529fa3706]
Oh? Do you never get a sense of enjoyment or even contentment from playing a game? Never get a sense of satisfaction that you beat a particularly tough boss, or relief that you managed to save the game just before you died? Else you would have no real interest in playing them!I enjoy them, but I wouldn’t get the same feeling as I would from alcohol! ;)[/quote:2529fa3706]
Of course. They are different stimuli, and create different results. Both games and alcohol both have the same effect of making you feel better about yourself though, in effect, a high.I also don’t think replacing one addiction with another is good. [/quote:2529fa3706]
Again I cant agree. I’d rather be addicted to smoking then to Heroin, and I’d rather play games than be a smoker. Some addictions are better (less bad?) for you than others, and with many addictive personalities, its about succumbing to whatever addiction happens to be handy, not an addiction to something specific. Also, some addictions are easier to control than others. Its not fixing the problem as you say, but as the article points out the problem is part based on genetics, and therefore to a certain extent unavoidable.Dave
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So true!
That article cetainly has some accuracy in it!I remember seeing something on Bbc last year about the effect that games have on your mind in your sleep.
They showed this couple all tucked up in bed and next thing the guy gets up and wanders around the room waking up his girlfriend. He wandered over to a window and as she woke up and looked at him he was standing crouched peering through the curtains. He had a stance as if holding an imaginary sniper rifle – when she asked him what he was doing he told her to shutup that they were about to attack and she had better take cover!
It was hilarious but kinda scary at the same time! Turns out he had been playing Counterstrike for hours before bed and it had this effect on him – he was in a total trance and stayed there most of the night perched at the window. She couldnt wake him up (I think youre possibly not meant to wake sleepwalkers anyway for fear of a heart attack!)
Bottom line the effect games have on your brain is an awful lot worse than we think! They said if he had a real gun god only knows what could have happened!
Interesting to think that games are so addictive your brain doesnt switch off to rest!Scary thought!
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Maybe I do get a certain high as such then. However I wouldn’t class myself as being addicted to games in general, or addicted to anything really.
To be addicted to something you have to be obsessive over it, to the point of neglecting more important things in order to fulfill the addiction….and I don’t see myself as being obsessed about anything. Yes, I have a great interest in various things, including games, but not to the point of being addicted to them.I also think to be truly addicted to games would mean you have more pyschological problems then if you are addicted to, say, heroin. Why? Simply because heroin is a far more potent drug then anything your brain may produce when playing a game. So it would obviously be far more easy to become addicted to a drug than a game.
Having said that, I doubt most people addicted to games are going to go out and commit crimes in order to be able to buy the latest release…
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The article doesnt really refer to addiction but rather to the physiological effects of playing games and how they make people feel more positive about themselves (in the short term). It only becomes addiction when the addictor (drugs, games etc) becomes important to the point that they are negatively affecting the rest of the persons life (anyone ever failed an exam because they wanted to play a game rather than study?). AFAIK, obsession is completely distinct from addiction (think obsessive compulsive disorder which is an obsession, but not considered addictive).
Also, the very last person you should ask about being addicted to anything is yourself. Denial is a fundamental part of any addiction.
I also think to be truly addicted to games would mean you have more pyschological problems then if you are addicted to, say, heroin.[/quote:822e6bdf57]
Games provide a lesser high and a correpondingly lesser low than hard drugs, and as such should lead to less criminality (another arguement that some addictions are better than others). This does not necessarily mean that they are less addictive however. While i have no statistics, I would imagine that the average game addict spends more time playing games than the average heroin addict spends high. The only difference with the Heroin addict is that he will have additional physiological problems as a result.Dave
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Its could also be said that a video game addcition does have a few benefits, increased reflexes and the others mentioned, but smoking, alcohol and drugs don’t have any.
While I currently play games several hours a day, I wouldn’t considered myself an addict. I’d quite happily do something else if I could find something else to do with my time. -
I think it would be a lot harder for a heroin addict to give up heroin, than for a videogame addict to give up games!
AFAIK, obsession is completely distinct from addiction (think obsessive compulsive disorder which is an obsession, but not considered addictive).[/quote:d4221460f9]
I think obsession can be used in relation to addiction as a person becomes obsessed with their next high, and how to get it.
The definition of “addicted” on webster states:
to devote or surrender (oneself) to something habitually or obsessivelyI was using “obsession” as a way of describing an addiction, not comparing addiction to any obsessive compulsive disorders. :)
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Never get a sense of satisfaction that you beat a particularly tough boss, or relief that you managed to save the game just before you died?[/quote:436eccf165]
Definitely know what you’re talking about here, I get that “high” when i’m really into the game. A few gamers i know have also said they’ve had dreams about a game they were playing after a particularly long session (myself included). So i think it definitely does affect your sleeping patterns/behaivour .
I’d say the reason drugs are tied in with gaming is all about the situation and what people want to experience. Cannabis seems to be the most popular with gamers probably because you could smoke it, relax and still play without being wound up to your eyeballs. Some people also say it enhances music/films so the same could be said about games.
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I was using the top google definition of addiciton “An illness in which a person seeks and consumes a substance, such as alcohol, tobacco or a drug, despite the fact that it causes harm.”
Note a physical addiction (from certain types of drugs) where the body requires certain substances does not require an obsession which is a psychological problem. I would thus suggest that addiction triggers obsessive behaviour, but is not necessarily part of it.
Dave
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Very interesting Dave.
I have to agree with the point about addictions being psychological.
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