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WoW game addiction is not a mental illness

N

net2system

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 30, 2007
8
0
:D
Video game addiction is not a mental illness.
Is video-game addiction a mental disorder?

Our brain senses, thoughts and feels to help us live. It interprets all these signals and process them so that we could perform certain neccessary actions or tasks.
Our online lives are just digital images that we make and gaming mentality is another cloned state of mind. As games and the gaming mindset take over our digital lives so can it creep into the real world . The online life becomes more appealing than the real life. Addiction may become a critical factor and one that destroy your real self.
Don't be a game addict be YourSelf again .
Ask yourself this again :- Video game addiction is a not mental illness.
What is your say ?

Kenneth chan
My though for this Xmas month
:apple:
 
Personally, I was addicted to WoW for about 3 weeks....I look back at those sad sad days where i would play for hours..
I pretty much realized that I hate the game, and I've never played it since :p

But I have to admit, the game is very addictive, and it's not a mental illness :p
 
When I played WoW. I found that, time-wise, it wasn't that I was playing games any more, It's just that WoW was the only one that I was playing.
 
Maclarny said:
When I played WoW. I found that, time-wise, it wasn't that I was playing games any more, It's just that WoW was the only one that I was playing.
Click to expand...

I'm totally like that. Whenever I'm at home with nothing to do (which is a lot of the time) I'm usually on the computer, and nowadays I'm on WoW. Of course, I also have IM eMail and MacRumors open because I don't want to get totally absorbed into WoW.

As for the addiction aspect, I think if you have an addictive personality then you can get very addicted to anything that you enjoy. But there is a difference between addiction and bad time management. For example, I tell myself that I'm going to play WoW for an hour then go do something productive, but before I know 3 hours have gone by.
 
For me its seasonal, maybe one month Ill play 30 hours a week another barely 10 a week. I play since I don't watch TV basically 2-4hours a week. Its weird how easily I let go of that but I think its more an individuals ability to have self control. Now to play 12 hours of WoW, jk =)
 
It isn't necessarily WoW itself that is addicting, but rather WoW is incredibly dangerous for those with addictive personalities. Several friends of mine still play more than 40 hours a week of WoW; the only reason I don't call them "addicted to WoW" is that they were playing countless hours of Asheron's Call/FF XI/Ulitma Online/whatever before WoW came out. I must point out, however, that they play considerably more WoW than whatever their prior gaming addictions were (on the one year anniversary of World of Warcraft, one friend of mine had a /played time of over 200 days between his four level 60s).
 
WoW is like crack for some people. If you can't stop yourself from playing despite it negatively impacting your life doesn't matter if you call it addiction or not it's a problem. I know many people who ruined relationships, failed at college/high school, married someone they met in-game and quickly divorced, stopped leaving their house, played 72 hours straight, played during classes, etc. There is a youtube series called something like The Guild that is pretty cheesy but reflected my experiences fairly well.
 
It is more of a symptom than a cause. People like straight forward and easy to obtain goals. It just feeds into the obsession with instant gratification.
 
:D:apple:
Has game truly becoming an addiction? Another ponder point!

My stand is YES if ...
1.Addiction once depreved from me would keep me from going on living.
2.Addiction makes me more irritable /miserable & uncomfortable.
3.My fantasy world makes me feel better.
Ever more so when telltale signs for game addiction show up
Spending larger amounts of time playing games.
Games keep occupying my thoughts and time.
Lying about my game addiction.
Withdrawal symptons.
Keep blaming others for my own mistakes.
Using gaming as an escape from the real world
All these are my own makings .I am the ONE to be blamed not others.
These , I am sure, YOU had have them before .Haven`t you?
 
Of course it can be an addiction. Anything that offers a release and can be abused; games, driving fast, porn/sex. The worse part is that it might be tougher than drug addiction, since at least they're just an artificial chemical addiction, rather one made by your own body (but of course there is this from drugs too. Just as someone can become addicted or dependant to something like Cannabis. Not just for the drug but for the feeling the user gets and the thrill of the culture or whatever).

I've never played nor care for WoW, I thought I was addicted to Team Fortress 2 when I was playing for 2 hours a night (which is bad for me :p) but I've been too busy to play recently and haven't really had any withdrawal symptoms.
 
mental illness is a word

you can get addicted to WoW or any videogame..but its a psychological addiction. You can break it with a little willpower. Whether it is classified as a mental illness is irrelevant. Heck, depression is considered a mental illness. Anyone been depressed about anything before? Probably everyone about something at one time or another.
 
Depression is a mental illness? Wouldn't it depend if it was chronic?

- I was about to go into a medical company rant then. Calm yourself Jimmi.
 
Please tell me you all have seen the WoW episode of South Park. I'm not usually a S.P. fan, but oh my god was it hilarious. For the record, I've never played the game, so I can't comment on the game itself.
 
In presenting another view, for some WoW is simply a way to release the stress of a long day. I am married, a CPA, and finishing my 3rd year of law school, and I find that an hour a night is a simple way to relax and wind down.

To be clear, life is about time management, and anything can be abused; what some call "mental illness" and "game addiction" is simply an unbalanced life. Variation is a good thing.

Just waiting on WLK - at that point my life as well may become unbalanced. :D
 
If it is a mental illness, you can get those pharmaceutical grade mind altering drugs that you so obviously need. :p ;)
 
I'm not much of a gamer, but I once dated an MMO'er for a couple years. It was kinda cool at first, but when you spend more Saturday nights slaying giants than actually doing something worthwhile, it gets kind of tiresome. We played WoW when it first came out, and when doing the Molten Cores was "new and exciting". That's time in my life I will never, ever get back. (Mind you, I don't just mean the WoWing bit).

Nowadays, I play video games once a month, twice a month if things are particularly slow. I will say this: I am many, many times happier in my life as a result.

I would personally recommend against playing a game like WoW. I lost far more to that game than I can put into words -- or am willing to outright share. And I was a "casual" player. Games like this are life destroying for many.
 
Iscariot said:
I'm not much of a gamer, but I once dated an MMO'er for a couple years. It was kinda cool at first, but when you spend more Saturday nights slaying giants than actually doing something worthwhile, it gets kind of tiresome. We played WoW when it first came out, and when doing the Molten Cores was "new and exciting". That's time in my life I will never, ever get back. (Mind you, I don't just mean the WoWing bit).

Nowadays, I play video games once a month, twice a month if things are particularly slow. I will say this: I am many, many times happier in my life as a result.

I would personally recommend against playing a game like WoW. I lost far more to that game than I can put into words -- or am willing to outright share. And I was a "casual" player. Games like this are life destroying for many.
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THANKS FOR THE SOUND ADVISE.;)
 
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