I can't find an appropriate place for video game addiction

[DJBucs2005]

Most people on here are of an older generation and maybe can't relate to gaming addiction. I've found myself give them up for over three months, to go back, and then give them up again at the beginning of this year, and now with the release of a new game that I've played since I was probably eight years old, being Madden (NFL game), I am finding myself thinking about getting back into playing.

I just wanted some encouragement and relate to others to help me cope. I know if I can get through this, I should be able to keep off these incessant thoughts for a while--at least until next year's version comes out. By then, the thoughts will be much less intense and incessant, if I can get through these couple weeks without succumbing to my former addiction.

Here are a few links about gaming addiction. It's pretty serious. The main issue with it is the time that it takes up. It may not have severe side affects like drugs do, but it can lead to irritableness and/or depression when withdrawn and here's a moderate list of the major symptoms.

1.) Persistent thoughts of the activity or performance of the activity(Preoccupation)
2.) Use of activity to escape problems or relieve bad mood.(Preoccupation)
3.) Need for increased time spent on the activity to achieve satisfaction or diminished reward for the same amount of time spent on the activity.(Tolerance)
4.) Inability to control, stop or diminish the behavior.(Loss of control)
5.) Restlessness or irritability when prevented from partaking in the activity.(Withdrawal)
6.) Lying to friends or family about extent of involvement with activity.(Continuance despite adverse consequences)
7.) Committing illegal acts to sustain activity.(Continuance despite adverse consequences)
8.) Jeopardizing or losing relationships, career or educational opportunities to pursue activity.(Continuance despite adverse consequences)
9.) Relying on others to finance activity.(Continuance despite adverse consequences)

I can say that I've experienced all of these aside from commiting an illegal act or acts to sustain activity. I know when I first gave up video games in '06, it was thee worst depression I ever expereinced in my life. I hated God then. I wanted to know why how trying to do something that would benefit me was making me so depressed. That's what happens when going cold turkey in using something as a coping method to escape from problems and to feel better about myself

Thanks for your time and hope to hear some feedback.

~Dave

[dgillz]

That is interesting. Also plenty of people play video games nowadays, including my 75 year old father, who recently passed away.

I take exception to video games being addictive, I believe that it falls into obsessive/compulsive disorder. I believe that because of your statement:

5.) Restlessness or irritability when prevented from partaking in the activity.(Withdrawal)

I mean no offense against your option, but IMHO, restlessness, irritability or depression, are not, in and of themselves, withdrawal. Withdrawal symptoms certainly include those three, but can also include: nausea and vomiting, elevated blood pressure to the point of having a stroke, heart palpitations or irregular heartbeat, sometimes including cardiac arrest, muscle spasms, auditory and visual hallucinations, paranoia and shakiness, seizures up to and including grand mall seizures, delerium tremens, and in the most severe cases, death.

Find me a video game addict that puked his guts up for a week, couldn't hold down food for the entire time, had hallucinations and then topped it off with a seizure, then I'll buy that this is addiction.

I am no Doctor, but I would love to hear from one on this.

[DJBucs2005]

Originally Posted by dgillz

That is interesting. Also plenty of people play video games nowadays, including my 75 year old father, who recently passed away.

I take exception to video games being addictive, I believe that it falls into obsessive/compulsive disorder. I believe that because of your statement:



I mean no offense against your option, but IMHO, restlessness, irritability or depression, are not, in and of themselves, withdrawal. Withdrawal symptoms certainly include those three, but can also include: nausea and vomiting, elevated blood pressure to the point of having a stroke, heart palpitations or irregular heartbeat, sometimes including cardiac arrest, muscle spasms, auditory and visual hallucinations, paranoia and shakiness, seizures up to and including grand mall seizures, delerium tremens, and in the most severe cases, death.

Find me a video game addict that puked his guts up for a week, couldn't hold down food for the entire time, had hallucinations and then topped it off with a seizure, then I'll buy that this is addiction.

I am no Doctor, but I would love to hear from one on this.

You obviously do not have any peers who have been addicted to video games or have been so yourself. If you want to say that one can not be addicted to video games, then that is some oversight on your part. I definitely think that it is considered by most as a lightweight addiction and certainly not as bad as other addictions that you mentioned, but to say it is not an addiction is ignorance. It can be rather serious. Here is another link from webmd.com http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/f...diction-no-fun

I can see your point when compared to say alcohol, and other drugs, but it is still an addiction. I think more than anything, at least in my case, it just takes mental toughness as well as something else to take its place if one wants to quit and stay away.

