Gaming Addiction

[JackDaniels]

Apologies in advance for skipping a few pages of comments.

Gaming, specifically MMO addiction, is real. I first experienced this with FFXI. At one point, I was (sadly) averaging 8 hours a day, over the period of a year. The endorphin rush that you experience can be comparable to 'drugs.' Thankfully, I was able years ago to control this addiction (for now). I personally had to quit MMOs for a while. I still play MMOs and enjoy the exhilaration and reward that they bring, but I've got other things in my life now to balance things out.

I'm currently addicted to exercise (I like to call it my hobby..), I usually hit the gym 10+ hours a week. I can live with this addiction since it's benefited my health and it's nice having a 'beach body.' Still, it can be difficult to keep things under control. I think a lot of this has to do with my personality.

Anyhow, I'm not saying that just because people play MMOs a lot that they're addicted; it has a lot to do with who you are and your life circumstances. If you do play a lot, you might want to consider that you may have an addiction; being aware that there's a problem is a good first step and it may end up changing your life for the better.

I've lost relatives and friends to addiction. While I may not have a degree related to the study of addiction, I do know a fair bit about it, as I've dealt with their addictions and my peronsal addictions. I know what addiction is, I was a heavy smoker for 9 years and I quit smoking 4 months ago. As far as gaming goes, I am an addict, for whatever reason I use gaming to escape whatever issues I have that I don't want to deal with. It is hard for me to go a long time without gaming, but it is significantly easier to stop as apposed to drugs/liquor/nicotine as there is no physical withdrawl symptoms. To say that gaming can't be an addiction is to say that gambling can't be an addiction. Just because there is not enough evidence due to lack of research does not mean that it can't be an actual problem.

Ravani it's cute how you think you're intelligent, but really you're not :P