For the most part, I can at least thank this dude for not accusing violent games for the corruption of children everywhere and school shooters...

Why does "sex addiction" and "internet addiction" and all that stuff need to be coined? You can become addicted to ANYTHING if you feel drawn to do it compulsively.

Lainface

I'm sorry, but that dude is creepsville USA. Hide your children!

/shudder

kidko

ummm... the whole hard-drive thing with columbine is a little ridiculous. The reason they destroyed them may simply be to erase some type of incriminating or embarassing evidence.

As for the addiction question. In my opinion, as a psychologist, yes games can be addictive. But so can anything that brings regular positive rewards.

One thing that is left out of this story, which is quite an egregious error if you ask me, is that when considering any psychological diagnosis, one of the key criteria is that it must be impairing to normal functioning - meaning that the behavior interferes with the person's social or professional life. Someone can play hours of games a day and still keep his/her job and maintain all of his/her relationships. A person is addicted when they give up all those other aspects of life for the behavior. Clearly there are people that have had this happen as the result of playing video games. That's what OLGANON is all about.

graddy

Addiction is a really subjective term, I think. Taking excaliburp's definition, what is "psychologically habit-forming"? Okay, so you get home and play a few hours of video games - every night - but is that the same? Or is it just a choice to play video games over, say, television or another medium?

More videogaming-as-reason-for-society's-ill's nonsense.

thefais

@Brian Crecente: Maybe if he gained 100 pounds. and half of it goes into his face.

everybest

@taftsearlobe33: At least he doesn't seem to attack gamers for violence and such. He seems genuinely interested in finding the problem regardless of if it is games or the internet or whatever.

termitehead

@aevanko: No need to turn it into a triple post, this isn't a forum.

Ghede

@aevanko:
Heehee...that was mean! Ok it was funny too!

He does have a point in that some videogames causes addiction. Addiction as described by dictionary.com is:

"the state of being enslaved to a habit or practice or to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming, as narcotics, to such an extent that its cessation causes severe trauma."

Sure most of the time it's not as sever but one wonders if it'll ever reach that stage. The main culprit for this would be obviously the MMO genre. I know many people who rarely socialize and ignore their responsibilities (like work) because of said addiction to MMOs. I'm not slamming MMOs in general. It's just the most prevalent now in "extreme habitual gaming"

excaliburps

I think that couch doubles as a vibrating sex couch. Look, it plugs into the wall!

Grumps

Where'd he get that big chair? I want a big chair.

Jechticknight

Interesting stuff, i've often wondered a little if i'm "Addicted" to video games. Trying to explain playing so many games is difficult, trying to get across that gaming is a perfectly legitimate hobby and not a kids thing.

ZGMF-X09A

is it just me or does he look like that guy from law and order?

Brian Crecente

sorry bout the double post - pc was acting up...

aevanko

Specializes in online video game addiction?
Yeah, rigth. What's his gamerscore?

aevanko

Specializes in online video game addiction?
Yeah, right. What's his gamerscore?

aevanko

Fascinating stuff. IT will be a few more years for us to tottaly graps the videogame phenomenon on the human psyche. As psycology is a sort of hobby of mine, this studies will surely be of my interest.

Shiryu

"As a psychiatrist, I think that's relevant."

As a person who is clearly smarter then you I think you have no idea on what you are talking about and odds are you didn't know what the "internet" was until your grandkid showed you.

taftsearlobe33

I think more people should read Grand Theft Childhood. There a whole section on whether video game addiction is real or not. It basically points out that there is a difference between addiction and dangerous habits. Addiction requires a *biological* need (among other things) that just isn't there in this so-called video game addiction; it's more than just "they play a lot and ignore the outside world and their emotional and physical well-being suffers...." That's very bad decision making and may be indicative of serious emotional distress, but addiction is more than just a psychological malady.

"As a psychiatrist," I'm surprised he doesn't know that.

Arloknox

@hunter8man: www.wowdetox.com

maybe "Gaming addiction" is bigger than we think. but there are clearly defined lines as Graddy had stated.

[www.nickyee.com]
Nick Yee (a prominent researcher in all things psychologically related to MMO's) has recently written an article on addiction as well. Its a good read into the subject, i'm reading it right now.

andrewmedina

They just won't stop with this bull. Everytime something like this comes out, there are three or four more reports that gaming does not cause social ineptness. There is a very small minority who actually stop basic life functions for video games (see the guy who died in Korea after playing an MMORPG for 36 hours straight, or the Everquest player who killed himself), but is it really enough for these continual studies? I don't think so.

hunter8man

Internet Addiction?

