Tuesday, November 13, 2007

An even-handed look at gaming addiction

From Rock, Paper, Shotgun--an interesting article that presents a refreshingly multi-faceted look at gaming addiction. The article features the varied perspectives and sometimes contentious points of the authors.

Example: “There is no such clinical criteria as ‘video game addiction’,” states Dr Richard Wood. His forthcoming paper, The Myth of Video Game “Addiction” argues, “It has not been acknowledged by any reputable organisation responsible for defining disorders of the mind or body (e.g., The American Psychiatric Association, The World Health Organisation etc.).” (It should be noted that the APA are currently investigating the topic to consider whether they will recognise it).

Example: In his essay, Are Games Addictive: The State of Science, [Neils]Clark explains, “A normal personality usually has a number of activities that they regularly use to feel excited, relaxed, or what have you. Yet people are drawn to some things over others. A huge gambling win is more attractive than cleaning a toilet. For most people. When the soon-to-be addict finds that special activity, they can have [an] ‘aha’ moment… At its most extreme, such a behavioural addiction dominates a person’s life. They need the activity, and they’ll sacrifice nearly anything – long term plans, the company of people, even work in order to have it.”

Definitely worth a read! See the whole thing>>

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1 Comments:

Blogger Neils said...

John's article on this is one of my favorites. The last five or ten years have seen too many quick and dirty articles in the style of, "Run, the evil games are coming!"

I actually had a journalist call me and ask if I personally knew any famous people whose lives had been ruined by gaming. Like I'm good friends with Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell, and last night we binged on AVP 2 for 11 hours. If only.

11:28 AM  

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