resonance Posted June 22, 2007 Share Posted June 22, 2007 Is game addiction a mental disorder? It strikes me as somewhat implausible that it's its very own mental disorder, rather than the expression of one (or more) in the DSM somewhere. But there are psychiatrists arguing that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velvet Elvis Posted June 23, 2007 Share Posted June 23, 2007 has compulsive gambling been classified as anything officially? sexual addiction? Other than substance abuse have any compulsive behaviors been officially patholgized like that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kablume Posted June 23, 2007 Share Posted June 23, 2007 I don't know if it is a mental disorder but the World of War Craft turns my nephew into a mutant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazynotstupid Posted June 24, 2007 Share Posted June 24, 2007 As pathology goes, as far as I'm concerned addictions ought to be lumped. I mean, what am I addicted to? Alcohol, cigarettes, video games (off and on)... (I just started playing GTA:SA for like the sixth time, heh) There's too many things that are addictions; anything, I think, can be addicting--to the right personality. And there, I think, it is: addictive personalities in general. What makes us feel good, can be addicting. Admitedly, in some it's more a biochemical reaction to pleasurable stimuli; in others, it's that plus a particular substance that affects the body in whatever way. There are those who wish to blame video games for some of society's ills--I wonder...were these researchers trying to A:work so that they are blamed or B:give gamers some excuse or even C:were actually impartial? (ha!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velvet Elvis Posted June 24, 2007 Share Posted June 24, 2007 I really think there should be more distinction between physical and psychological additions. They are apples and oranges. This is mostly UK stuff, but I think compulsive video game playing has more in common with pyromania than it does with heroin addiction. http://www.psychnet-uk.com/clinical_psycho...l_disorders.htm It's an adrenaline junkie thing, likely self-medicating. I've always considered "addictive personality" talk to be more 12-step blaming the victim mumbo jumbo, btw. Why do you scratch an itch? Because it feels good, not because you have a scratcy personality, a character flaw that rules over your life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazynotstupid Posted June 24, 2007 Share Posted June 24, 2007 Heh: http://buzz.mn/?q=node/1681 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velvet Elvis Posted June 24, 2007 Share Posted June 24, 2007 I wonder how many mothers have sold their newborns to pump more quarters into slots at the arcade? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
resonance Posted June 24, 2007 Author Share Posted June 24, 2007 I'm virtually certain we'd hear about that on the news if it happened. That's just unbelievable enough without being quite too unbelievable. I've read that pathological hoarding (the only relevant thing I know anything about) can have several different causes (ADD, OCD, schizophrenia, maybe some others I'm not remembering). Wikipedia (it was in Wikipedia so it must be true) says that problem gambling is classified as an impulse disorder. Like, its own disorder, although they do required that it not be accounted for by mania. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazynotstupid Posted June 25, 2007 Share Posted June 25, 2007 Heh...so here I was, reading this yesterday between bouts of GTA:SA...and I wake up today with a sore wrist/hand. Time to come up with 12 steps for video games! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velvet Elvis Posted June 25, 2007 Share Posted June 25, 2007 None have. Compulsive behaviors don't have the same effect on moral agency as physical addictions. That was my point. That's my common response to people who say that SSRIs are addictive as well. According to the answers.com medical encyclopedia, addictions have the following qualities: loss of willpower harmful consequences unmanageable lifestyle tolerance or escalation of use withdrawal symptoms upon quittinghttp://www.answers.com/topic/addiction I'd say corruption of moral agent rather than loss of willpower since your actual concept of right and wrong gets reshaped by the addiction. Anyway. It's a syndrome. If you don't have all of those, there is no addiction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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