AMA Won't Make Video Game Addiction a Diagnosis - Yet
AMA Won't Make Video Game Addiction a Diagnosis - Yet
June 25, 2007
Relax - your video game addiction can remain in the closet - at least for a few more years.The American Medical Association has backed away from a move to declare video game addiction an official diagnostic disorder. As reported by Reuters, the AMA concluded that psychiatrists need to devote additional study to the issue. Addiction experts also voiced opposition to the proposal.
Said Dr. Stuart Gitlow of the American Society of Addiction Medicine and Mt. Sinai School of Medicine:
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.
Interestingly enough, a finding that game addiction is a real disorder would make it easier for sufferers to get health insurance coverage for treatment.
It now appears as if the issue is off the table in an official sense until the American Psychiatric Association revises its diagnostic manual in 2012.
Not everyone agreed with the decision. Dr. Thomas Allen of the Osler Medical Center in Towson, Maryland, said:
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.
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Comments
So while there is probably a point where somebody gets OBSESSED over a game, I don't think its right to treat that as an addiction over video games.
There are some of the top hits I get in Google under the terms "depression video game study". If you cannot locate the studies online then finding them is dependent on where you live. EBSCOhost and other services offer a lot of journals online through local public libraries, high school, and college libraries. You may also be able to get a copy of the article/published study on inter-library loan for little or no cost.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/03/070301100807.htm
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/09/030911072236.htm
http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/12/duke-nukem-like-video-game-to-help-me...
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.
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.
WOOT!!!! WOOT!!!!
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.
The simple fact is this, too much of anything is bad for you, and will effect you, too much time thinking up things to blame on computer games will turn you into someone who posts hate messages on tiny little backwater blogs where yours is the second reply. Out of three replies. Too much time in front of a computer is unhealthy from a physical point of view, it will turn you into a recluse, cost you friends and mean that you always have that niggling little doubt that somehow by being indoors playing computer games, you're missing out on something. If playing games is the sole content of anyones' life, then they most probably are.
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.
Quote: "But more to the Point, 2012 is the date for re-evaluation. Ive seen that Year A LOT in random places on different things. Perhaps that is why its supposed to be the end of the world. Perhaps Gaming Addiction Classified as a Disorder would be the end of the Gaming World."
Dude have you SEEN Penny Arcade? - Joe Lieberman's ban all teenagers act?
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?
DTMS
Discovery Times
Wednesday 8-9pm
Gamer Generation - World of Computer Games
It also plays from 9-10 pm right after the first showing. I don't know if that's the same episode or another one, so I've set it to record both times.
The video I mentioned, "Alan: A Video Junkie" can be found at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAc_MQgFEds
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.
It's strange, you could almost hear someone making an Anti-Iraq War speech and using exactly the same accusations.
I don't disagree with your summation of South Korea, and long-gone WoW nuts. We joked around with a friend who began to play WoW too much, mainly that we would never see him alive again. He came up for air eventually and left the game, tried something else, went back to it, and left again. He is a lot more disadvantaged than others seeking refuge in games, being that his health is not kind and he is in a wheelchair due to a degenerative nerve disease. For now, games are often his comfort zone since the people he meets around here somehow equate mental disability with physical disability. However, he has no consoles now and keeps busy watching TV until the Fall semester begins and he finishes off his second degree. So in effect he switches his vice as need be to not only pass time but escape his situation for a little while. The only guy I have ever known to play more games was a friend whom had a cheating, drug-dealing, thief wife (whom he later divorced). I don't claim anyone with such an intake of games has a very fulfilling life.
As good as I think games can be for some people (based on my own eyes) I don't however think all people should play games more than just in passing, much like not all parents should coach or watch youth sports. I imagine we all know people who go too far in something, whether it be games or not. We've all heard the stories of fathers who run onto the field and tackle the opposing teams' children or punch out nearby spectators who tell them to keep their trap closed. This is something that should be discovered early on, and monitored by an adult themselves after they leave home, just like other hobbies or situations they need not put themselves smack dab in the middle of. It's not hard if we're honest with ourselves and parents take an active role in monitoring consumption. There can be too much of anything, whether you're likely to fall sick of it or not. Many of us know the limits thankfully. Once games begin to truly spike our adrenalin levels, down the road with the Wii 3 console or Microsoft's grand "play sports for real" plan (to counter dismal failure of their early efforts to emulate the Wii), we may have issues with violent outbursts. I'm thinking it will be people emulating John McEnroe or the Angry Nintendo Nerd more than anything though.
