Discussion»Statements»Rosie's Corner» The World Health Organization thinks video games are causing a mental health disorder. It's called "Gaming Disorder". Are you afflicted?
The World Health Organization thinks video games are causing a mental health disorder. It's called "Gaming Disorder". Are you afflicted?
Folks who are really addicted play 12 hours straight and can't give up playing the games which take over their lives, interfere with sleep/work/everything. Know anyone like that?
Yeah a game can take over my life. I remember taking time off school to play Zelda on the SNES. I used to play call of duty mw2 too much for my girlfriend at the time to cope with aswell. She kicked me out lol .
Condolences Gypsyking. I'm serious. I'm not being sarcastic. I think it's awful to be addicted to anything. Well being addicted to telling the truth is okay of course. But folks who are addicted to smoking or shopping or being thin or whatever have my deep condolences. It must be an awful feeling when you are not in control. When something else controls you. Thank you for your reply and Happy Tuesday! :)
I don’t see it as an addiction. I could of went to school instead of playing Zelda but I found Zelda to be more entertaining. Same with the breakdown of the relationship. If I loved her I wouldn’t have neglected her. Video games are just a distraction, in the same way asking and answering questions online is. Have a good Rosie :)
"Yeah. A game can take over my life.....I remember taking time off school to play Zelda...." Your girlfriend kicked you out of her life Gypsyking. You are deny you're addicted while also giving examples of how addicted you are. You may not see it as an addiction but what you have done/lost because of it? How else would you describe it? Thank you for your reply kiddo. No disrespect intended here but I think addicts never think they are. I shall ask that question! :)
We all have free will though. Addiction is not being able to function without something. There’s no physical dependence to video games. It’s an escape from reality. If you want to escape from reality then the problem is your current reality, not the escape route.
Of course I am an outsider looking at you and I have no idea really what you think, how you feel or what kinds of things are important to you. You deny you have an addiction because from your point of view you don't. If I skipped school to play a video game or lost a friend because of it I'd be alarmed. You aren't. You said if you really loved the girl you would have cut back on the amount of time you played and you chose not to do so. Different strokes Gypsyking. The things that are important to you and the things that important to me are clearly not the same. So what, right? So what? Thank you for your reply.
This post was edited by RosieG at December 26, 2017 4:53 AM MST
Of course from my ex girlfriends point of view she lost her boyfriend to video game Addiction. It’s unlikely that she will question why I chose to play video games instead of giving her my attention. There is always something that causes undesirable behaviour. It doesn’t just happen without cause.
True. Here's what I go by for what it's worth. Do/say whatever you want to do/say. AS LONG AS IT DOESN'T HURT YOU OR ANYONE ELSE! I know that sometimes inadvertently we do/say things that hurt people. Casualties of our obtuseness or ignorance. Sometimes people have sensitive areas and you push a button without having a clue that it hurt someone. I've done that and I have apologized. Not meaning to hurt someone doesn't get you off the hook from apologizing for having done so. It happens to the best of us. But when you KNOWINGLY do things that you know hurt people? Well folks like that aren't my cuppa tea. It means they're selfish and/or don't give a rat's a** about others. Now folks who don't like the questions I ask I know get pi**ed off at me. I'm not here to please anyone but me. I ask what occurs to me and move on. If it offends folks that is not my intention. I don't do it purposely. But I am here to please me and when that stops I shall leave. My Jim plays tennis and golf and I love that he has a passion for it. I support him totally. He knows I enjoy Answermug and he is never upset at the time I spend asking questions. He supports me. If you can support your mate in his/her interests I think that's great. If you can't then you have a problem. I just threw that in for the halibut Gypsyking. FYI! :)
This post was edited by RosieG at December 26, 2017 5:07 AM MST
If jim started spending more time playing tennis and you felt neglected then would the problem be tennis addiction or would it mean that there’s a reason why he’s spending more time playing tennis?
