The solution... turn video gaming into an olympic sport (summer and winter) then little Jimmy's parents will force him to play his video games as an extracurricular activity. C'mon parents are forcing their kids to play sports and practice piano for 12 hours a day. To tell you the truth I am more impressed with a 12 year old who can go undefeated on HALO 2 online than I am with a 250 lb. varsity football player who wins the big game for his high school. Fuck, chess is a game and when that little asian boy gets his USCF rating up to 2000 he's hailed as a genius but if another little asian boy is rated as the best HALO 2 player online his parents will tell him "good, now there's no reason for you to play anymore." then go off and sell the poor little bastard's X BOX. What I am trying to get at is that einstein was right everything is relative. 12 year old boy has a passion for video games and aspires to be the best gamer on the net he has an addiction but if that same 12 year old boy were to dedicate 12 hours a day to become a professional football player he's defined as passionate, determined, and driven.

it's simple, if a person has an addiction to a game, you smash their screen, and when they go to get a replacement you steal their keyboard or controller.

@ GoldTree

I definitely agree. I learned a new fact from a friend today though. Apparently the real issue isn't insurance, but funding for support groups. For example, if a school wanted to add it to the budget (bad example, I know, but all I can think of at the moment), the difference in funding between an official diagnosis and no official one when the parents hear about could easily be "great!" and "no way!" respectively. Let's hear it for the ignorant, easily swayed masses.

@ chadachada

I agree. The similarity being that both are reinforced by rewards in some form. In the case of games, an accomplishment. In the case of gambeling, winning money, however small. The difference being, the type of reinforcement. Video game rewards are fairly predictable and regular. Gambeling rewards are mostly unpredictable and irregular. For example, someone who limits him or herself to $20 at the nickel slots. The burn through, say, 16 bucks, then win 2, and think something like "Oh! Maybe I really could win big!" The point is that kind of reward system, random and varying in degree, the just about the best reinforcer. It's actually why a lot of people stay in abusive relationships. The amount of study on those two subjects specifically is staggering. In the coming years, various aspects of video gaming will probably catch up.

@ GoodRobotUs

Bravo. As always, very good points. All things in moderation. Essentially, as the general theme always is with these things, it's basically a "raise my kids for me" attitude, just because the general perception is still that 90% of gamers are kids. The other part of that is, most people don't know about the good games have done. I've read stories about learning disabled kids learning to read from them. There's the depression study I cited before (if I can ever find a copy, I'll post a link). If you really want something good sometime, look me up and I'll tell you all about the internship I'm doing. A lot of people would be amazed.

@ Marlowe

The only thing is, the AMA isn't a government agency. The only time anything the AMA, APA (either of the, because there are two), or any other health organization (ex. The NIMH, WHO) says becomes official in any capacity is when the CDC or some other government health division adopts it. Most of those are interest or political action groups, or just plain lobbiests (sp?). Even then, it's usually after a lenghty review of the associated research. And by the way, sorry, I can't remember the exact name of the government mental health branch.

@ Zack
Honestly, there isn't much tinfoil involved here at all, if the AMA was to find video game addiction to be a bona-fide disease then it absolutely opens the door to government regulation since there would be what would legally be considered a legitimate health concern involved. Right now the government's main obstacle in regulating games is the first amendment, the first amendment can be ignored in cases of public safety (if you yell fire in a crowded theater you're liable for anyone who gets trampled.) Although politicians and lobbyists like Thompson argue that such a case exists with video games, legally it does not, there's only a hodge-podge of semi-conclusive research that goes both ways, if the AMA officially declares video game addiction to be a disease such a case could be legally argued to exist and the first amendment may be overlooked by the courts as a result.

Oooh. That is not a flattering picture.

In a way, I'm sort of inclined to agree with 'a person' regarding games like Mario Bros etc, when you watch a firework display or laser-show or other artistic performance like that, you can say words like 'hypnotising' or 'enchanting' without worrying in the least that someone is going to try and twist that phrase.

You can describe the images from a Direct X Screensaver in the same way, but no-one would dare use that phrase about a video game, not because it's inaccurate, but because it would be deliberately mis-construed.

That's part of the problem, 'Enter the Enchanting and Hypnotic world of Hollywood' is far from a 'no-go' phrase, and yet say 'Enter the Enchanting and Hypnotic world of Computer Games' and you wouldn't be able to hear yourself think for the sound of people running around with soap-boxes.

@ Mike
Indeed. The one thing that worries me though -- is it really necessary for there to be a specific, separate category for video game addiction in order for treatment to be government funded? I imagine there are some people who could really need it.

