How big of a problem do you think gaming addiction is?

[InvalidArmadillo]

The thread asking if kids play video games too much made me wonder how much of a problem video game addiction is in general. Don't get me wrong, I'm not one of those people who thinks people who play games for a few hours a day are absolutely addicted to video games. I'm talking about addiction on the level where it's hurting your daily life.

For example, I lived in the dorms at college when Halo 2 came out and my roommate was definitely addicted to playing the online multiplayer. Our college had a bandwidth system where each person got a certain amount of high speed internet each day. After you used up your allotted amount, you got dial up speeds until midnight when the bandwidth limit reset. My roommate planned his day around this. He'd start playing Halo 2 at midnight until he used up all his bandwidth, then he'd go to sleep after it was over. He'd skip class constantly to play if he still had bandwidth during class time (or he slept through it because he was up all night.) He ended up losing a scholarship over this because his grades dropped from doing nothing than other playing Halo 2.

I figured out it was a problem when he started getting fairly violent when something would disturb his gaming. One time he ran out of bandwidth but wanted to keep playing so he wondered if he could use my internet account instead. I told him no because I needed to do research for a paper and it almost ended in a fist fight. He did actually punch one of the other people in our suite for accidentally disconnecting his ethernet cable once. It was crazy.

I know my dorm roommate doesn't represent gamers in general and can totally see how gaming addiction could be overblown but I definitely think it's a real thing.

 

[psterjj]

I do believe it can be a real thing just like addiction to anything else. How extreme it becomes is totally dependent on many factors. I would agree that it isn't really a problem until it actually starts affecting your daily life. Me and my guild mates have a saying "real life is more important than game life no matter what"

 

[mooray]

Video game addiction is quite a serious issue. There are cases of full grown adults especially in Asia who have been charged of neglecting their children due to video game addiction to the point the children die of starvation. I think there should be a rehab to deal with it or something.

 

[Stay Puft]

The thread asking if kids play video games too much made me wonder how much of a problem video game addiction is in general. Don't get me wrong, I'm not one of those people who thinks people who play games for a few hours a day are absolutely addicted to video games. I'm talking about addiction on the level where it's hurting your daily life.

For example, I lived in the dorms at college when Halo 2 came out and my roommate was definitely addicted to playing the online multiplayer. Our college had a bandwidth system where each person got a certain amount of high speed internet each day. After you used up your allotted amount, you got dial up speeds until midnight when the bandwidth limit reset. My roommate planned his day around this. He'd start playing Halo 2 at midnight until he used up all his bandwidth, then he'd go to sleep after it was over. He'd skip class constantly to play if he still had bandwidth during class time (or he slept through it because he was up all night.) He ended up losing a scholarship over this because his grades dropped from doing nothing than other playing Halo 2.

I figured out it was a problem when he started getting fairly violent when something would disturb his gaming. One time he ran out of bandwidth but wanted to keep playing so he wondered if he could use my internet account instead. I told him no because I needed to do research for a paper and it almost ended in a fist fight. He did actually punch one of the other people in our suite for accidentally disconnecting his ethernet cable once. It was crazy.

I know my dorm roommate doesn't represent gamers in general and can totally see how gaming addiction could be overblown but I definitely think it's a real thing.

Sounds like your roommate had other issues that just happened to manifest themselves with his gaming. Are the video games to blame for his behaviour, or is it that he already had some deeply rooted aggression issues? I'm not a psychiatrist and I've never met him so I couldn't tell you for certain, but that doesn't seem like normal behaviour. If he had been playing sports instead of video games, the same thing could have very well happened.

Addiction is defined by having serious repercussions on your life, @psterjj said it best mentioning that "real life is more important than game life no matter what".

Video game addiction is quite a serious issue. There are cases of full grown adults especially in Asia who have been charged of neglecting their children due to video game addiction to the point the children die of starvation. I think there should be a rehab to deal with it or something.

Yes, but those are extreme cases and definitely not the norm (millions of people play video games every day and are just fine), and there are help for people like that in terms of counselling and addiction rehab.

 

[prose]

The thread asking if kids play video games too much made me wonder how much of a problem video game addiction is in general. Don't get me wrong, I'm not one of those people who thinks people who play games for a few hours a day are absolutely addicted to video games. I'm talking about addiction on the level where it's hurting your daily life.

For example, I lived in the dorms at college when Halo 2 came out and my roommate was definitely addicted to playing the online multiplayer. Our college had a bandwidth system where each person got a certain amount of high speed internet each day. After you used up your allotted amount, you got dial up speeds until midnight when the bandwidth limit reset. My roommate planned his day around this. He'd start playing Halo 2 at midnight until he used up all his bandwidth, then he'd go to sleep after it was over. He'd skip class constantly to play if he still had bandwidth during class time (or he slept through it because he was up all night.) He ended up losing a scholarship over this because his grades dropped from doing nothing than other playing Halo 2.

I figured out it was a problem when he started getting fairly violent when something would disturb his gaming. One time he ran out of bandwidth but wanted to keep playing so he wondered if he could use my internet account instead. I told him no because I needed to do research for a paper and it almost ended in a fist fight. He did actually punch one of the other people in our suite for accidentally disconnecting his ethernet cable once. It was crazy.

I know my dorm roommate doesn't represent gamers in general and can totally see how gaming addiction could be overblown but I definitely think it's a real thing.

I think anytime an activity gets in the way of one's daily life (such as your college roommate), it has crossed the threshold into addiction territory. Are there times where gamers will binge play their shiny new game they just purchased? Of course. (Guilty as charged.) However, gaming all day everyday to the point where it negatively impacts one's ability to live a real life of their own, I consider an addiction.

