A Lancashire, UK-based therapist named Steve Pope has jumped the shark as far as ludicrous statements go related to video games. Speaking to BBC Radio 5Live in an interview last night, Pope said that "spending two hours on a game station is equivalent to taking a line of cocaine in the high it produces in the brain."
What?! Oh, there's more:
"We're now onto second generation game station players who have always grown up with it," he continued. "Computer game addiction can also spiral into violence as after playing violent games, they may turn their fantasy games into reality."
It's a shame that Pope has no scientific data to back up his ludicrous claims that games are like cocaine and that gamers act out the violence they experience in their games in real life.
Pope went on to urge parents listening to the broadcast to "go upstairs to your kids bedroom and try and take the game station controller out of their hands." He said that parents would find their kids' reaction is similar to taking alcohol from a drunk.
Pope also said that kids who stay up late playing titles such as Call of Duty are unable to concentrate the next morning "because of the endorphin high in their brains" that leads to a "chemical imbalance" that disturbs behavior and learning. Or perhaps it is just a lack of sleep?
There's no sense in trying to parse what Poke is saying, but he would make a great contributor to Fox News..
Source: MCV by way of Andrew Eisen.
Comments
Re: UK Therapist Compares Gaming to Drug Addiction, ...
Another thing that these anti-games people piss me off over is how utterly insulting they are. Right now, everyone in their 30's is basically from the "Nintendo Generation". We all are grown adults and hardly any more fucked up than any previous generation. For assholes like this guy to imply that we are all a bunch of addicts who rape, kill, and steal is not only incorrect, it's an utter insult.
When religious people say stupid shit like this, at least they have an excuse. This guy, however, has nothing to blame but himself for saying such bullshit.
Re: UK Therapist Compares Gaming to Drug Addiction, ...
Religious people don't even have an excuse.
Still, it seems to be an age old tactic, make your targets looks as immature and unimportant as possible. Try to make it "Okay" to insult and belittle them.
Re: UK Therapist Compares Gaming to Drug Addiction, ...
Heh.... there actually IS something behind the "endrophine high causing chemical imbalance that disturbs behavior and learning."... but there is a catch, and it is a big one.
The closest thing I am aware of that has an effect like that is subspace and more specificly subdrop.. which is indeed a chemical imbalance after an endorphine high that hits the person maybe 12-36 hours later and has a significant impact on ability to learn and general behavior, even with enough sleep.
However, a video game is not going to do this. Such a drop is generally associated with significant physical stress on the body along with an altered mental state. Beat the gamer for and hour or two then sex them silly and you might have something... but at that point it is unlikely the game is a major contributor to the experince. Thought that does give me some ideas.....
Re: UK Therapist Compares Gaming to Drug Addiction, ...
Dose it come back down to parents teaching thier kids how to deal with their exess energy and how to deal with being tired?
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Re: UK Therapist Compares Gaming to Drug Addiction, ...
Try to take away the microphone from an opinionated therapist and see the reaction you'll get.
Though to give him a bit break, if he was just speaking on BBC live, that's just a bunch of opinion drivel that doesn't need to be backed up by facts. It's like listening to opinions on NPR.
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Re: UK Therapist Compares Gaming to Drug Addiction, ...
This is interesting:
http://www.computerandvideogames.com/248698/news/games-like-cocaine-clai...
Apparently this claim was based on his 'impressions' from people who came through the door, he has absolutely no statistics or facts to back up his claims whatsoever.
No real surprise there...
So he went on a radio program and stated opinion as fact.
No real surprise there either...
In other words, Dr. Pope is a quack.
Re: UK Therapist Compares Gaming to Drug Addiction, ...
Can I comapre UK tharpists to drug addicts and alcoholics?
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Re: UK Therapist Compares Gaming to Drug Addiction, ...
Does make you wonder where he got his basis for comparison from ;)
Re: UK Therapist Compares Gaming to Drug Addiction, ...