Of course, I imagine that such programs should also focus on external factors such as depression and isolation that are driving them there in the first place. If a kid has no friends at school, but plenty of friends in WoW, is there any question why he would get pissed when his parents try to ban him from it?

I going to nitpick a little here. I'm a psych major, and addiction can be to anything. In the Diagnostic and Statistics Manual for Psychology (DSM-4-TR) there is a diagnosis for Addiction NOS ("Not Otherwise Specified"). that can be used for anything.

The difference here is the wording. "Addiction" is not the same as "dependency." Addiction is a mental aspect. People can be addicted to anything. Addiction is just usually triggered by something pleasurable or that otherwise releases high doses of serotonin and other neurotransmitters that have to do with pleasure. Dependency is when the body actually physically starts to depend on something.

A good example is cigarettes. The average length of time to end the physical dependency to the nicotine is 2 to 10 days, going cold turkey. Most people stay closer to the 2 day mark. After that, people don't fail to quit because they actually need it, it's because the habit and knowledge that it feels good brings them back to it. That's the addiction part.

So from the wording of what Dr. Gitlow said, they're talking about an actual dependency. Addiction is still an option. It's just no where near as likely. I mean, there are addictions to porn, gambling, driving, fishing, golfing, and EVERY other thing people like to do.

Personally, I things video games aren't a bad thing in the slightest. There have been MRI studies that show playing a 3D video game helps for temporary relief of depression. 3D games use the area of the brain that is usually found to be less active in depressed patients, so making it work more is kind of a side effect of playing games. I'd like to see the mainstream media actually cite a report like that for a change.

'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.'

It's strange, you could almost hear someone making an Anti-Iraq War speech and using exactly the same accusations.

GamerDad
Same but different *dodge*
LOL

the adcitivness of gambling/gaming/shopping is not high enough to indavendaul diagnosis I believe.

Tom
the OCD (for lack of a better word on my part) addicts need there own "label" toss gambling,game,shopping,ect into that call it what ti is a deal with the realities of "Psychological dependency" and be done with it.... you really don't need to jump threw hoops to re label such things for the times...

I might have my terms mixed but I do not think video games need the "diagnosis".

prehaps the US filed of pyscology(or world for that matter) needs to label everything lil thing to make itself feel better I dunno I think it could be eaily grouped with other like diagnosis.

(yes I know spelling sucks but my dinner is burning....!!!!)

@ DragonBomber

There is definitely a change that occurs in people's brains when they're playing games and I wouldn't be surprised if it was someday discovered that a similar change occurs in people's brains when they're playing competitive sports or just goofing around with friends. The thing is, though, that you can't drop a scanning device onto somebody's head, have their coach give them a "good luck" pat on the ass and send them into the football field. You can sit someone down in front of a game, drop some tech onto their heads and say, "play!" and then compare that to the reading of somebody who's addicted to, I don't know, eating grape nuts cereal. Or a homicidal maniac. Or a happy home maker. Or currently jumping up and down. Or sleeping. Or considering the long-term social implications of a society that rewards people who crotch-punch their neighbors. Or whatever. The brain is a big 'ole ball of wtf? even to people who study the brain.

Sorry for the long paragraph :)

My thing is the comparison of "gaming addiction" to something like alcoholism or another physically addictive substance. Sure, some people are going to be compulsive gamers and some people will even game themselves to death. You want to know the culprit, though? It's not how games effect the body.

The population of the US is much, much higher then the population of South Korea but South Korea produces a much higher percentage of people who've gamed themselves to death. Either there's something phsycialy different in South Koreans that makes them susceptible to "game addiction," or there's some aspect of their society that makes games so attractive and so consuming that people play without regard to their personal safety.

"Game addiction" is going to take hold on a person who finds more happiness in a game then they do in real life. Think about those crazy WoW or EQ addicts. The really nutty ones. Do you think that they had a fulfilling personal life?

@E. Zachary Knight:

"I think this whole game addiction thing was less a move to help the “addicted” get insurance coverage and more a move toward government control of games. If the medical industry couls classify gaming as an adiction then the governement could have put similar restrictions on games as they do Alcohol and tobacco."

They could try, but some things aren't as easily regulated. Take sex for example, the desire of an abundance of which also is considered a disorder that some insurance companies will pay for treatment over. People go to meetings for this just like AA. People who are "afflicted" with this addiction sometimes manage to keep jobs they would have normally lost due to content loaded at work by anyone other than themselves. Don't get me wrong, the American government does a GREAT job regulating a natural function of our bodies. On a whole though, how effective are their efforts to curtail unwanted, excessive, or deviant behavior? Not very. The laws on the books aren't even used in most cases unless it suits a situation, such as keeping some citizens in a spotlight when they are seen as truly deviant and unwanted by the morally-jubilant community.