 

[lamanlupa]

Addiction to videogames is part of this culture and generation. It is something that we have to live with. My advise for those who wants to get their addictions sorted out should at least look for other avenues of fun, recreation and fulfillment. Why not try another hobby/ies aside from the videogames and try to read more or take part in sports or learn to play an instrument. That is one way to curb your gaming cravings, exercise and physical fitness can also be a good advise.

 

[Vegito12]

I think it is real easy to get addicted as you may constantly think about it and also the person can neglect things in their life which may cause problems in their life and around others as well. I reckon that people need to be careful when they play games as it can make a person addicted to games to pass the time, and also it is something people need to be aware of what can happen if not careful. It can be easy to be addicted and also people may even ignore their friends and family also which can, make someone use the games as a way to escape problems in their life which may seem easy to do.

 

[pwarbi]

Addiction to video games is certainly real, and while a few years ago people who mentioned it were probably laughed at, but as more and more people spend time locked in their rooms playing, the less face to face interaction exists.

While I think it's a problem that can be recovered from, I'm not sure the gaming industry is doing enough to warn people about the dangers, on the other hand that's understandable as it isn't their job.

 

[bienn05]

Gaming addiction is a very serious discipline issue. I think having this would annoy me. It is hard to discipline yourself if you are used to play every single day. In order to solve this addiction, I think you have to avoid all gadgets or consoles and not try to touch or look at them. You have to try to sleep not touching or looking at them. Overcoming this would be a great help for addicted gamers.

 

[spaget]

Gaming addiction is real and is now being dealt upon in a similar manner as other forms of addiction. It even has its own entry on the manual/guidelines being used by psychiatrists, alongside other forms of addiction.

 

[Goldie]

Admittedly, a few years ago, I probably would have brushed this off as an addiction that was fairly easy to beat, but now I've changed my mind because I have seen a documentary about it and have seen how much it affects kids and also I have noticed this experience in myself as well as of lately. Even if I consider myself relatively more mature than the kids I watched, I would say I also experience anxiety now whenever I lose internet and can't go online or play video games online and I constantly have to keep myself in check so now I understand the anxiety some kids face whenever they are made to stop their habit of constant gaming. I think it is a big problem and it's very real when it is allowed to grow in a person and is left unchecked.

 

[Kakashi2020]

I do feel that video game addiction is a concern nowadays and an easy solution is for a parent to check on their kids and just limit their playing time. Again this is not new it's been said over and over again since the 80's, but as we could see, what's happening nowadays, happened 10, 20, and even 30 years ago with no actual adverse effects to the majority of players. So I guess it's just a phase for kids to play games and later on, to move on with their lives.

 

[Henrywrites]

I do feel that video game addiction is a concern nowadays and an easy solution is for a parent to check on their kids and just limit their playing time. Again this is not new it's been said over and over again since the 80's, but as we could see, what's happening nowadays, happened 10, 20, and even 30 years ago with no actual adverse effects to the majority of players. So I guess it's just a phase for kids to play games and later on, to move on with their lives.

I like the way you ended things in the sense that it is simply a phase of life for every gamer to take it too serious and later adjust in life. I wish everyone will see it from that angle to realize that it is never a big deal for us who enjoy gaming.

 

[Cher432]

In South Korea, they actually have rehab for game addiction. The World Health Organisation actually classified it as a disorder in January( though gaming companies are disputing this). That clearly indicates that it has become a problem worldwide.

 

[deotnicham]

It's really a big problem in the world and of all ages. Game addiction can blur the distinction between reality and fantasy. It also can lead to neglect of important obligations and relationship. For young players such as children instead of consuming their time for more important things such as studying, interacting with others, and playing creatively, they spend their time playing video games. And sometimes its too late to noticed that they got used to it.

 

[Enyi]

Game addiction is just like any other addiction because some people take it to the extreme I have few young people around that go around game clubs here daily to play video games and just like paying for drinks,they also pay to play these games.So that both productive time and money are gone and they are left with nothing. So I see it as a problem too.

 

[berry]

Game addiction is bad and it making people to become lazy, people are no longer doing productive things than just to play games which is really bad. Game addiction is bad and as such should be played with caution.

 

[EfficientNinja]

Gaming addiction is really bad if you are spending too much time on your video games and it is at the top of your priorities. We should only spend a fraction of our time in games so we don't get addicted and waste away our lives on them. It will really be a big problem if we are ignoring other things that matter more in life, especially our health and give way more importance to video games.

 

[junrose123]

I think video games addiction is really a serious case and a problem that needs to be addressed as soon as possible to avoid further complications. If a child is studying and he/she have this kind of addiction, it has a tendency for them to not to go to school since they will prioritize the gaming rather than their studies which are one of the bad effects of video games addiction to students. Another thing is that it is bad for our health, it can damage our eyes because of too much exposure to light and lack of sleep as a result of playing video games for a long period of time.If this problem could not be resolved immediately, then it might lead to mental and health disorder for the prolong addiction of video games which is not really good in anyways.

 

[renics24]

It’s serious case it wouldn’t be called video game ADDICTION for nothing. People enjoy a competitive game or just a casual game of enjoyment but some people will get blinded by their pleasure of the game many stories circle around the problem of games like a person loosing their job, breaking up with their certain someone, being antisocial ,loosing weight getting unhealthy. There’s alot of negative things will happen to a person no matter what ADDICTION they do, video games is good to the feeling but not that good to destroy your life with.