I hope you dont find me too arguementative Rosie. I enjoy talking to you. I’m not trying to annoy you :)
Trust me when I tell you that I don't spend any time at all chatting with folks who annoy me Gypsyking. I just ignore them. Here's how it goes at our house. Jim plays tennis Tuesdays and Thursdays. He plays golf on Saturdays with his best pal and they go out to lunch afterwards. We live in a retirement community that has 9-hole golf course. Several times a week ( 2-3 maybe more) Jim will go down to the golf course (2 blocks from our house) and "practice" for a few hours. Sometimes folks he knows show up, sometimes he's there alone. I do not mind it one bit. I would say he is addicted to golf because when he is at home he watces 25 zillion golf instruction shows( they all sound alike to me) and also has set up a cute little practice putting zone in the living room. Is he fanatically obsessed? I don't think so but would he rather play golf and get better at it than anything? You betcha! That's the lure of the game. There is no assurance that you will keep getting better. Some days you do well...some days not so much. But it doesn't depress or dissuade him. He loves everything about the game. Am I a golf widow? If I am I'm unaware of it. I don't sit and stew and get angry at him for "ignoring" me. I am ALWAYS WELCOME to come with him and watch. With tennis too. I am always welcome to come with him and watch. In fact I think he'd like that a lot. Do you know how many old people (Jim is 82) just sit in a corner doing nothing, waiting to die? Not my Jim! He is always involved in do ing something. He reads a lot. Watches instruction shows up the kazoo and DIY shows. Putzes around doing guy stuff like going to Harbor Freight or Home Depot or Lowe's or Costco. Always on the go. Always curious to see what's out there we could use. I wouldn't know what to do with a guy who sits around the house all day or is joined to me at the hip. I'm a homebody. It's my favorite place in the whole wide. I am here BY CHOICE. We are both Scorpios. We need space. We give space and respect to each other. So did I answer your question? :)
My son is 51. Years ago he and his pals used to play Dungeons and Dragons. He was about 12 or so. They'd get together around a table and play and have a lot of fun. It involved a lot of creativity as I recall. But they did it together. "Immersion" is a solitary thing. It only requires the addicted one and the game. Of course there are others out there with whom they play against I suppose. The kids outgrew D&D. I don't even know if it is played anywhere any more. Do gamers who are addicted ever outgrow it? Are there any OLD gamers? Thank you for your reply JacobA! :)
Oh, and "immersion" is not necessarily permanent, it comes and goes. Remember Sharonna and Sai Baba? 2 years ago she was totally immersed in him, Now she is pretty much out of that immersion.
Not to me you're not. Now 80 is old! When you get here where I am you will understand better. With regard to your example what you're saying then is that there is an ebb and flow and it may not or usually is not permanent? I do that with food JacobA. I will be on a kick like avocados or mushrooms or whatever and just eat a lot of it until I kinda tire of it and then I move on. I go with my tastebuds. Currently it's Brussels Sprouts! Once the mind is captivated with something/someone doesn't mean it will always be. OK then. Here's a toughy for ya! Does that mean the donjohn supporters who are totally immersed in him will snap out of it and come back to their senses? I'm gonna ask that question. You'll be in it indirectly. Thank you for your reply and Happy Wednesday! :)
Gosh I wish I were where you are. You think there is hope for them and I think they are hopeless. I mean considering all the egregiously disgusthing things the guys has done/said/not done/not said already it boggles the mind to wonder what in the heck it will take to wake them up? Anyway I'm gonna try to switch my thinking more to where you are. Allow a little hope to grow. "Hope springs eternal" or something. SIGH. Thank you for your reply and Happy Thursday JacobA! ;)
I'm an avid gamer myself, with the self-imposed restriction of playing for maximally two hours a day (this was down to half an hour during college). Although there's many prejudices and misconceptions about video games and the people who love them, I do consider them potentially addictive and damaging, and have no appreciation whatsoever of those game developers and publishers who abuse that.
Games can be majestic when created with care and even artistic intention, but dreadful when money plays a disproportionate role. I don't need to clarify that the latter is all too often the case.
Thank you for your very thoughtful and helpful reply DB. I appreciate it since I am not a gamer so I don't have a clue what it's like to be that enthralled with anything to the point of possibly hurting other areas of your life. Seems to me if you can place time restrictions and stick by them you are not in any jeopardy. Happy Wednesday to thee! :)
Haha no Rosie I guess my age (60) makes me immune. I have never played those games not do I know anyone my age who does. Those did not start until the 1980s right? By which time I was a young adult without any interest in such things.
Former generations whiled away idle hours playing cribbage, chess, pinochle, poker, bridge, and other games which were more social because they played them with others. The difference I think is the computer games are played by oneself (or with others on the net) so don't have that familiar sociability to them. And seem so much more elaborate strategically they just draw the kids in so they get hooked on playing them. But that is just an outsider's perspective. At least they seem to be exercising their brains. But they lose a lot by not developing their social dimensions by interacting in person with others as people my age and older did. So I could see where they might be dangerous to some people. And I have spoken with young men on the net who play them who just don't seem to have a very realistic idea of how to interact socially with others. Which I think is too bad.
Ever hear of Dungeons & Dragons? In the late 70's when my kid was 12 he and some pals played it all the time. It was a board game and had nothing to do with computers. When was the internet borne? Anyway they grew up out of it and move on to Fantasy League Basketball which I don't think is comparable but perhaps a tiny bit around the edges. I think also it's more a guy thing than a gal thing. I'm gonna ask. Thank you for your reply officegirl and Happy Wednesday!:)
This post was edited by RosieG at December 29, 2017 2:10 AM MST
Benedict Arnold 