Even guys who don't suffer from video game addiction are sometimes unable to resist the thrill of killing a few more shambling zombies, saving the princess or winning World War II. But for those gamers out there who simply cannot put the controller down, video game addiction is a much more serious affliction, as was reinforced by Michael Fahey of Kotaku recently coming forward with the story of an "EverQuest" addiction that cost him his car, job and girlfriend.
The outpouring of similar stories in the comments section of this post reminded us that while the affliction isn't officially recognized by psychiatrists yet, to those who have suffered from it, it is very real. Keep reading to explore some of the more extreme cases of video game addiction.
Failed Intervention?
This clip from the TV show "Intervention" focuses on a young man who plays both "Halo" and "Dance Dance Revolution" with equal intensity. Swearing when you're tea-bagged by a high-pitched 12-year-old from the U.K. we can understand, but it doesn't take a psychiatrist to know something is wrong when a guy screams and flips off a cartoon avatar in a dancing game. Luckily, he does seek help and quickly leaves for a 42-day-long wilderness retreat. Unfortunately, he begins playing games again after getting back, which begs the question: Should gaming addiction be treated the same as other addictions? Members of Alcoholics Anonymous proudly state how long they've been sober. Should game addicts be held to the same standard?
Gaming and Mental Health
This story from two years ago tackles two cases dealing with the addictive nature of both "EverQuest" and "World of Warcraft," the latter of which boasts an active online audience in the millions. It seems like games that feature never-ending gameplay (thanks to online functionality) tend to elicit addictive behaviors more easily from users. One gamer discussed in the video committed suicide after his "EverQuest" addiction led him not only to withdraw from family and quit his job, but to refuse medication prescribed for ADD and epilepsy. While going off his medication probably had more to do with his suicide than his gaming addiction did, it's hard to completely discount it as a contributing factor.
New Kind of Junkie?
The "gaming leads to violence" movement has been around for years. However, does gaming addiction lead to violence? Possibly, or at least as much as other addictions. A brutal murder in Vietnam lends credence to the argument that game addicts will do anything to feed their habit -- much like drug, alcohol or gambling addicts. The story explains how a 13-year-old boy murdered an 81-year-old for money to fund his online gaming addiction. In another case, a 15-year-old boy who relied on extortion to earn cash to continue playing online games was arrested. And you thought gold farmers were bad.Blurring Line Between Reality and Fantasy
China enacted strict regulations regarding to online gaming back in 2005 after a gamer killed another player in real life for stealing his in-game sword. A general concern about video games is that gamers get so immersed in online gaming that they disregard common sense and reality -- a concern sadly proven true in this case. Total Breakdown
While perhaps only a tenuous connection to video game addiction exists here, the murder of Susan Petric by her 17-year-old son Daniel after she denied him access to "Halo 3" is horrifying in its implications. Is the urge to game so strong in some people that they're willing to kill when it's taken away? It's still difficult for many to believe people can actually be addicted to video games. Once associated with Mario breaking bricks and stomping turtles, games now feature full-fledged worlds -- places for gamers to not just play, but inhabit. However, until game addiction is more mainstream (which, unfortunately, may hinge on more related deaths), those who suffer are unlikely to seek help at all, not even knowing they have a problem.If you or someone you know suffers from video game addiction, you can find some support here or contact your family physician.
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Tuesday 03 November
By Takahashi
Gaming addiction is a pretty scary thing, I've met some people whose lives have gone down hill from gaming additions. The movie "Second Skin" is a pretty interesting documentary on the subject. And it gives a general perspective on the the positives and negatives on gaming and its addictions.
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Wednesday 04 November
By Wes
I love when news outlets grab the "most extreme" cases of a particular issue and blow them up to be leading factors in some imaginary epidemic. First of all, the DSM IV does not recognize the word "addiction" for mental disorders or diseases at all. Substance abuse would be the categorical definition. The important thing to note is that in all of these cases (barring the cases in Asia, given a lack of cultural definition that has never been discussed or evaluated in all of those news articles) the victims of this deadly addiction had severe issues of their own. I can't believe anyone would ignore the astounding correlation that a boy starts obsessively playing video games when his mother spontaneously decides to leave the family and divorce. That particular case needs to be looked at through a familial lens. Therapy with the whole family would be WAY more helpful than dumping your problem child off for a month. If you look at the diathesis-stress model it's clear that these games can be a crutch for people struggling with their own problems. Some people might be more likely to use video games as an escape, or a defense mechanism. But to triumphantly proclaim video games to be some sort of demonizing force, destroying the sanctity of these pathetic excuses for family bonds, is outrageous. Maybe we psychologists haven't labeled the term "video game addiction" for all the lazy parents who would rather ignore their children, but that could be because video games are a symptom, not a cause. Getting to the root of these issues instead of blaming a defense mechanism would be much more useful in helping these people.