From the whack ass statments they make of course. :P
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Re: UK Therapist Compares Gaming to Drug Addiction, ...
"There's no sense in trying to parse what Poke is saying, but he would make a great contributor to Fox News.."
Maybe he was up late the night before watching TV and wasn't thinking too clearly, lol.
And yeah - try to take a TV from some Sports Fans, Soaps Fans, Sitcom Fans, etc - I think you'll find the same result.
Kids are like that with some toys too. When I was born and up until I was about 8 there were no video games, but I clearly recall a number of other toys I was quite, quite fond of.
And you know - so what if I want to spend my free time gaming. Of course, I learned long ago there's a 'cut-off' time before bed and I don't typically launch right into games when I get home; after work. Until I'm done around the house of course.
I suspect... more have commited suicide over 'love', jobs, and money - BY FAR - than those who have killed themselves over Video Games. What conclusion can one draw from that?
Re: UK Therapist Compares Gaming to Drug Addiction, ...
Pope went on to urge parents listening to the broadcast to "go upstairs to your kids bedroom and try and take the game station controller out of their hands." He said that parents would find their kids' reaction is similar to taking alcohol... from a drunk.
Try to rip a book out of someone's hands and you'll get the same reaction...but that means...OMG!..READING IS LIKE DRUG ADDICTION AND ALCOHOLISM! QUICK BAN IT! SAVE THE CHILDREN!
And hold on, if you rip a phone out of someones hands, they get pissed too! We must ban phones as well.
And athletes, if you rip their gloves, bats, and balls away from them, they get upset as well! Those must be banned too!
Wait..nope...Steve Pope is just a moron. -_-
Re: UK Therapist Compares Gaming to Drug Addiction, ...
My brother had that reaction when I pulled the component cable from an N64 to get him to do what I had been asking him to do for three hours prior.
Re: UK Therapist Compares Gaming to Drug Addiction, ...
"Try to rip a book out of someone's hands and you'll get the same reaction"
Damn right. Just try getting a Tom Clancy or Tim Dorsey novel out of my hands. See what happens when you try to get rid of my fix.
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." -Albert Einstein
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." -Albert Einstein
Re: UK Therapist Compares Gaming to Drug Addiction, ...
"Spending two hours on a game station is equivalent to taking a line of cocaine in the high it produces in the brain."
It's cheaper and healthier too!
Andrew Eisen
Re: UK Therapist Compares Gaming to Drug Addiction, ...
So does this mean that playing video games can help cure cocaine addiction?
"Instead of taking a line of cocaine, play two hours of video games!"
Re: UK Therapist Compares Gaming to Drug Addiction, ...
It'd help if there was such a thing as a 'Gamestation' in the first place. Of course, since the object doesn't exist, neither do the alleged affects, so he just idioted himself out of the picture.
Re: UK Therapist Compares Gaming to Drug Addiction, ...
Oh come now. Of all the ludicrous things the man said, that's the one you're going to pick on? Surely, he's using "game station" as a catch all for "home video game console."
At least, I certainly hope he is.
Andrew Eisen
Re: UK Therapist Compares Gaming to Drug Addiction, ...
Well, it's the most obvious error, but far from the only one ;)
For someone who claims to be 'worldy wise' in the ways of digital technology, to not be able to drag up the word 'console' is a pretty big gap in his knowledge. It's kind of like people who refer to 'Video Games' as 'Videos', to me it suggests a 'man down the pub' mentality, i.e. "It must be true because it's obviously true".
Much like it was 'obvious' that the Sun went round the Earth in 1600's Europe ;)
Re: UK Therapist Compares Gaming to Drug Addiction, ...
The only 'Gamestation' in the UK is a branch of GAME stores. I don't know if he's intentionally getting it wrong to be like a troll or whether he's completely incompetent.
Re: UK Therapist Compares Gaming to Drug Addiction, ...
Wasn't "Gamestation(c)" Bill Amend's fictional name for Sony's console in the Fox Trot comics?