So interesting as always. Many ideas and studies I have never heard of. I can relate to the gaming disorder (not being online but generally) in terms of escapism during difficult times. It is interesting that the "addiction" could just be a side effect as is often the case.
I think, in this case, internet gaming disorder is the "side effect" of addiction...or at least, that's what the researchers are suggesting. It's a bit unclear what gaming disorder even is...one of the characteristics is apparently spending more than 30h a week playing games. On that basis alone, most gaming content creators would have gaming disorder, which doesn't seem right?
Would they though? Because it’s their job and maybe their only job and hopefully it’s not stopping them from doing other things? At least I understood that the impact r of spending that much time gaming must be negative to other things like personal relationships, hygiene etc.
You are absolutely right, I got ahead of myself a little as I rewrote my reply to you.
That 30 h comes from associations like the American Psychiatry Association that says you're likely to "get" gaming disorder if you spend more than 30 h a week gaming (and presumably, along with 30 h a week is a negative effect on personal relationships).
I agree with you, I don't think all gaming content creators could be classified as having gaming disorder!
Interesting that internet gaming disorder is a recognised problem. The paper states it's "Patients with gaming disorder tend to prioritize gaming above all else, lose control over their gaming behavior, and exhibit an inability to voluntarily stop."
Internet Gaming Disorder must cause "significant impairment or distress" in several aspects of a person's life.
Symptoms include:
- Preoccupation with gaming
- Withdrawal symptoms when gaming is taken away or not possible (sadness, anxiety, irritability)
- Tolerance, the need to spend more time gaming to satisfy the urge
- Inability to reduce playing, unsuccessful attempts to quit gaming
- Giving up other activities, loss of interest in previously enjoyed activities due to gaming
- Continuing to game despite problems
- Deceiving family members or others about the amount of time spent on gaming
- The use of gaming to relieve negative moods, such as guilt or hopelessness
- Risk, having jeopardized or lost a job or relationship due to gaming
5 or more of these things have to be true for someone to be diagnosed.
The issue I have with gaming disorder is that it's easy to stop here, instead of looking for something else that could be feeding the gaming behaviour. I hope we continue to get a more nuanced look at what gaming disorder really is.
So interesting as always. Many ideas and studies I have never heard of. I can relate to the gaming disorder (not being online but generally) in terms of escapism during difficult times. It is interesting that the "addiction" could just be a side effect as is often the case.
Thanks for taking the time to read it through!
I think, in this case, internet gaming disorder is the "side effect" of addiction...or at least, that's what the researchers are suggesting. It's a bit unclear what gaming disorder even is...one of the characteristics is apparently spending more than 30h a week playing games. On that basis alone, most gaming content creators would have gaming disorder, which doesn't seem right?
Would they though? Because it’s their job and maybe their only job and hopefully it’s not stopping them from doing other things? At least I understood that the impact r of spending that much time gaming must be negative to other things like personal relationships, hygiene etc.
but maybe I’m projecting my own biases 😅
You are absolutely right, I got ahead of myself a little as I rewrote my reply to you.
That 30 h comes from associations like the American Psychiatry Association that says you're likely to "get" gaming disorder if you spend more than 30 h a week gaming (and presumably, along with 30 h a week is a negative effect on personal relationships).
I agree with you, I don't think all gaming content creators could be classified as having gaming disorder!
Interesting that internet gaming disorder is a recognised problem. The paper states it's "Patients with gaming disorder tend to prioritize gaming above all else, lose control over their gaming behavior, and exhibit an inability to voluntarily stop."
How do they diagnose it?
I took this from https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/internet-gaming
Internet Gaming Disorder must cause "significant impairment or distress" in several aspects of a person's life.
Symptoms include:
- Preoccupation with gaming
- Withdrawal symptoms when gaming is taken away or not possible (sadness, anxiety, irritability)
- Tolerance, the need to spend more time gaming to satisfy the urge
- Inability to reduce playing, unsuccessful attempts to quit gaming
- Giving up other activities, loss of interest in previously enjoyed activities due to gaming
- Continuing to game despite problems
- Deceiving family members or others about the amount of time spent on gaming
- The use of gaming to relieve negative moods, such as guilt or hopelessness
- Risk, having jeopardized or lost a job or relationship due to gaming
5 or more of these things have to be true for someone to be diagnosed.
The issue I have with gaming disorder is that it's easy to stop here, instead of looking for something else that could be feeding the gaming behaviour. I hope we continue to get a more nuanced look at what gaming disorder really is.
Very nice article. I can still remember people who wanted to ban games because they only cause problems.
That call to ban games is still there, unfortunately.
There are countries around the world that have laws in place to limit the amount of video games that can be played (mostly for youth).
Thank you for the mention, my friend! The feeling is mutual!