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Thursday 05 November
By jonny jonmcjonjon
you fail to recognise that modern psychiatry isnt modern enough to understand the modern world- by any means -being gay was a disease until 20 years ago.
Psychiatrists, by the nature of their training( i dont know any psychiatrist under the age of 25, do you?) have no idea, not even a scooby doo what its like to have grown up in a world where inanimate objects have always bleeped or glowed and demanded interaction! they dont even have the language to encompass these concepts of media immersion, the closest they get are concepts of "information overload disorders" or in non-psychobabble terms -ie english- "confusion" or discombobulation, bamboozlement if you want to be fancy which is as daft a "medical" concept as it sounds. the human brain is studied within context and its reaction to stimuli, when that stimuli is constantly emergent and ever changing,and,bear with me... if you take what you are reading now as an example, even sometimes self referential?
they have not a hope in hell of helping anyone or even acknowledging modern "illnesses" such as video game addiction or more importantly even notice the convergence of the online and the social "real" world.
Most modern psychiatry seems to be educated guesses at how a generation of people who are so fundamentally diffferent from what has gone before perceive the world- like your dad trying to talk hip in front of your friends!
The academia of social science cannot do one fundamental thing and will never achieve what is core to their goal of understanding society because of the generation gap and can never hope to.
There is a generation of little battery powered people coming, who, if they are gonna lose it are gonna be messed up in ways the world has never seen the like of before, any psychiatrist will tell you that there are trends in mad people, sorry, "mentally ill" people from year to year, 1999 and 2000 saw quite a lot of matrix fantasists and star wars featured in many a delusion when the new films came out, until someone can get a hold on the cultural ,emotional, communal and possibly even transcendental effect of enthrallment by digital media circus........the radio generations tried to understand the tv generations, the radio and tv generation tried to understand the computer generation, and now the radio, tv generation and computer generations are trying to understand ipod mobilephonewifiinternetps3xboxetc etc and you see? it is doomed to failure, they coem out of the womb texting these days!!! wtf? (and i dont mean why the face). and if you dont buy it mr eminent psychiatrist- as it takes a few years to reach the top of your profession you had a toy trainset, i had an atat and a zx spectrum, whats on santas list this year? nokia n96ixes, high definition tv and my first barbie laptops.
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Thursday 05 November
By mclolzersauce
I yell at video games when i lose. Does that mean im addicted?!!?!
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Thursday 05 November
By mclolzersauce
I yell at video games when i lose. Does that mean im addicted?!!?!
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Tuesday 17 November
By Virginia
naaaa... you're just into it. That's cool. I do the same darn thing at playstation.
Friday 20 November
By xX PaKaLoLO Xx
No I dop the same shit.
Thursday 05 November
By Eib
The "mother" in that first story should not be allowed to call herself that, and should not be there. His descent into trying to control his emotions and hide from the world is her fault. Did she honestly think her children wouldnt be damaged when she decided to "remove all distractions"? What the hell was this wonderful career that she abandoned her children. Sad.
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Thursday 05 November
By Mike
@Wes
I have to disagree with you completely. I think whats even worse than the media taking worse case scenarios and using them to tell a story , is someone who completely refuses to acknowledge a problem by citing his or her own experiences as proof. The classic "Oh I don't have a problem, I have a hot girlfriend and a great job so I can play to my hearts content and get away with it"
Anyone who knows someone addicted to video games can tell you that it is a huge problem. Sometimes literally when linked to obesity. I think its an even bigger tragedy that people are wasting the prime of their live's locked into a digital screen. I think as generation X,Y, and future generations get older you will start to see an outpouring of regret over this.
But getting back to the matter at hand. I know /many/ individuals who will spend 8 hours of their evening playing WoW or another online game. And thats a light case of it. I've known people that have gone without work for months, completely oblivious to what's happening to their life.
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Thursday 05 November
By Margaret
I have been playing role playing games starting when they first cam out for the computer. Even the ones on bulletin boards.
I had all of the Forgotten realms for the 64, 128 and the Amiga. I played with my sons and their friends.
Now I play WOW and love it. I have friends on line and family members who all work together to complete levels and quests
Getting into these type of games is like reading fairy tale or science fiction. Since I have Chronic pain playing a character helps me cope with pain without drugs. I do not like Violent shooting games with no plot but counting hits.
I am 64 years old, I am active in my community, serve on community boards and committees. I am active working with Youth in trouble. I also knit for others, keep my apartment clean, I am a normal individual.
If any of my family were so addicted that they were a danger tho themselves or others I would get them help and physical help them with the problem.
