Video game addiction shot down as 'disorder'

You know those gamers--they spend hours on end hulled in smelly dark rooms with controllers in hand, ignoring social norms like sitting down for meals and showering once in awhile. Perhaps they're a little too into gaming.

But if a group of prominent doctors has their way, those gamers might end up diagnosed with video game addiction, a psychiatric disorder the American Medical Association will consider for official classification at its annual policy meeting beginning this weekend, according to several press accounts.

Given the overlap between bloggers and gamers, it's no surprise that the blogosphere is up in arms about giving video game addiction an official diagnosis, which bloggers say is going too far and assigning a mental disorder to a societal problem.

Like us, they also found it interesting that the news comes on the heels of stories about a professional gaming league and video games used as therapy for mental disorders and for other noble causes.

Blog community response:

"My first reaction that proving media causation is a high bar that is not always met. (My skepticism may derive from the fact that my last game addiction was a spring break bout with Tetris in the early 90s.) Further, gaming has become such a common activity that discerning its effects is not easy."
--Media SITREP

"Great, just what folks like Jack Thompson and Lyndon LaRouche need -- more ammo...it's like I've said before: some violent and/or mentally ill people play video games, but video games don't make people violent and/or mentally ill. If that was the case, there would be a lot more crazy people running around."
--GayGamer.net

"Hey...didn't we have this kind of behavior BEFORE video games? Crazy Cat Ladies who lived with a thousand felines and tried to cover up their smell by rubbing themselves down with used urinal cakes?...You will always have people who don't fit into society, who find solace in something OTHER than the norm, and who will never EVER be part of usual social structures. Diagnose them, but do it correctly...I know some of you disagree, and you see video game addiction as a real thing; but I beg you to look deeper, and to see past the buzz words and finger pointing and look at the real implications of sickness."
--Ten Ton Hammer

"No doubt that parents need to watch how much and what games their kids are playing, just like with any activity they do. And adults shouldn't neglect their job, family, and health for an activity, no matter what it is. But let's just leave it at that. If it does get out of hand, then treat the underlying cause. Not blame the technology."
--Middle Raged Punk

[yourpersonalangel]

Snore...

It seems that every personality slightly out of the norm is a disorder now. I myself can go through huge periods of sitting and playing video games, but aside from the unrelated serious chldhood traumas (:-P) i don't have any mental disorder. Stopping is as easy as has something else todo and not having the need to sit and play video games. The only term for someone who does it in place of something like work is idiot.

[ittesi259]

You speak the truth

While I am perfectly able to spend hours playing my Xbox, or World of Warcraft, its not because I'm mentally messed up. Of course I know how to stop to use the bathroom and work full time while finishing my degree. World of Warcraft generally gets some bad press when addictions are mentioned...maybe someone should stop to look at what attracts this behavior and why they don't get the same thing in their normal lives. I'll bet its social interaction more than anything, because playing that game not knowing anybody there kinda sucks.

[hawaiianvolcanoes]

You want to know what is really hilarious about this?

These A.M.A. Nutcases are the same ones that had homosexuality removed from the D.S.M. (Diagnostics and Statistics Manual) as a mental disorder. Nothing <br />they do has any credibility and is motivated by the need to enrich themselves...period. So...classify heavy video game useage as a disorder and the 'industry' will profit from more and more parents carting their teenagers off to "Dr. Shrinkstein"

[wylbur]

seems to me

That might be a bit of a stretch, but I have seen friends <br />disappear into games and lose touch with reality. The reliance <br />on video games for some may be symptomatic of other mental <br />problems-- I have seen friends stagnate, come home from work <br />and play games, miss work because of games, and never <br />develop relationships and all the great things in life because <br />they are too busy playing games. What do you say to a 37 year <br />old who has not been out on the town in years and has no <br />girlfriend or prospects, but plays video games at least four <br />hours a day most days of the week. I lost a whole group of <br />friends to this stuff, they are stuck in some sort of perma-<br />adolescence. I am not kidding when I say I have known heroin <br />addicts who were more successful than my old video-gaming <br />friends.<br /><br />Of course bloggers might want to take a look at Narcissistic <br />Personality Disorder and the more melodramatic ones should <br />take a look at Histrionic Personality Disorder and all should also <br />check out Borderline Personality Disorder-- why do you have to <br />say it in a blog, tell it to my face, I don't follow hyperlinks.