Ghost in the Shell anyone? It's not hard to fathom. My addled mind is eating a veritable buffet of information everyday from a number of websites. Nothing is more satisfying to me than soaking up vast quantities of information like some sort of computational sponge. Even when I'm not on the internet reading, I'm reading novels, or the paper, or absorbed in music, or writing something, or sitting in classes, or doing deep intra-personal discussions about the meaning of life while staring at the ceiling.

From gaming to quantum physics, if it's something I didn't know already, I'm reading trying to read about it. I can say without a shadow of a doubt that I'm addicted to information and straining my brain with reflexive puzzles like Guitar Hero or problem solving physics algorithms.

I end up with quite severe boredom without things to read, play or generally ponder upon meaningfully. Usually the quickest fix for me is to hop on the internet... and I do... everyday... For many, many hours.

Krackatoa

The number of spelling mistakes in my previous post is absurd. I'll have to assume you know what I mean.

*ashamed*

Badben

@Arloknox:

Well we don't know if the biological need is there or not, but there is a definite possibility. gaming/internet addiction would be considered a "behavioral addiction". There are several other that are classified under this rubric, including shopping and gambling. Pathological gambling has received by far the most attention and there is a biological component. The simple fact of the matter is that when we perceive and interpret stimuli in the environment, our brain responds with biochemical reactions. For example when we feel pleasure from something, there is an area of the brain and specific neurotransmitters responsible for this. Drugs co-opt this system and, for lack of a better term, short-circuit it. Basically, the biochemical system that is responsible for the development of substance addictions is the same system that is responsible for pleasure and enjoyment of behaviors.

Now there is little research on the topic of gaming addiction, but what exists does suggest that game/internet addiction shares similar features to behavioral addictions as well as drug addiction. So although the evidence is not there yet, there is the possibility.

Also, you really don't need a biological factor for it to be considered an addiction. Only some psychologists restrict addictions to substance addictions. Most consider the key criteria to be that the behavior interferes with social functioning

graddy

@Brian Crecente: Oh, and: no way! We're not seeing in him any of that illustrious character we get from dudes like Fred Thompson, Jerry Orbach, and Paul Sorvino. This dude looks like a sketchy car salesman.

wild homes

I'd like to see where this goes. But I'm of the mind that addiction and addictive behavior were two different things? I thought addiction required a biological component. Unless the biological component in a gaming addiction is the hormones your body produces while playing, I would think it's purely a psychological artifact.

wild homes

@Badben: But i reall am a well known and powerful starship captain... I really am!

kickassy

I don't really see why it is that the psychologists struggle with this stuff. It's got to be a case of simple escapism. If a person isn't motivated strongly by the things that our society potentially offers, i.e. the change of affluence in exchange for hard (but often un-rewarding) work, then escapist scenarios, wherether they are computer based or otherwise, can seem very attractive. Here are the options:

A - you are a low income worker, you don't find your job rewarding, you can't have a Ferrari and in fact can bearly afford your substantial electricity bills. Your colleagues think you are weird (they like soap operas on telly). Your parents and some friends don't understand you and think you're a failure.

B - You are a well known and powerful starship captain, in charge of formidable resorces and comanding respect. The people you meet inevitably have similar interests to you and understand what you've invested to get where you are. You are liked by your friends, feared by you enemies. Life is a series of exciting missions or daring trades and complex diplomacy.

Which would you choose? It's not rocket science...

I think that some of these folks are pioneers. I don't doubt that at some point in the near future it will be possible to live your life, effectively and successfully, within virtual universes. Then some of societies' anxieties about people differing from 'the norm' will disappear. Some of the people who are currently looked upon as wierd will be viewed in a new light. Most of these same issues would have been encountered a couple of hundred years ago by persistant readers not long after the invention of printing presses...

Badben

@mikecoscia: ^ In regards to the internet addiction.

mikecoscia

Reading for hours on end is a bad thing?

mikecoscia

Is it me, or did that interview basically take two pages to say... nothing?

@Badben: Good point - that's about as far as I can peg my desire to game (anywhere from 0 to 10 hours weekly). It's a way to relax, like reading a book, going to the movies, or watching a ball game. I'd be interested to see what conclusions are actually reached about people that heavily invest in MMOs, it goes back to a seminar class I had in college about cellular technology and the idea of "absent presence".

