Its a thing

So, the final week! Countdown to exams begins :P


I was very much looking forward to the addiction lecture, as I mentioned in an earlier post of mine, due to my Psychology background. Addiction is a cycle thats very hard to break, so I was looking forward to how that translated with video games...imagine my suprise to hear there is no such thing as 'addiction' to video games!


Now I know that the discourse surrounding video games is often controversial and loaded, particularly the topics surrounding violence, and children, and that the use of the term 'addicted to videogames'. I understand the social context plays a huge role in this, given the fact that computers and gaming are so foreign to number of older generations who are 'digital immigrants', who are often the audience saying these things. I also understand that 'addiction' is a complicated situation that involves many factors. And by this description, gaming addiction may not exist...but there are still many people who are damaging themselve and their lives through overuse, and I'm not entirely convinced this can be explained by the term "Problematic Use".

Problematic use is described as a symptom of something else in your life, which makes it difficult for you to stop gaming (perhaps seeking an escape, or being in denial of a problem?) Kevin also used the examples of workoholism and over exercise as problematic symptoms of a wider problem, and I totally agree! I don't agree that they are lauded in society however. In the psychological field they are NOT; Anxiety is the number one reason people seek psychiatric/psychological help, primarily due to stress regarding time management. Same goes for exercise; overexersice is a HUGE problem, both to diagnose and also to treat.


I guess I found it hard to understand where you drew the line from someone who games for hours but "didn't have a problem stopping", and one who did have a problem stopping. How do you know the first person isn't in denial about being unable to control the hours s/he plays?

The confusion lies when Kevin then went on the explain how some games are designed to BE addictive; 'caual' games designed around an action-consequence feedback loop, which makes it easy to lose track of time. This investment of time and energy into games creates a 'world of concern' for these players, as it becomes a 'safe' text, that they 'live' in. These are attractive places to be and return to...and yet this point was never summarized! We just moved on to how these places are social and thus a good thing. Why don't we go back, and look at what these comfortable spaces are, WHY they are addictive for some people and what the 'addiction' is a symptom of, in the wider context.

As games ae a part of wider society today, and they will remain increasingly relevent as a social connection form, we should embrace them and learn more about them! But perhaps we should also not dismiss the ideas that they may not be as good for us we we'd hope.