[PsychDevil]

I find it troubling that people without a background in the field of psychology feel their knowledge somehow supersedes those who have spent years helping others with crippling conditions. If you are an expert in WoW, or some other game, what would you think of a new player who claims to know everything because they read a review in a gaming magazine. I just finished a trial of WoW and noticed the following things, 1) playing without interacting with others is such a drain, emotionally and physically, 2) playing with people can be just as draining if all that takes place is completing a task/quest, 3) after my trial was over I found myself asking, if the only way these games provide a real connection to other players is through more personal sharing of information, then what are people not getting in their daily lives that cause them to seek it out from strangers who they most likely will never meet in person. <br /> <br />For anyone who wonders whether they have become a bit too dependent on technology for social interaction I suggest fasting from all your devices long enough to sense the absence from your life. Then when you feel that absence talk to a real person face to face and see if you can interact in an age appropriate manner.

[Videogamesrule]

I put this on a supporting website for video games being a mental disorder

I put this on a supporting website for video games being a mental disorder and they banned me.Why can't they hear from the other side?<br /><br />Video gaming is not an addiction!!!I seriously cannot believe the stupidity coming out of your mouths!!i thought adults are supposed to be better than this!!I have been playing video games since i was three years old and everytime i hear of "of video games cause violence" "video games are too addicting" it makes me mad!First of all, every single one of you needs to suck one cause it's the ********* parents fault!yes some more than others are to blame, but to some degree the parent is to blame!!Why have i played video games since i was three?my parents had to work during the summer and i was out of school so i had to go to my grandmother's house with my young uncle and we played video games!!!!my parents fault!i dont blame them for it(i have many other things to do that with)in fact i thank them!!<br />You people are the ones saying video games should be banned. no,how the hell do you think your kids get the damned things???i know for a fact that many many shooter type games(probably 85%)need someone older than 17 or 18 to buy them.maybe your kid has a friend that can buy it,or your ex-husband got it for them but you know what,seriously if you really thought this caused violence then you would have taken them away.<br />As for kids being held up in their room on world of warcraft:kids who play this often have problems at home or school and by playing these role playing games they can escape the world by going into another one.when you play online,you aren't yourself anymore,youre the level 88 archer or the level 79 sacred warrior.(I would like to point out that i am NOT a player of world of warcraft and so don't ***** about that)people respect you if you are higher level and they often ask for help.often times people that are more insecure are ******** online when they are higher level because they can be on the game.Even with video games, if you have a gamerscore of 50,000 then people look at you and say "wow that kid is really cool,i wish he'd be friends with me" unlike how at school they might be the loser no one likes to talk to or at home the one who never really could live up to his or her brother or sister's acheivements.<br />in the article a woman talks about how her son resembles her drinking father.Are you serious?that is the dumbest thing ive ever heard.not that he was immitating her father but that she actually blames the video games!!Many, many children suffer from psychological problems if alcoholism is a trait in the family.I bet money that he has an uncle or a step father or someone else that drinks and i am almost completely sure when i say that his mother probably is a smoker.When she tried to take it away,what did that seem like to the kid?he tries to stay away from his alcoholic family and retreat into his own video game world for a while and she punishes him?what message is that sending to his undeveloped teen mind?and dont even use that one against me saying that if that message can be conveyed that violence in video games can be too.no listen, theres a difference in whether drinking is ok,which is shown on almost every show on every channel(even once on spongebob he was having a rough time and whent to an ice cream bar and started drinking some kind of milkshake stuff and it resembled an actual bar and a beer pint)and killing people,or being violent,which on whatever channels have that are shown with negative consequences or with sad music playing or some kind of hint that it is negative.<br /><br />"In a February posting, a 13-year-old identified only as Ian told of playing video games for nearly 12 hours straight, said he felt suicidal and wondered if he was addicted."i read this and thought, you have got to be kidding me!only identified as ian????anyone can be anyone on the internet.why this excludes angry mothers trying to destroy video games and so pretend to be 13 year old boys confessing this is beyond me.seriously,this cant be used as evidence!!who has seen this miracle boy??and who is to say that this excerpt wasnt taken from a much larger posting including that he had [/i]been[i] playing video games when all of a sudden all of the repressed feelings he had came flooding out triggered by something on the game and he contemplating killing himself,not because of the game but because of previous feelings and he said he needed help because he was suicidal,not because he was a video game addict?<br />Parents you need to suck it up and take responsibility for your actions.every single parent that complains about their kid playing video games and any side effects from it are either too uninvolved in their own kids life to know what is [/i]really[i] the problem and so find a quick and easy solution(the most prized thing in the world) or the parent knows it's their fault but blame video games because they cant admit to others and (sometimes) to themselves that it is their fault!Stop being so stupid and actually look into the lives of these so called "video game addicts" and im sure you'll find so many things wrong psychologically from having their parents expect too much of them to drunken parents who beat them and kids who get bullied at school to kids that fail at school.if anyone actually goes through with this nonsense that has no background to it,no official study that actually goes into the lives of gamers then i pray for the society which i will grow up in because it will be based on the einstiens of idiocy and just plain stupidity and [/i]true[i] violence caused by so many kids not being able to release their anger through video games. go ahead and contact me:my email is [e-mail]"&gt;seriously_stfu_alrea [e-mail] just please make sure you put the topic "your video game addiction rebuttle" so that i know that it is not spam.thanks,by the way you all suck for putting everyone else through all these problems because you cant seem to not buy your ten year old gears of war.