/blah blah my comment needs less brains and more boobs.

Hubert Humphrey Methadone

The physical component of 'internet addiction' is almost certainly the long term endorphine release from actually being good at something.

Nothing is quite so addictive as success, or recognised success, regardless of whether you broker massive deals and earn stacks, flip an excellent burger, or are level 60 on WOW.

Badben

I am here today, my friends, to tell you of a disease. A disease so sinister, you deny its existence. I speak to you, about VGA. Video Game Addiction. I've been a VGA-addict since my first quarter. But I can tell you, like any hurdle, it can be beat.
First time I realized I was an addict, was when I was reading one of those old-fashion things called a blog. Cutakie or something like that.
...

SigmundTheSeaMonster

Sorry was more interested in the 25 secret spaces of Boston. Why would you even say how much highly enriched uranium you have?

Video Games are as addictive as sports. I played Baseball and street hockey with my friends during middle school and got the same feeling I get when I want to play WoW after college courses. It's as addictive as any other hobby, but the easy access (don't have to leave your room, get friends together) just makes it more convenient.

Chewbenator

I agree with Graddy, video games are in a way, addictive, in the same way that sports, work, camping, fishing, biking, anything that brings positive rewards to the person doing it. That WoWdetox.com page has all these over the top testimonials of all the bad things that happened to relationships because of WoW. But you can find that for just about everything if you look hard enough. The thing that's unique about WoW in terms of looking worse, is that it's an easy hobby to continue for long periods of time and easy to start up, you don't need tons of gear, or to drive our somewhere, or to be effected by the sun's cycle.

Since not everyone who plays WoW is "addicted" to it (Most aren't i'd say), then you'd have to say the problem with this minority that is life-cripplingly addicted to it, is between the computer and the chair.

Tesahli

"some of the school shooters removed their hard drives and destroyed them just before they died...their last act was to turn against their own computers. As a psychiatrist, I think that's relevant."

What a moron, If I destroy some evidence I have in a file cabinet, am I turning AGAINST the file cabinet??!? Maybe they had a couple gigs of furry porn and didn't want that to be one of the last impressions they left for their family, friends, and cops to pick through after they're dead.

Sam_Lowry

@Badben: Except in wow the only qualification for being 'good' is playing a long time. Except perhaps in PvP.

KafkaTamura

@graddy: The shooters at columbine went into a school, killed several people and then killed themselves. I don't think incriminating evidence was really an issue. Which means that destroying their hard drives as probably more of a ritual. Unless they'd been looking at kiddy-porn and didn't want anyone to know.

KafkaTamura

Very interesting article, well done Kotaku.

KafkaTamura

"researchers think that Internet and Sex addiction are very similar"

I'm pretty sure the Internet addicts aren't getting any. So how is it similar to sex addiction again?

Jordan Lund

I had a bad case of internet addiction a few years ago. And I used to have videogame addiction but this addiction was forcibly broken by the metric fuckton of work I received this year...

Samos42

@KafkaTamura: I was merely using that (as well as the suggestion that there might be something embarassing on the hard drive) as an example of a much more reasonable justification for destroying one's hard drive.

There are many possible explanations for the behavior. Ritualistic behavior is probably very unlikely.

graddy

Dewd...I find that gamers are becoming a bit too self righteous lately (in response to heavy attack from outside our community). Personally, I find it's important for us to keep an open mind about the implications and ramifications of our hobby, even if they are negative in nature...

god_emperor

I don't think it's so much as an "internet" or "video game" addiction so much as "obsessive behavior." I think it's more of people's affinity to become addicted to something, not singly the thing addicted to. A chemical addiction would be the exception. People can be addicted to anything, as long as it's in their personality to do so. Gaming and the internet just have the side effect of being fun and entertaining. One of my friend's mother is completely addicted to television. It's all she does. Should we now start diagnosing this as "Television Addiction." I don't think it should. I think the root of the addictive behavior should be found and dealt with, not just the addiction itself. I mean if you just rid the addiction, people like that will just find something else to latch on to.

KrelianAngel

After the talk about School Shooters destroying hard drives and WoW obsessions I loved the "Google Ads" at the bottom of the page:

"Ads by Google"

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It's like putting an ad for 20 Benson & Hedges at the bottom of a "Quit Smoking" article!

Thanks Google ads!

ThursdayNext

@taftsearlobe33:
Sounds like you've got some pent up aggression about the topic...

Take a seat on my couch, and lets talk for a little bit.

MMO-Rehab