AMA voting on legitimacy of video game addiction
by Alexander Sliwinski 
{ Jun 14th 2007 at 12:55PM }
The American Medical Association will decide later this month whether "Internet/video game addiction" will be added to the Bible of crazy: The DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders). The proposal comes in a 10-page document prepared by the AMA's Council on Science suggesting that video game addiction is similar to the pattern of behavior observed in pathological gambling.Now remember, they aren't saying that all video game players are addicts. They're merely saying that video game addiction, like gambling addiction, does affect some members of the gaming population and they need help. The armchair psychologist might say that if you know well enough to eat, sleep, go to work/school, kiss your significant other and/or children goodnight, chances are you aren't an addict. Then again, you could just be in denial. After the AMA votes on the matter, it'll still be up to the American Psychiatric Association to decide whether it goes in the DSM. So, for those who think people dying in front of their computers playing games are crazy, this decision by the AMA at the end of the month would put that on the record.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Robert @ Jun 14th 2007 1:13PM
I'm sure there is a strong correlation between hardcore gamers and mediocre grades amongst highschoolers and college kids.
There was a segment on the Tyra Banks show on a guy who played WoW so much he neglected his child. Hilarious.
Zaidyn @ Jun 14th 2007 1:26PM
I believe that Tyra Banks was also under the impression that you could stop peopl from playing WoW if you smashed the disc. =)
Mike @ Jun 14th 2007 1:24PM
I am fortunate enough to be very intelligent along with my constant video game playing. I probably did homework at home maybe a dozen times in my senior year, but I still made straight A's. I was able to do my homework in other classes while listening to the lesson. On the other hand, I'm not actually addicted to games or the internet, because I would actually rather go to a friend's house or take a walk in a park, but I don't have a car, and OKC is really spread out.
Matt B @ Jun 14th 2007 1:26PM
People need something to blame for their actions. Blaming themselves is never the option.
duerra @ Jun 14th 2007 1:29PM
It's probably a good thing if this gets voted down by AMA. Right now most of the states' laws that are going through the books are being declared unconstitutional because it has not been demonstrated that video games pose a legit risk to children or their mental health. If the AMA votes through this proposal, we could start to see states pointing to this, and seeing the courts side with the states regarding the laws they are passing, which are all currently and consistently being ruled unconstitutional by the courts.
Judd @ Jun 14th 2007 1:33PM
Obviously, there are different definitions of "addiction." Obviously it's not the same thing as drugs, because the physical addiction isn't the same. You won't actually be in incredible pain if you go through gaming withdrawal(although mentally it can be stressful).
However, there are many things that are addicting in a broader definition of the term. My family is overweight and trust me they have tried, but for a lot of people food can be an addiction. But eating is something you NEED to do to survive. Something like gambling isn't physically addictive and it's not necessary to survive. If gambling is considered a legitimate addiction, then video games should be put in the same category.
mike phillips @ Jun 14th 2007 1:38PM
I am a clinical psychology graduate student and I must add that for something to be pathological it must cause significant interference or distress for the person. I dont believe that gamers dying in front of their desktops because they couldnt stop playing WOW is so much an issue with gaming but more likely a greater problem with that person's emotional and interpersonal functioning. That would make gaming merely a symptom to a greater problem, not the problem itself.
I really hope the APA and AMA realize that this proposal is unnecessary and simply a means to create a new "niche" therapy market to exploit for financial and political gain. Gaming is merely just the new political whipping boy/scapegoat for this generation, much like "rock n roll" was for the previous. In 10-20 years our kids will look back at this and laugh at the overblown alarmism.
Jack @ Jun 14th 2007 5:37PM
Theres no such thing as addiction without chemical dependency.
Mr Khan @ Jun 14th 2007 3:06PM
Your brain makes its own addictive chemicals
dopamine, endorphins, whatever...
Neebs @ Jun 14th 2007 3:20PM
Mr Khan beat me to the happiness chemicals.
EM @ Jun 14th 2007 3:26PM
@7 (mike phillips) - Addiction is always a symptom of a greater problem. Nobody trips and falls and lands nose-first in a pile of cocaine and ends up hooked; to develop a drug habit, or a gambling habit, or a video game habit, there has to be something psychologically wrong preceding the development of the addiction. Depression, poor impulse control, a need to escape the realities of daily life or difficult emotions, other mental illness; one or all of these has to be present for addiction to occur.
@8 (Jack) - I used to say the same thing. I used to argue that the word "compulsion" should be used for non-chemical habits (gambling, sex, self-injury) and "addiction" should be saved for drugs. But I realized that that's a really minor semantic quibble. There are plenty of drugs that 'hook' people long before there's any sign of chemical dependency - in alcoholism and cocaine addiction, for instance, people have to be habitually taking those drugs for months or years before any sign of a chemical dependency develops. And on the flip side, there are plenty of drugs that produce chemical dependency but do not produce addiction - for instance, many antidepressants including Effexor and Paxil, and many anti-epileptics like Zonegran. Addiction is not the same, and is not always present with, chemical dependency.
Rob Accomando @ Jun 14th 2007 3:26PM
Hi, my name is Rob and I was an Everquest addict. I won't touch another mmorpg again. Seriously.
Au @ Jun 14th 2007 8:24PM
A lot of psychology is BS anyway. People should be skeptical of what the findings are.
Drapetomania was a psychiatric diagnosis proposed in 1851 by physician Samuel A. Cartwright, of the Louisiana Medical Association, to explain the tendency of black slaves to flee captivity.
TheNino85 @ Jun 15th 2007 12:49PM
I agree with EM (#10). I actually was on Effexor for quite a while. Hated the stuff all the while I was taking it, because the withdrawal symptoms were serious. Like, "hit by a train" bad. Yet I would still forget to take it (because I'm just that forgetful) and would wind up with the wicked withdrawal. I did have a chemical dependency on the stuff, but I was by no means addicted to it. Getting off that stuff was painful and took a while, but I finally did and I am SO happy I did. Someone that's addicted to alcohol or video games doesn't just frequently "forget" to engage in those activities for two days.
Also, having played EQ and WoW, I am positive that video game addiction exists and is dangerous. Whether shrinks are the best answer to it is another thing. My whole Effexor experience has taught me to distrust the mental health field entirely, seeing as how I had to pay 100 bucks a month for "medicine" that made me sicker than I was, when all I actually needed was a change of scenary. Quacks. (For the record, both my parents worked in the medical industry and I harbor no ill towards that community. Just the group of pill pushers and hippy "therapists" that make up the mental health industry.)