[bluemist9999]

Anything done out of balance is an addiction

Whether it is playing video games, going online, eating (insert food here), exercise, alcohol, drugs, or even thinking.<br /><br />So, to me, the mental illness's symptoms are much more important than the specific "trigger."

[kingdeeder]

I'm not exactly sure if there already is the ability to be diagnosed with video game addictions or not yet. It's a little vague. Also, why do doctors even care in the first place? It doesn't really affect them anyways. I think it is because they are nosy, but it might be some other odd reason.

[findlin]

I have a lot of experience with video game addiction, because I lived with a video game addict for almost twenty years. That would be my son! If you think addiction is only derived from something physical, you are absolutely wrong, addiction is addiction, and mind addiction may have no physical side effects, but it has plenty of emotional ones, that can take your life down, in the same way as drugs and alcohol can! <br /> My son started playing video games when he was three years old. He picked up on any game he played liked an expert, and we, as his parents were so impressed! Back then, we as parents, read articles that video games increase a child's hand and eye coordination, and can be a greatlearning tool! What we should have bought into was the articles that claimed that video games could become a dangerous addiction. Over the years, I reaped plenty of what I sowed, after allowing my son to stay on the games for hours and hours. This was selfish on my part, and a horrible mistake I made as a mother, I mean after all, I could get so much more done around the house! It was a great babysitting tool, and any mother who is honest with themselves, will admit, this is how it all started, because as parents, we allowed it! As my son was still young, I could use his gaming, as a manipulating tool, like..."If you don't do your homework, no video games..or "If you don't clean your room...no video games", and on and on it went.. and it worked! Until High School??? <br /> As he got older the games took over his whole life. His grades kept sinking lower and lower, I had him in extra credit classes, after school, Saturday school, school at the College, and no matter what I did, if I took his games away, just like a junkie, he would lash out at me, frantically pulling open drawers and closet doors, ripping things out everywhere to find where I hid them, we had battles all the time! So, finally, being at my wits end, I sent him to his fathers up North! (I was then a single Mom) He hated it so much up there, that this time, he had one last chance...and I told him..? If you come back home, and you cannot get your life back in order, graduate high school, get a job, start college...conduct some normality in your life.. you will stay there!? So finally, he came home and enrolled in the college to get his HS degree, started college courses, had a part time job, and I wish I could tell you that it was a happily ever after, story, but with any addiction that is not cured, it only manifests into other things, and so it did! The games started all over again,,he had girlfriends, but he had problems keeping them, problems keeping jobs, and now as it stands, he is now living with a another girl, had a beautiful daughter, whom I love with all of my heart, and now he just lost his job again, and when I go over there, what do I see? I see both him and his girlfriend, one computer, one laptop, doing it now together, while my granddaughter wonders around looking for a real grown up to turn to. So please, please don't ever say this is not an addiction, and if there isn't any rehabs for this emotional destruction, there very well should be! Why do people drink? Why do people take drugs? Why do people play video games? To run away from life! That?s addiction! So if you are a gamer, and this life, sounds a bit like yours???? You?re an addict! And if you?re a mom, and you sound like me, don?t let this get out of hand like I did! So to all you so called ?I like video games, but I?m not a ?Gamer?? You can stop, right here, right now, and what I would suggest to any video game addict? If you want your life back? Take all your games, pack them away, far, far away, until you conquer what it is you?re running away from in the first place? The real world perhaps? A real grown up life? You cannot control the world!!! But, when you are in control of yourself, you become a much bigger person.... in life!