A different perspective
Between clinical research, public perspective, and the gaming community’s understanding of video game addiction, there is another point of view that demands a voice: the self-confessed addict’s.
David, a 28-year-old gamer from Mt Isa in Queensland, Australia, spends up to 20 or more hours a week playing games, usually first-person shooters. Although he’s been a gamer for 15 years, it wasn’t until his recent decision to start studying again that he first noticed his habit was becoming a problem.
“My sleep, studying and physical condition have all suffered because I play games too much,” he said. “Sometimes it takes me a while to fall asleep because I think about a game I’m playing. I also leave assignments to the last minute. I find it especially frustrating if I am left alone for a day, because I will end up playing way too much.” David says that he does not suffer if he has not played for a period of time, but he admits he always has a game at the back of his mind, acknowledging that if he continues his habit he will also continue to suffer in other aspects of his life.
Twenty-three-year-old X (who does not wish to be named) also plays more than 20 hours of games a week. He’s been playing games since the age of six, beginning by favouring RTS games and eventually moving on to shooters and strategy games like Call of Duty 4 and Warcraft 3, and RPGs like KOTOR and Oblivion. He says gaming became a problem when he was first left alone to monitor how much time he spent playing them.
“I was 14 and there was nothing really stopping me from playing too much, so I did. Over time, I’ve found that the more I game, the harder it is to concentrate. For example, I find it extremely hard to just sit down and write an assignment or do some reading for university; every few minutes, my mind is wandering back to games. If I haven’t been playing games for a week or two for one reason or another, then I find my concentration improving and gaming doesn’t dominate my thoughts nearly as much.”
X says that to some extent, most aspects of his life suffer due to excessive gaming: study, social life, relationships and health.
“I know that if I spent even one fifth of the time that I game on study, then my grades would have been a lot better. On more than one occasion I’ve stayed in and gamed instead of going out. And as far as wellbeing goes, I have trouble sleeping, my posture isn’t great and I even carry my right shoulder forward a little because I use it for the mouse, which has given me shoulder problems. I even get in a bad mood when I perform badly whilst playing," he said.
“During the period of time I’m playing games and in the short term (a few hours, to a couple of weeks) after quitting them, I can experience anything from insomnia, to trouble concentrating, to restlessness--usually all three. It’s after I haven’t played any games for a few weeks that these symptoms start to disappear.”
In X’s group that he plays games with, gaming is encouraged--the group has developed its own subculture around playing, and there is never talk of ‘excessive gaming’. However, X has found relationships with other groups of peers and his parents have suffered. When it comes to defining what his habits mean, X believes the problem is psychological.
“I find that when I’m playing games, I’m fine and most other times when I’m not playing games, I want to be playing games. I don’t know what will happen if I continue to play games this way--I have full-time employment lined up for next year which is probably going to dominate most of my waking hours, so it might be that a lot of my problems take care of themselves. Then again, if I only have a few hours to myself every night and I’m filling them with gaming, then my social life might suffer even more.”
X says he has never thought about getting outside help, but would consider it if more aspects of his life begin to suffer. In the meantime, he sees video game addiction becoming an increasing problem in society as more people become gamers and the competition aspect is played up.
“Where you have a problem that isn’t recognised as a problem and where the effects aren’t readily identifiable or measureable, then that problem is going to get a lot worse before enough people realise it’s there and resolve to do something about it. Couple that with the fact that gaming is also coming more and more into the mainstream and you’ve got a bunch of serious problems sitting just off the horizon. For the first time, a large percentage of the population is gaming and in the next few generations, I can only see that figure increasing.
“There’s also the status of gaming itself. Clans are being sponsored, the industry is booming and players are actually making money out of it. People are making a living from playing games. Gaming is being marketed like a sport, which in many ways is a fair classification--it’s often highly competitive, takes skill and teamwork. However, there are some serious negatives to playing too many games, negatives which don’t exist with normal sports.”
What are your thoughts on game addiction? Is it real? Is the issue being over-inflated? Tell us your comments below!
kweeni posted Aug 18, 2009 2:31 am PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)
kiloai posted Apr 24, 2009 5:51 am PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)