As per future stories maybe they'll find a super addictive powder that pours from the exhaust vent of a console and enters the brain through the nose, taking up residence and giving anyone who denies the urge to run the console violent shakes (proving a black screen is just as deadly). That or tiny nanobots that amplify the gluttonous pleasure of "trapping someone in the can" in Bomberman. (lingo for when you block off someone's escape from an alleyway of hard barriers with bombs) Gamers already know how "addictive" the new plastic smell of a new console (and on a smaller degree) a game is. Oh no! The secret is out...
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....!!!!)
Really.
The SAME addiction as alcoholism.
Really?
The SAME?
Man, I've seen DTs first hand and I've seen obsessive gamers. It's not the same thing at all.
Does a real disservice to the perception of real addictions if you ask me.
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?
I agree with you that the chemical changes that go on in the brains of gamblers and other people with similar addictive obsessions are as powerful as the physical addictions that accompany many drugs.
There are notable differences, though. First, many physically addictive substances have non-physical addictive properties that cause the brain to do certain things chemically much like a gambling compulsion would. These are in addition to the physical addictions.
Second, if you take a person and put him in front of a slot machine then it's not very likely that he'll end up a gambling addict. If you take that same person and have him start shooting heroin the odds of him becoming addicted are a lot higher.
There's no doubt that certain people are predisposed to becoming addicted to activities like gambling, TV or gaming but there's still no comparison with people who are predisposed to become addicted to something that is chemically and physically addictive.
"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.
What does OCD really have to do with this?
I did just realize something, I might get a grand total of 3 hours of TV a week. I sometimes sit downn to watch a few minutes of news in the morning, an episode of house during the week and maybe an episode of BSG. I think a lot of the older generation hear "he plays games 5 hours a day OMG!!!" and assumes that the person watches a ton of 5 to 6 hours of TV a day as well. There is also the assumption that when playing a game, all you do is PLAY. Most of my 3 to 4 hours a day, Im actually doing 2 or 3 things at once. I might every 10 minutes or so focus for 5 minutes on the game and actually play. This is even more true since I started playing EvE online.
*headdesk*
not to the person thats addicted to it,its like asking a gambler to stop gambling the compulsion is just to strong for them ,thus why they are addicted to X, not you confuse the diffrance between slight compulsion and a addictive obsession thos are 2 totally different things and can be as bad as some drug addictions the mind is a funny thing when the brain changes chemicals (in some cases) because of the mental obsession.
I'll give you gaming is more a light compulsion more than a addictive obsession but some people do get addicted to it, dose this mean they need to add a new diagnostic...no its already part of "Psychological dependency" (gambling,shopping,ect,ect) and dose not need a classification/diagnostic of tis own.
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.
"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."
Yeah. A relative of mine just celebrated 5 years sober so I joined him at his AA meeting. I have a feeling that the members of the group who had their lives ruined by alcoholism might feel that there's some difference between a life-long chemical dependency on alcohol and a spoiled kid who won't turn off his game system or some mid-20's layabout who's too lazy and who has too little self-confidence to leave his mom's basement.
"Games are addictive" smacks of bad parents who have no control over their kids looking for some sort of diagnosis to excuse their brat's lack of restraint and their own selfish, piss-poor parenting ability.
Actually, how about this: make it an official disorder and then I'll market "Gamergone" as a pill-based solution to games addiction. It's easy to use! You give your kid Gamergone and sell all of his games, game systems and gaming paraphernalia. Voila! You're kid's game addiction is gone! Possible side effects may include irritability, yelling, screaming, claims that "this is so unfair," and an irrational hatred of parents that may last until college. Gamergone: exercise the demons of gaming from your little angel! Only $295.99 a bottle.
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.
But more to the Point, 2012 is the date for re-evaluation. Ive seen that Year A LOT in random places on different things. Perhaps that is why its supposed to be the end of the world. Perhaps Gaming Addiction Classified as a Disorder would be the end of the Gaming World.
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
Y'know, but with out the mind altering chemical effects.
As long as they stop trying to make it seem like, "Oh! The children!", I'm happy.
And it would likely make game makers liable for for this alleged non-condition in a way that no other entertainment industry has ever been made liable.
But even worse, it would open up yet another way for corrupt people to steal money from the public by opening "clinics" funded by government and insurance money. Corruption follows free money like flies follow s**t.
Not some conspiracy nut, just a concerned gamer. :)
Hey, I could put that 60 bucks towards they RC plane... wow can go fuck itself. I'm really gonna burn through money with my RC planes.
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.
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