[dgillz]

DJ,

Lighten up. You asked for feedback and I gave it to you, with comments such as "IMHO", "no offense against your opinion" and "I am no doctor", and you respond with telling me how ignorant I about it?

Heck I as much as admitted that when I said "I am no Dr".

I'll also bet if you look more online you'll find lots of people who agree with me.

Finally, you concluded that this is an addiction.

I don't think you wanted feedback, I think you wanted someone to agree with you.

[Morning Glory]

Hi DJ,

I moved your thread here. I think it's the closest forum we have to game addiction.

I am addicted to Zelda. I can log 100 or so hours when a new game is released and then have some depression after I'm finished with the game. I don't play any other game though so it doesn't rule my life. I've been playing Zelda since the first game came out a little over 20 years I think. I'm just lucky it's the only game I like or I can see myself being addicted and using it as an escape. When a new game comes out everything else gets put on hold and I even feel guilty for playing so much. I will even play after everyone else goes to bed so they don't know how much I play.

I'm getting older now though and the grandkids have to beat the bosses for me. I hate waiting until they wake up in the morning so I can move on.

I can understand a little of what you're talking about.

[PassDTab]

I'd have to agree that gaming can become an addiction. When I stopped using methadone, I spent a good year spending all my waking moments gaming. I replaced one addiction for another. And it is just about as hard to realize you have a problem and quit. I eventually realized what I was doing, and now only spend about 2 to 4 hours a week gaming, as opposed to 40+ hours.
I wouldn't mind seeing a section on the forums for gaming addiction. It is scary how many young kids are addicted to games now.

[Octoman]

Gaming can be addictive. I dont think that because withdrawals lack physical symptoms the addiction is any less disturbing for the individual. Its the diffference between a physical and mental addiction. Gamblers feel no physical withdrawal as such but their addiction is no less traumatic.

[NewDay2007]

Hi Dave,

Welcome. Gaming addiction is fast becoming a real issue specially with younger people but it affects all ages and their familes. It is a very real addiction and there is help check this out:

olganonboard.org put a www in front of it. I can't paste links sorry.

this is On-line Gamers Anonymous. It is a 12-Step Site for gaming addiction and they also have message boards. Hope it helps! Let us know if it is helpful and I'm so glad you found us here and are seeking help.

~hugs and healing

[NewDay2007]

Originally Posted by dgillz

That is interesting. Also plenty of people play video games nowadays, including my 75 year old father, who recently passed away.

I take exception to video games being addictive, I believe that it falls into obsessive/compulsive disorder. I believe that because of your statement:



I mean no offense against your option, but IMHO, restlessness, irritability or depression, are not, in and of themselves, withdrawal. Withdrawal symptoms certainly include those three, but can also include: nausea and vomiting, elevated blood pressure to the point of having a stroke, heart palpitations or irregular heartbeat, sometimes including cardiac arrest, muscle spasms, auditory and visual hallucinations, paranoia and shakiness, seizures up to and including grand mall seizures, delerium tremens, and in the most severe cases, death.

Find me a video game addict that puked his guts up for a week, couldn't hold down food for the entire time, had hallucinations and then topped it off with a seizure, then I'll buy that this is addiction.

I am no Doctor, but I would love to hear from one on this.

While Video Gaming Addiciton is not recognized officially in the DMR-IV-TR .The year 2000 Diagnostic & Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR). This is the manual that sets the criteria, standards, diagnosis for all addicitons in the USA used by all therapists, insurance companies, and policy makers. In short it is the "bible" for addiciton diagnosis. There are currently many doctors, pyschologists etc currently studying this and considering adding it. It is being hotly debated .It is a relatively newer addiction. We are just starting to see it in the USA, but video gaming is a huge industry worldwide, specially in the Asian area. It is a multi-billion dollar industry world-wide and in South Korea alone their "sports heroes" are gamers.

By your criteria GAMBLING Addiction would not be considered a real addiction. However it is included in the DMR-IV-TR. I know that that was your personal opinion, but you asked for more information on it and here it is.

Here is some additional information pertaining to it and if you do a google or any other search engine of Video Gaming Addiction you can read for yourself the ongoing studies pertaining to this being classified "officially" as an addiction.


