Posts filed under 'Addiction'
Opening night for the community theater presentation of The Scarlet Pimpernel in which I’m participating is less than two weeks away, and I realize that I’ve gone for several weeks with almost no gaming of any sort. Playing games has long been my primary form of relaxation, often taking up as much of my time as working for a living.
I haven’t spent much time in Middle Earth and Arkham. And since I’m the default GM for our tabletop RPG group we haven’t visited any of my own imagined worlds in even longer.
But while mastering dance steps (in high heeled shoes, no less!), striving for that high B-flat, and struggling to deliver lines in a convincing British accent, I’ve had time to reflect on an aspect of gaming that I don’t normally think about: games are primarily escapism, a way to make entertaining and constructive use of unstructured time.
While some who went on a self-imposed one-week gaming abstinence program found they couldn’t make it, I’ve had a pretty easy time. Why? Because a tremendous portion of my free time has been filled with the creative work of putting together a show that will (we hope!) entertain our audience. Participating in this play has fulfilled most of the desires that spark my interest in games.
Of course, just being busy wouldn’t do it. It just so happens that putting on a theatrical production offers a lot of the same pleasure that games do: the challenges, the imagination, the social interaction, the thrill of success (measured by applause).
Enjoying a reasonably comfortable games-light existence for several weeks hasn’t made me disdainful of them, though. In fact, if anything, I have an even greater appreciation for the value of play than I’ve ever had before.
I’ve spoken before (and no doubt will again) about the fact that games—though we may play them to escape, relax, and kill time—are one of the most worthwhile things we can do. We’re lucky to be a species that plays. The New York Times Magazine recently published a very interesting article on the benefits of play, as well as the reasons.
Play—be it gameplay, roughhousing, theatrical plays, or improvisational roleplaying—feeds our souls, exercises our brains, and keeps us happy. We should all do as much of it as we can. But for those who suffer a compulsion to play games, in particular games that they don’t actually enjoy, I recommend you find alternative escapes. Not non-play escapes, not non-game escapes, but different ones.
If you’re bored and frustrated with one of the many treadmills in an MMORPG, take a moment to consider the reward offered for your effort. Solving problems in games isn’t always fun, but it is generally enjoyable. If you’re not enjoying what you’re doing, by all means do something else!
The world is full of opportunities to play, and thinking gamers are in an excellent position to appreciate those opportunities and take advantage of them.
February 21st, 2008
This is apparently true, and it isn’t good. A couple obsessed with some online video game almost let their kids starve to death: Police: Babies starved as parents gamed (MSNBC.com).
The article basically sticks to the facts and is fair. And the events are an argument in favor of at least recognizing that video game playing can be a problem behavior for some people. I’m still not in favor of labeling video games as clinically addictive, despite the article’s link to discussions on the subject.
No, video games are not the problem; it’s the people themselves (in this case the parents) who are the problem. Yes, more kids are abused by drug-using parents, and those cases are all too often completely ignored. Maybe ’cause we’re jaded. Maybe ’cause we’re scared of thuggish drug users but not nerdy gamers. But that doesn’t mean we can’t pretend that no problems exist.
Most people who play video games use them very healthily. Most people who drink alcohol use it healthily, too.
So what to do?
What do the non-alcoholic friends of people with a problem do that genuinely helps? What do you do when your friends spend all their time and money at casinos?
What doesn’t work is calling the problem behavior a disease (it doesn’t help). Outlawing it doesn’t do any good either. And since I don’t have friends who have what I recognize as addictive or compulsive problem behaviors, I don’t really have any experience.
But what does work?
(Tangentially: I wonder if this is actually an argument for more voice chat in online games. I am not thrilled by voice chat in MMORPGs, ’cause I fear it will interfere with my ability to roleplay. But making the people you’re gaming with real and facilitating players actually getting to know one another may enable the same social support online that people get when they have healthy groups of real-life friends and coworkers.)
July 16th, 2007
Tony Long at the venerable Wired tackled the issue of video game addiction today. The topic ain’t dead.
But the article strikes me as a little naïve. Saying that “the answer lies in education, enlightenment and—in the case of video games, at least—a little physical and mental exertion” is all well and good, but will a visit to the batting cage and a trip to Carneigie Hall really do the trick?
It’s sort of like yelling “eat less” at people with overeating disorders. Sure, that’s where they need to go, but they can’t just do it in one step.
Tony’s right, though, that video games are problems for different people to the degree that they’re problems for different people. Some people’s lives are being ruined or damaged with (not by) video games.
If you know you have a problem, seek help. If you know someone who has a problem, intervene. I am trilled that people are talking about video game addiction as a real (if unclassified) problem, rather than using “addictive” as a marketing slogan.
But I shudder when I hear people talking about further regulation. The rating system is enough. Let’s not forget what Prohibition got us!
July 5th, 2007
For the past several weeks, lots of stories concerning video game addiction have come out, in part because the American Medical Association has been chattering about it, trying to come to a conclusion on whether video games can properly be classified as addictive.
As a passionate gamer, I’ll ring in with my opinion. By the popular definition of “addiction,” I think it’s safe to say that some people do get addicted to video games, MMORPGs in particular. At least, many people play them compulsively, to the point that they ignore other important aspects of their life.
I know this because I have acquaintances who do this and friends who do this, and because I’ve done it myself. In fact, MMOs are specifically designed to entertain with a system of reinforcement and punishment that fosters addictive or at least compulsive behavior. Such games are certainly more worthwhile than slot machines—they have social dimensions and narrative richness and cost a lot less. But the lower cost actually means that people sink more time into leveling their characters or questing for gear than they’d ever do feeding slugs into a one-armed bandit.
Whether or not this behavior is properly defined as a psychiatric addiction is, to me, irrelevant. The fact is that it can mess up people’s lives.
So can alcohol, of course.
In fact, I think treating video game addiction like alcoholism is probably the best approach. We don’t need to outlaw or even further regulate video games, but we do need to watch ourselves and those close to us for signs of problem behavior. Let’s be honest with ourselves, seek help when we need it, and help others when they’re in need.
So even though I think the AMA and the media mostly say pretty silly things about video games and addiction, I’m very glad people are talking about it!
Do we have any other ex-addicts out there? If so, how did you break your addiction?
And hey, if you think you have a problem and don’t know where to turn, you can speak up here safely and anonymously. There are tried-and-true methods that work, and we can talk about them.
June 27th, 2007