Addiction experts: Video games aren't an addiction
by Alexander Sliwinski 
{ Jun 24th 2007 at 10:00PM }
Apparently the doctors from the American Medical Association (AMA) who were looking to have video game addiction classified as a disease have backed away from their decision. They now recommend the American Psychiatric Association, who would have had the final word on the matter anyway, consider doing more research into the issue and possibly add the diagnosis to their revision of the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) in 2012. The AMA doctors who believe video game addiction exists say it affects approximately 10% of players, but say more study is needed..
"There is nothing here to suggest that this is a complex physiological disease state akin to alcoholism or other substance abuse disorders, and it doesn't get to have the word addiction attached to it," said Dr. Stuart Gitlow of the American Society of Addiction Medicine and Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in New York. But Dr. Thomas Allen of the Osler Medical Center says, "Working with this problem is no different than working with alcoholic patients. The same denial, the same rationalization, the same inability to give it up." But is that addiction, compulsion or just playing really bad games? That's the question.
Dr. Louis Kraus who deals in child and adolescent psychiatry says it's not such cause-and-effect issue. He says certain kids just have a more "compulsive component" in what they do. Kinda sounds like the same argument about kids who play video games and kill. The AMA will make its final recommendation on the issue later this week.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Tim @ Jun 24th 2007 10:20PM
Good god, am I the only one that noticed the teeth on that woman licking the Atari controller?
Brandon @ Jun 24th 2007 10:38PM
I promise it is not an addiction... I do go to work when I would rather stay home and play video games. But not many people are gonna say they would like to go to work. I do house work and anything else around the house instead of playing video games. There is a time and a place and you don't have to play video games. I have not touched my DS in about two weeks because I'm too busy. I call the study BS.
Shadow @ Jun 24th 2007 10:40PM
Tim:Oh God, now I see it too. I think I'm going to be sick!
Anyway, on topic, the thing these people don't put into consideration is that the addiction comes down to the person. Very few things in this world are actually addictive. It's the person that chooses to be addicted for whatever personal reason.
If these people who are addicted to video games, alcohol, and other substances didn't have whatever they were addicted to then they would be addicted to something else.
I can become addicted to collecting toy trains just as someone can become addicted to alcohol.
BrianG @ Jun 24th 2007 10:41PM
@Brandon
Wow, you didn't read it at all, did you?
A: They suggest that it may not be an addiction
B: Just because you don't have the addiction, it doesn't exist? I'm not an alcoholic, does that mean alcoholism doesn't exist? Or lupus? I don't have lupus either.
Joe @ Jun 24th 2007 11:10PM
To paraphrase Half Baked:
"I used to suck **** for coke. Now that's an addiction. You ever suck some **** for video games? "
Grog @ Jun 24th 2007 11:15PM
Just because no one here is addicted to video games does not mean that it doesn't happen. Those fellows who have died playing MMORPGs were most definitely cases of addiction, even if they were the only ones.
REUYL @ Jun 24th 2007 11:29PM
The woman in that picture should stop licking Atari controllers and start brushing her teeth. Gosh!
Chris Putnam @ Jun 24th 2007 11:35PM
---------
"If these people who are addicted to video games, alcohol, and other substances didn't have whatever they were addicted to then they would be addicted to something else.
I can become addicted to collecting toy trains just as someone can become addicted to alcohol."
---------
Abuse of a substance is quite a bit different from addiction to something like video games, since there's a large component of physical dependence involved.
VG addiction would be closer to gambling addiction, which is entirely psychological. I personally think calling gambling addiction a true disorder is questionable, but if the APA thinks it is then I guess video games aren't that much different.
Which is part of the problem, I think. If you open the door to this, then you might as well add "furniture rearranging addiction" and "7-11 fried chicken addiction" and every other thing you can get carried away with, as separate addictions. It's ridiculous, considering they all develop through exactly the same pattern of operant conditioning. Eventually I imagine they'll come up with something like "Maladaptive Behaviour Addiction" and lump all these things together.
For another thing, to be included in DSM, a mental disorder has to cause significant harm to the sufferer or the people around them. It's easy to see how that happens with gambling, but "Timmy is so busy playing Halo he didn't join the football team!" is stretching it.
It's fine to deal with these issues in family counselling, but I think the world can manage without having VG addiction as a formally recognized mental disorder.
Greedom @ Jun 25th 2007 12:45AM
Ugh more of this "addiction is a disease" bullcrap. It's psychological and a way to make the person less responsible for their actions.
Grey Acumen @ Jun 25th 2007 1:07AM
After video games, research will go further in depth to find out if "winning" and "fun" might also be addictive.
Results are still pending on if "sex" is addictive.
JerkAss @ Jun 25th 2007 4:44PM
NO addiction is a disease. I don't care what you're on, just don't compare being addicted to something/substance to a "legitimate" disease like cancer. Addiction is a disease just as being a fuck-up is a disease.Addiction is a choice.
(Trolling time)
Not Impressed @ Jun 25th 2007 4:36AM
Well that's swell of the AMA fellas, but EVERY TV NEWS STATION in North America has been running the addiction story all weekend... I doubt they will run a story about the retraction.
Lame.
Kenofthedead @ Jun 25th 2007 4:44AM
It's not "addiction to video games" like an addiction to a drug.
It's addiction to video games like an addiction to gambling. Which I find rather reasonable to think that someone addicted to video games could have it as a impulse control disorder.
Of course that is up to the AMA, BPS, and any other nations out there I don't know the alphabet group for.
If you don't believe addictions can be an illness, that is fine, but most of the world's medical boards do.
Even if they aren't, nothing wrong with the AMA putting it on the list to gain awareness and help for insurance companies to cover it at a psychologist.
Rhomulus @ Jun 25th 2007 6:32AM
I swear some of my old friends are addicted to WoW. They play it day in and day out and cant be bothered to do anything else. If they are not playing WoW ie: school, they are talking about it. Now im not saying you can only get addicted to WoW but maybe "video game addiction" is real. WoW has taken over their lives and has ruined our friendships.
Jake @ Jun 25th 2007 8:45AM
Addiction is a word that gets way overused. Marijuanna is not physically addictive, but they will tell you in school that it is phsychologically addictive. I wanted to know what that meant and it wasn't in the teacher's manual so they obviously didn't know.
After looking into it more, I came to the conclusion that it basically meant that you liked doing it so you wanted to continue to do it. So for me, I am addicted to sex, frisbee golf, basketball, fishing, video games, drinking, and killing time on the computer.
What it really comes down to is if there is a group of people with the power to call something addictive that doesn't like something, they can go ahead and call it an addiction. But it is no different than excercising, reading, eating healthy, or watching the news because of an urge to do so. It is all about how other people want you to live your life so it is more like how they do.
Please note I am talking about "psychologically addictive" things. That is when there are no physical symptoms of addiction, just the desire to do it. And there very well could be cases of true phsychological addiction where it is very intense and the person can't quit despite a serious effort.
Now I have to go shower and eat toast before work, god I'm so addicted to showering and eating toast in the morning. ;)
X_Arre @ Jun 25th 2007 9:56AM
I'm addicted to breathing.
Even when I try to stop, The urge gets so strong and I can't help it!!