In the United States, the question of video game addiction has occasioned much debate. The American Medical Association met in June of 2007 to discuss the topic, determining that further research was needed before video game addiction could be considered a formal diagnosis and urging the American Psychiatric Association to study whether the diagnosis would be appropriate for inclusion in the 2012 American Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.[4] Dr. Louis Kraus, a spokesman for the APA, told press in June of 2007 that behaviors mimicking addiction among game players may actually indicate other psychiatric problems, like social anxiety or depression.[5] Michael Brody of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry indicated that though he did believe video games could be addicting, he did not necessarily believe the diagnosis warranted inclusion in the DSM.[6] In its official statement on June 25, 2007, the APA said it "does not consider 'video game addiction' to be a mental disorder at this time," but it did not rule out the possibility that such a diagnosis could be confirmed by 2012.[7]


[edit] Possible diagnosis
Though video game addiction is not included as a diagnosis in either the DSM or the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, it is suggested that the symptoms of a video game addiction would be similar to that of other psychological addictions.[8] Like compulsive gambling, video game addiction is said to be an impulse control disorder.[9][10] While no diagnostic criteria have yet been established for video game addiction, the symptoms of impulse control disorder include regular or repetitive displays of at least five of the following:[11][12]

Persistent thoughts of the activity or performance of the activity. (Preoccupation)
Use of activity to escape problems or relieve bad mood. (Preoccupation)
Need for increased time spent on the activity to achieve satisfaction or diminished reward for the same amount of time spent on the activity. (Tolerance)
Inability to control, stop or diminish the behavior. (Loss of control)
Restlessness or irritability when prevented from partaking in the activity. (Withdrawal)
Lying to friends or family about extent of involvement with activity. (Continuance despite adverse consequences)
Committing illegal acts to sustain activity. (Continuance despite adverse consequences)
Relying on others to finance activity. (Continuance despite adverse consequences)

[edit] Prevalence
No formal studies have been published addressing the prevalence of a possible video game addiction. A Harris Interactive poll released in April of 2007 found that 8.5% of "youth gamers" in the United States could be "classified as pathological or clinically 'addicted' to playing video games."[13] A British survey reported in November of 2006 indicated 12% of polled gamers exhibit addictive behaviors.[14] Video game overuse is believed to be more of a problem in Asia.[6] A governmental survey in South Korea estimated that 2.4% of South Koreans aged 9 to 39 are addicts, with 10.2 percent more "borderline cases."[15]

A 2005 survey by the Entertainment Software Association found that "video game overuse" was more common in players of MMORPGs.[16] In an interview in 2005, Dr. Maressa Orzack of McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts estimated that 40% of the 8.5 million players of MMORPG World of Warcraft are addicted, a figure she derived from the survey managed by Nick Yee at the The Daedalus Project. [17]. However, Nick Yee has pointed out that caution should be exercised when interpreting this survey data[18].


[edit] Possible causes
According to the synthesis of research presented to the American Medical Association in June of 2007, those who overuse video games often find themselves more successful in conducting virtual relationships than real world relationships.[8] A 2004 study on internet addicts, which population includes online gamers, found four common indicators: (1) shyness, (2) lack of spiritual faith, (3) belief that others are controlling their lives, and (4) an elevated belief in chance as an influence on their lives.[19] Some theorists focus on the built-in reward systems of the games to explain their addictive nature.[20][21]


[edit] Treatment
Some countries, like South Korea, have responded to the perceived threat of video game addiction by opening treatment centers.[15] The Chinese government operates several clinics to treat those addicted to online games, chatting and web surfing. Treatment for the patients, most of whom have been forced to attend by parents or government officials, may include yelling, psychiatric counseling, electrical shock treatment, and antidepressant drugs normally used in mental institutions.[22][23]

China also introduced an anti-online gaming addiction system in 2005 intended to reduce addiction by diminishing in-game rewards after three hours of play.[24] In 2006, the system was altered so that users over 18 did not face the limitations.[25] Reports indicate underage gamers are finding ways to circumvent the measure.[26]

In June of 2006, the Smith and Jones clinic in Amsterdam became the first treatment facility in Europe to offer a residential treatment program for compulsive gamers.[27] McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts has set up Computer Addiction Services. Elsewhere, gamers may seek services at generalized addiction support centers. At one such center in Richmond, Canada, excessive gaming accounts for 80% of one youth counselor's caseload.[28]

On-Line Gamers Anonymous (a religious foundation) has been around for many years to provide support and help for gamers who want to quit, as well as for affected family members. The group uses a 12-step approach to facilitate healing.


[edit] Deaths
There have been three well-documented deaths caused directly by exhaustion from playing games for long periods. In South Korea, Lee Seung Seop died after playing Starcraft for over 50 hours. [29] [30] In Jinzhou, China, Xu Yan died after playing online games for over 15 days during the Lunar New Year holiday [31] and an unnamed 30 year-old died in Guangzhou, China after playing for 3 days straight. [32][33]


I hope that helps give you a little more information regarding this topic.

~hugs and healing