Is Gaming addiction a mental health condition ?

I would say gaming can be addictive yeah, I've been pretty addicted to a few games over the years, all games become boring after you've played them to death though.
 
Roar87 said:
I would say gaming can be addictive yeah, I've been pretty addicted to a few games over the years, all games become boring after you've played them to death though.
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aye, i used to get 'itchy feet' at work over the years depending which game i was hooked on at the time. was always clock watching, waiting to get home and get the game loaded up. from GoW on the 360 right up to pubg.....hell i used make excuses to pop home from work to get a game or 2 of pubg in!!
 
Anything that stimulates the reward centre of your brain could be considered addictive. I think it largely depends on the person though - some people have more addictive personalities than others.
 
Yes, addiction in general is considered poor mental health, even if it is a self imposed habitual disposition.

It is one of the most benign things you can get addicted to though, as it's generally a safe environment. The only major risk is inactivity, with a secondary financial risk; I also assume everyone here understands this.
 
I can't find a linkto back this up but I'm pretty sure I read it in something like the New Scientist a few years ago..

The term 'gaming addiction' was originally coined by a psychiatrist trying to illustrate a problem within his profession of over-diagnosing everything and/or trying to inappropriately treat everything.

Computer games are supposed to be addicitive, as in fun.

There does seem to be a trend where all (even slighty) negative behaviours have to be seen as mental health conditions.
 
It's an interesting question. Where do you draw the line between passionate hobby and helpless addiction. If gaming is the only thing you do in your spare time, yet you still maintain steady employment and look after yourself moderately, then is that an addiction? Or do you have to literally give up on life, e.g. unemployed all waking hours gamer to be classed as addicted and suffering from a mental health problem.
 
What did people do before gaming?

People used to go to the pub to have fun in the evenings, but that died. Most open public spaces now have affordable low quality homes built on them. If you want to do pretty much any fun activity regularly it gets mega expensive now, or they have been health and safetyed to death. So people do gaming because it's cheap.
 
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Mental health issues are the millennium's bad back. A barrister I was speaking to the other day mentioned no decent defence today was now complete without the defendant citing mental health issues as part of his or her armoury. There's probably a market for the old padded cells and straight jackets at the moment. Nasher makes a very good point though ;) I have to say I have never ever played any game, simple or technically complex on a PC, I still try and support the local hostelries as much as finances and my liver allow. But I have to admit they are now impressive pieces of software, I was watching someone adept play some computer game the other day in a computer emporium, I guess the creators and writers of such things demand a healthy fee?
 
I think gaming can become an addiction if it starts to take over all your spare time to the point you are avoiding going out socialising or working/doing your course work for education.

Just remember most online friendships are meaningless in the bigger picture of things.
 
Nasher said:
People used to go to the pub to have fun in the evenings, but that died.
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I was watching a video of this old couple who drive around on their motorbike and side car. They drove through one of my old nightclub towns (Bolton) on the main street on a friday night. It was empty! When I used to go there I'd sometimes have to walk in the road as there was so many people walking around, even at midnight on friday and saturday nights. It was shocking to see that. I guess it shows how much home entertainment as taken over.
 
Most of the group of people I game with are basically shut-ins that have not worked, left their parents home or done anything other than played xbox for over a decade. They are definitely by some definition addicted and suffering from mental health problems.
 
Cooler running said:
Yes, addiction in general is considered poor mental health, even if it is a self imposed habitual disposition.

It is one of the most benign things you can get addicted to though, as it's generally a safe environment. The only major risk is inactivity, with a secondary financial risk; I also assume everyone here understands this.
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I'd disagree, it isn't just inactivity, in extreme cases people have died after long gaming sessions. Its like saying gambling addiction isn't too bad as you're only losing money, you still have your health etc.. when it can ruin relationships, push people to do things they'd not otherwise do. I'd suspect that serious gaming addicts can have similar impacts on their relationships, career etc.. and indeed put themselves at risk of further mental health issues.


Ref another poster asking if you can be signed off work for it - I think you're more likely to be sacked for it. Just because it is an addiction doesn't mean your employer needs to tolerate it, there are aspects of personal responsibility/choice too that lead to such a situation. Likewise if you become an alcoholic and turn up to the office hammered or are addicted to drugs then I think plenty of employers will simply sack you if it leads to issues at work. On there other hand secondary issues that might stem from that, depression etc.. might well be a reason to be signed off. But I'd wager that if you were to call in on a Monday and say "sorry boss, I relapsed, spend all night playing RDR2, can't make it in today" then you might as well have said "sorry boss, went clubbing all weekend, on a massive comedown now, why do I keep dabbing when I take MDMA... FML" then they'd be equally unimpressed.
 
BowdonUK said:
I think gaming can become an addiction if it starts to take over all your spare time to the point you are avoiding going out socialising or working/doing your course work for education.

Just remember most online friendships are meaningless in the bigger picture of things.
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I go to work and i play games, and of course the usual browsing the web/ watching films and tv-shows and occasionally i read something.

Gaming is not the addiction i do not neglect socializing because i want to game, instead i do not want to socialize, so my options are either work, or as above.

I'll go for a couple of pints after work with a few people now and then but that is about it.

Being entirely honest, i would like to be addicted to some game, but i'm 31, been gaming for a long time now, if it relates to gaming you name it i've done it, i could write a book. The compulsion or addiction or enthusiasm or excitement is basically gone.
 
BowdonUK said:
I was watching a video of this old couple who drive around on their motorbike and side car. They drove through one of my old nightclub towns (Bolton) on the main street on a friday night. It was empty! When I used to go there I'd sometimes have to walk in the road as there was so many people walking around, even at midnight on friday and saturday nights. It was shocking to see that. I guess it shows how much home entertainment as taken over.
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That's mainly because Bolton is a different kind of community these days, that kind that doesn't drink alcohol :/

I used to go there a lot as a kid as my grandparents lived there. It's unrecognisable to me now.
 
game play is, not surprisingly, linked/correlated with physical health issues, adds some irony to government tax breaks for the gaming industry

A model linking video gaming, sleep quality, sweet
drinks consumption and obesity among children and
youth



https://www.cantechletter.com/2017/03/video-game-playing-bed-linked-obesity-children-finds-study/The results showed that video game play during the four-hour window before bedtime was associated with greater abdominal adiposity (obesity). Links were also established between video game playing, obesity and both poor sleep quality and sugary drink consumption while playing video games.
 
Are you playing the games or are the games playing you. Could you just take a week / month off from games and do other things? Why not try it?

How old are you OP? Do you have a partner?
 
So is does gaming cause mental health issues or are mental health issues causing excessive gaming?

And where does personnel responsiblity come into this? Without denigrating people who do have mental health issues and do need help, it's all too easy to say excessive gaming is a mental health problem and I need help, thus shifting responsibility away from the individual and onto wider society.

Sometimes people just need to pull their socks up and sort themselves out.

Gaming is largely harmless if taken with the age old advice - all things in moderation.....

Also, kids who spend all their time in front of a console and not engaging in physical activity are likely to be fat - you don't need a scientific study to tell you this.
 
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