The dangers of video game addiction

Recent studies show that heavy gamers are more depressed than moderate gamers - but is gaming the cause?

It's about 4pm, and an internet café in Sydney’s CBD is about half full.

The crowd of gamers are mainly university students fresh from their latest classes, blasting their way through a first-person shooter, or scurrying across the battlegrounds of a role-playing odyssey.

Some are in groups of four or five, hurling insults at each other as they play. Others are hunched over their keyboards - silent and focused.

Staff here say if a customer plays for six to eight hours they're asked to stop.

[NastyLeftHook0]

Im a proud playstation addict. And my addiction is only getting stronger.

[PoSTedUP]

it keeps me away from drugs and alcohol. i also eat healthy and exercise regularly n drink plenty of water. i'll never stop playing, video games are my serenity.

[Gaming101]

Videogame addition should not be classified as an actual psychological problem - it's called being a childish idiot with no control over yourself, and no ability to tell yourself no, and no ability to prioritize your life like an ADULT.

Staying indoors and not talking to anyone is very bad for your mental health, the anti-social nature is terrible and leads to depression and axiety, look it up.

[NastyLeftHook0]

good for you, keep it up.

[PoSTedUP]

i play a lot but i also have priorities like work and college. i have more friends then i want and i never felt more sane than when im sitting home playing games. everyone is different. i'm sure you can "look up" that weed is bad and makes you flunk out of school but my friend who smokes everyday is a chemical engineer and aced (straight A's) some of the hardest physics (psysics 1-4) and chem (chem133-orgo2) classes my school has to offer. only an idiot would look things up and come to a conclusion w/o questioning any of it.

[ATi_Elite]

I don't have to go outside and be exposed to Radiation or Gunshots!

Gamer 4 Life!!

[Rainstorm81]

I love gaming but 6 to 8 hours straight is too long for me....everything in moderation

[Straightupbeastly]

Analysts are retarded. They're gaming more because they are depressed and it's their escape. Gaming more doesn't make you depressed or more depressed. Gaming is a positive thing for most people with mental issues. It's an escape and it makes them happy. It doesn't turn them into monsters and it sure as hell won't make them depressed unless they were already depressed or are clinically depressed.

This is why you can link young mass murderers to video games. They were playing obsessively to escape their issues in real life.

[MeatAbstract]

As much as I love gaming, escaping into a fantasy world is not a healthy way of dealing with your problems.

I agree gaming can be a positive thing but it should be something you do when you want. Addiction is when something rules over you and you're a slave to it. If thats how people are with gaming, they need help.

[Treian]

I call it taking a break from reality. It is good to just shut down your mind once in a while and enjoy a good pasttime.

[Straightupbeastly]

Gaming isn't a way to deal with problems it's just an escape to divert them from dwelling further into their problems. Most people come home and watch tv for hours and no one complains. Why are games such an issue with the media?

I think the major media outside of gaming is extremely jealous. They see numbers video games do and the numbers it attracts. And they're on the outside looking in trying to bring it all down at any chance they get.

[iceman06]

Escaping into a fantasy world is what people do on a daily basis to manage the stresses of life. Movies, music, books, and gaming are just the means by which we do this. True, if this is a crutch and you are avoiding your problems...then there is an issue. However, the issue isn't the medium by which you choose to escape...but the motive itself. The inability to cope can cause people to result to all sorts of modes of escape which include drugs, alcohol, sex, and even gaming.

[takohma]

i used to be pretty heavy in playing video games. i realized it when i would rather stay in then go hang out with my friends and family. that was last year i wasnt working.

[Treian]

anything can be an addiction. but an addiction doesn't have to mean bad. Also, on a side note, I play WoW but in moderation.

[AusRogo]

Games keep me not depressed, not like I have it bad or anything but sometimes id rather be playing a game to escape whatever is running through my mind, and after work all I want to do is sit and relax and play games. 6-8 hours isn't too bad, like I probably couldn't do it straight but I usually play 5 hours a day , and can still maintain a healthy non-depressed life.

[12345bnm]

I don't have a gaming addiction and i think that anyone who does is just weak willed. Quitting gaming is easy - i do it ten times a day.

[pupa]

Gaming is rather a cure for depression as depressed people can find an outlet in gaming without people, or idiots like analysts, pestering them. So it's rather a fallback outlet for depressed or lonely people and may even cure depression as these gamers find new friends and have something to discuss and talk about with fellow gamer's. It's may lead to lack of responsibility in some cases as gaming may be a easy way out for their problems by some individuals but again DO NOT BLAME GAMING, blame the cause.

[iceman06]

I wouldn't agree that gaming can CURE depression. However, I am with you that it can help depressed people to manage their depression and deal with it easier. It's like a form of therapy...whether it's aggression therapy or free association, etc. I wonder if any psychoanalyst has actually tried to use video games as a POSITIVE therapy?

[birdykilla]

Just think about all the other more important things you could be doing with your life if you didn't have an addiction to playing video games.../s

This is about the same as people who have a gambling addiction. Only difference is gamers don't go in debt to game. Unless you do then you for sure have an addiction and should seek help ASAP. It's funny cause most of the people in my small town go to work, come home, get their daily tasks out of the way so they can sit in front of their TV's and watch some lame show. Same thing gamers do without the LAME SHOW! Keep on gaming dont listen to the naysayers they are so very wrong, and I think deep down their jealous because they know we have awesome gaming times. People need to STOP being so damn uptight about everything. If I'm not hurting anyone besides myself then nobody should be saying jack squat.

[Tacklebait]

Balance is everything, if it starts creating problems in other areas of your life. ie... social, academic, relationships, mental/physical health. Ya might want to re-evaluate.

I have waves of gaming. Winter I usually play a lot, while right now I'm happy to get 1-2 hours in a week.

Until halo 4 comes out and i'll turn off the cell phone for a few days... or longer

[Mkai28]

I think some people use it to escape from the harsh realities of life. Some game for competition, especially with friends. Some game because they don't have girl/boyfriends, some game to get away from spouses for a while. But when ppl would rather play a game then eat or going to sleep, then you have a problem. Or rather pay for a game then paying a bill, putting it before family, your beliefs.

It's strange, I know a cousin ( age 12)who is quite. Never really wants nothing to do with people. The only time is able to express himself is when he is gaming. Even when he comes over my house he turns the box on and just games. Turns out when I talked with his mother( my first cousin) she said that his father exposed him to things that he was even to young to understand. So, gaming seems to be his only refuge. This can be a problem because it seems he misses school to game.

[Pwnage2u]

I have a cousin the same way, but he has an Ipad which he brings on vacations.

[urwifeminder]

Im addicted to online suicide have been for years in waw i just used to blow my legs off for hours love it.