I'm not sure if they are referring to gamers who play too much, or gamers who get on forums who appear to have some kind of disorder
"Can video games be addictive? One U.S. expert has no doubts."
http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/06/health/video-games-addiction-gentile-feat/?iid=ob_homepage_tech_pool&i
I self identify as a monkey.
Comments
Can a person be addicted to things? yes.
Can a person be addicted specifically to problem solving? yes.
Can a game be made to specifically exploit a given population? I think, yes.
Is a targeted person virtually powerless to this intentional exploit of his brain chemicals? I think, maybe.
This is a subject I've brought up several times. It's always met with derision, for a few reasons. A ) The people who know this is true, and are benefiting, want to keep it quiet. B ) People don't want to admit there's a possibility their will can be manipulated. C ) Not all people have brains which work "in this manner" and the idea, to them, is preposterous. D ) Truly, also existing are genuinely dumb people, and most want to make this all-inclusive with "people who get suckered", even if there is genuinely a very real, refarious, chemical process manipulation.
edit: All kinds of things affect our "reward centers". Are they all bad? Of course not. Some are pretty important, like eating and procreation. It's when these rewards are set to overdrive, for whatever reason or intent, we become ill.
It is still not a recognized mental disorder in the DSM5, This is what the APA has to say about it a couple of years ago:
By listing Internet Gaming Disorder in DSM’5 Section III, APA hopes to encourage research to determine whether the condition should be added to the manual as a disorder.
And it'll take more than one little superficial article in CNN citing some unknown psychologist to get it recognized.
After all, Ethan Couch's defense team found a psychologist for hire willing to testify in court about "affluenza" being a real illness, and sold it to the judge.
And speaking of companies and ways of encouraging more cash shop purchases, have you guys seen the current big budget ad campaign Clash of Clans is running using Christoph Walz? I see it in Canada all the time especially when watching NHL hockey games. There are several but this one struck me as being particularly blatant appealing to our "giving selves" to buy and gift stuff:
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
In addition, just because it isn't in the DSM-V, doesn't mean it doesn't exist. The mind is ever evolving, for better and worse. My inclination is that online addiction is a credible condition, separate and distinct. The reason that I believe this is that I can see how to apply it. I'll give you a personal example.
I go to bed with my cellphone, tablet (go android), and my kindle. I find that every few minutes, I want to check news, forums, G+, etc. I can do this for several hours if I don't force myself to stop. However, I do want to keep checking. Thankfully, I am able to stop, but I can see this being a problem for people who aren't able to do this.
I self identify as a monkey.
But there's a big difference when talking about cause and effect with respect to video games. Do the games intrinsically do this to an otherwise healthy person or are those addicted to video games the same people who could be addicted to the home shopping network or anything else you can think of?
Mass consumption media has been pointing fingers at video games for years and trying to cast it in the light of the cause of all kinds of aberrant behavior. Neither I nor the AMA agree with that.
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
I self identify as a monkey.
Or is this just a way to excuse not daring to take a fight to the social norm...?
This have been a good conversation
In the DSM-IV, pathological gambling (PG) was classified under the section titled, “Impulse Control Disorders Not Elsewhere Classified,” along with Compulsive Hair Pulling (Trichotillomania); Intermittent Explosive Disorder; Kleptomania; and Pyromania. The DSM-5 work group proposed that PG be moved to the category Substance-Related and Addictive Disorders.
But video gaming addiction hasn't even made it into the hair pulling category yet
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
Not everything that is added or changed or deleted is always for a purely professional/clinical reason.
I self identify as a monkey.
I am no expert in this field, but someone else in these forums wrote this was in the same "class" as gambling, pornography, or other non substance related addictions with the latter being such as drugs, alcohol or even sugar.
I devote a substantial portion of my free time to gaming and know from personal and family experience its nothing at all near substance abuse addiction.
Is it a real problem, most likely, but I can't see it ever being to the same degree as substance abuse.
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Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
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