Warcrack & Halodiction

Courtesy of http://www.video-game-addiction.org/video-game-addiction-treatment.html:

"Like other addicts, gamers often are trying to escape problems in their lives. Video and computer games offer a particularly appealing escape to socially maladjusted teenagers, most often boys, who find it intoxicating to become immersed in a world completely under their control".

The website, called Treatment Options for Video Game Addiction promotes getting your teen (most likely a boy of course) in to the wilderness to cure their addiction.

Apparently game addicts behave in similar ways to gambling addicts, drug addicts and alcoholics. Nice. I somehow don't see it that way and find it a huge leap to compare a video game "addiction" to a serious substance abuse issue. But then again, I'm not an expert on the topic, unlike Dr Mark Griffiths of Nottingham Trent University who worries about the effect of long-term playing on adolescents, believing that a dependency upon video games could lead to delinquent behavior: stealing money to fund the addiction, skipping school, not completing homework or just an extreme level of annoyance when the adolescent/person is unable to play the game.

Really? I would normally equate these types of delinquent behavior with something other than video games, though I have witnessed cases where homework wasn't done, but I'd hardly class that as delinquent.

The video game treatment site offers handy hints for parents or concerned people to recognise the symptoms of addiction and even goes so far as to state the Top 5 most addictive games:

1. World of Warcraft (the site says it is often called World of Warcrack in reference to its capacity to be addictive)

2. Halo 3 (Halodiction)

3. Tetris

4. Solitaire

5. Everquest (Never-Rest)

TBH, I'm only familiar with 2 out of the 5 on that list but I can relate to the fact that yes, they are time consuming & immersive but so is a good book. Why is there no concern over book-addiction? That could be a real problem! At least games have the potential (if the gamer so desires) to be sociable, with multi player options and online communities. Books can only be read by one person at a time... and they usually require isolation & it is a sedentary activity.

I also found another interesting article which spoke about "addiction" in general. That is, every activity seems to have the potential for addiction - internet addicts, gambling addicts, sex addicts, chocaholics, shopaholics... the author argues that our everyday language is permeated by the idea that any leisure activity can become addictive over time.

To me, there is a distinct biological difference between a drug addiction and an alcohol addiction than an "addiction" to a video game. Namely, there is a mind altering chemical substance involved in the former which is not present in the latter.

The word "addict" and "addiction" is heavily loaded & carries some pretty negative connotations, which makes the use of the term "addict" in reference to something other than drugs & alcohol pretty problematic. To use the word "addict" in reference to games and gamers lumps them in to the same category as those with substance abuse issues & that is not without significant issue.

Here's some signs to look out for in the mean time:

1. You feel really happy when you're online or when you're playing games, but as soon as you have to stop, you get angry or upset.
2. You think about going online or playing when you are supposed to be focusing on other things, like doing school work or having dinner with your family.
3. You spend more time with your keyboard or controller than physically hanging out with your friends.
4. Your friends or parents ask what you spend all your time doing, and you lie about it or laugh it off, but inside you know they may have a point.
5. You get up in the middle of the night to check your e-mail or your MySpace comments because you're having a hard time sleeping.

... If these same symptoms were in reference to Facebook, I probably tick 2 or 3 of the boxes : S