These games are addictive but so is knitting, kayaking, reading or almost anything that gives you pleasure. The Player has to have other interests to be well rounded, friends and family have to step up and help player get involved with the world again.
In my family and friends, we believe that the computer and games ties us together when we are scattered around the world.
Don't blame the game, just do life in moderation.
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Friday 20 November
By meghan
good for you! i love WOW, but it can get addicting and sometimes i do feel like a WOWidow when my husband plays for hours no end but it does give people a chance to interact with people they would otherwise never meet.
Tuesday 17 November
By Gamer wife
My husband has been a die hard gamer since I met him when he was 15. He is now 27 and has toned it down some since we had our daughter but, he still gets sucked in sometimes for all nighters on xbox live. He will play Call of Duty World at War or the new Call of Duty game (I forget the name) and he gets super pissed at the games and go's on and on to the people on xbox live he is playing with. I sometimes get upset because I feel like he has more to say to these strangers than he does to me. However, I did have a serious talk with him aboout this and it has gotten alot better. I think what it is important to realize in this kind of situation is that the person who gets so sucked into the games may not realize at all how it is affecting the people around them. It is important to talk about how it is affecting your life as well as the addicts life. Otherwise they will dillute themselves into believing ''it's just a game, what's the big deal?'' It's just a game if it's in moderation and if your getting irate and yelling the tv or other players why even play? Aren't games supposed to be fun?
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Friday 20 November
By jeremy
my wife and all my friends girlfriends say the same thing. For some your hobby is reading, does that mean your addictive to books. For some your hobby is shopping( we know thats addictive). For most guys witha family..( kids and WIFE) well this is something to keep us in the house and not on the streets drinking or cheating.. i mostly play when the house is empty and everybody is in bed...from 11pm to 2-3am
Wednesday 18 November
By Chris Rawls
Maybe that lady who claims Everquest killed her child should think more. I'd have to agree that it may have acted as a Catalyst, but there was obviously something else that deeply troubled him.
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Tuesday 17 November
By ChipDouglas
Ok im 21 and shoot i just sold my 360 for money n real cheap.. sad that i did cuz iloved my xbox trust me. But going krazy over video games?> Im addicted to World aT War n right now i miss a bit but im a great gamer n im not doing nothing krazy to get me back my xbox or ps3.. I think that its parenting & things kids go through today that break them emotionaly n all kinds of stuff. Im just saying thhat they are makeing krazier n hardcore games but hopefully the 1 that plays it is mentaly stable to know what a video game is & physically not do what games happend 2 be doing. I love games but hurting ppl over it please dont band video gameing for me or the real gamers.
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Tuesday 17 November
By treycook33
Gamer Wife...you are right in theory (that games are supposed to be fun), but what you don't realize, is that even though your husband is SO MAD and ANGRY, his IS having fun. I'm also playing the new Modern Warfare, and I find myself LOUDLY cursing up a storm at the screen (I'm not even playing online). I get SOOOO frustrated. But when it comes down to it, I absolutely LOVE playing the game. The intensity, the anguish, the competition...most people don't have that in their lives, and many secretly (or openly) crave it. I'm sure playing a sport would be a better outlet, but video games can still fulfill those needs. I know people hear "video game" and think "Pac-Man"...well this sure as sh#t isn't Pac-Man. It's like being submersed in a real-life combat scenario, and only your skill and cunning will get you out alive. I know that sounds a bit extreme, but that is the mindset that many gamers develop when playing a truly good game. Anyway, your husband will be fine; it's up to you to periodically let him know that he's going overboard. I know that I have to be kept in check once in a while myself :)
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Wednesday 18 November
By Jessica
So long as video games aren't made out to be the bad guy, this is a good story. I should probably show it to my boyfriend, I believe he's teetering on the edge of addiction when it comes to call of duty...hell I am too with the Fable series and shooting zombies.
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Wednesday 18 November
By Adam
The one about Halo 3 was proven to be bullshit because his father was like an abusive minister and he took it out on his mother by proxy.
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Thursday 19 November
By Intruudir
Recently got a X-box 360 as a gift from my wife. I love the system and the games available now-a-days are so awesome.
I can't get enough of Halo and Modern Warfare2.........
Addicted...that is a reach at best...I am a licensed Addiction Counselor in Illinois...and I see nothing in the previous posts or story that would come close to meeting the criteria for addiction.
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Friday 20 November
By jeremy
my wife and all my friends girlfriends say the same thing. For some your hobby is reading, does that mean your addictive to books. For some your hobby is shopping( we know thats addictive). For most guys witha family..( kids and WIFE) well this is something to keep us in the house and not on the streets drinking or cheating.. i mostly play when the house is empty and everybody is in bed...from 11pm to 2-3am
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