@Tom:

"Asking a heroin addict to stop doing heroin is COMPLETELY different then asking a gamer to put down the controller."

There's a show on cable Wednesday night I think you may want to watch that may shed some interesting light on this. I'll check when home to see what time and channel it is on (I've set the dvr to record it). From the commercial it led me to believe part of it would include doctors showing scans of people's brains as they played games. I have no idea of the slant the show is going to take, but I wouldn't put it out of the realm of possibility that videogames may trigger similar pleasure areas of the brain that produce dopamine and so forth.

Is it possible to get hooked on games? Of course. We all know people with a lot of OTHER problems who fall into games as an escape or for fun. Can a game infect everyone? Doubt it. Food can produce that high enabling some people to eat continuously to remain feeling good, the side effect being the massive girth they build in the process. While we are a larger society now, most people are not even half as huge as severe food addicts get.

Hot peppers produce a rush for me that would be considered a high, although peppers are the hardest thing I touch besides a drink now and again. I also eat them in a far less quantity than would begin to do damage to my body. I am not addicted to peppers although I love them and enjoy them when I do partake. A lot of chemical dependencies as you say are horrible in the change they affect on the body. Most people can't just stop smoking. Nearly all of the people I know who game a LOT still are able to put down the controller for work and friends. I agree that equating videogames the same as drugs is extreme, however for some people (as with everything else we come into contact with) there may be a safe and unsafe quantity of consumption. Meaning some people need to be aware of this and stay away from games if that is what it takes.

I would imagine a videogame habit is only one of many potential habits that someone prone to addictive consumption could fall into, that larger issues underneath the surface need exploring. Until we have scientific efforts and results overshadowing the peanut gallery, this is just something else we will have to deal with as gamer. BTW, Youtube has a great skit from SNL from years ago about children who are arcade junkies. I will link that here as well if I saved it in my favorites. I think it fits perfectly into today's headlines and needs a revision.

edit button FTL >>
*headdesk*

@ PeterWDawson

What makes alcohol, tobacco, heroin, methamphetimine, etc etc etc different are the fact that they create chemical dependencies and alter how your body works. Don't lump chemical dependency with psychological compulsion - they're completely different things.

Asking a heroin addict to stop doing heroin is COMPLETELY different then asking a gamer to put down the controller.

What it would do if they did classify it as an addiction is that they could silence anyone who disagreed with the anti-game nuts. It wouldn't be 1984-like, in that they would come arrest us and put us in a 12-step program, and I don't think they would put even restrictions like cigarettes, but it would be bad.

Game addiction is just as real as "Cell Phone Elbow." If you can see where this is going...

@ Vaminion

Yeah I figured there would be a little tinfoil involved in my comment. But it is a possibility. The biggest difference between games and alcohol and tobacco is thatthe latter two are chemical dependancies. That is really what the concern of the professionals have addressed.

As GamerDad said previously in another thread, it's more likely and reasonable to identify it as a compulsion for the majority of those suffering from the problem, much like gambling as Jackson pointed out.

I mentioned an interesting research project that the ECA should put forth in a previous article as well. It would show that the ECA weren't only there to "protect" consumers but to help them as need be also.

Nightwng2000
NW2K Software

The AMA has to start thinking of this in the same way as gambling addiction. Can you imagine this whole thing blowing over and there just being "problem gamers" just like "problem gamblers"?

As long as they stop trying to make it seem like, "Oh! The children!", I'm happy.

Are people who watch TV for five hours a day addicts? Because gaming for me is just relocating time in front of the TV to time in front of the computer.

I think this whole game addiction thing was less a move to help the "addicted" get insurance coverage and more a move toward government control of games. If the medical industry couls classify gaming as an adiction then the governement could have put similar restrictions on games as they do Alcohol and tobacco.

Not some conspiracy nut, just a concerned gamer. :)

@ DragonBomber

Thanks for the ideas. I go to a really big school that has tons of those resurces like that. What I meanyt by not finding yet was more of a time thing. I haven't really been on a real computer for any amount of time in quite a while. I've been out in the country and just spending a lot of web time on my phone out of boredom wiating for laundry at the laundromat. But like I said, thanks for the help. Hopefully I'll get a chance soon to really catch up on news and such.

[...] 2. While parents and non-gamers are quick to deposit their two cents on what makes individuals addicted to video games, it remains the case that video game addiction is still not recognized as a disease. [...]