This information is indicative of a more open position on the part of the APA. As such, I felt it important to post it in the interest of balance and fairness.

In doing some further reading, I discovered the APA (American Psychiatric Association) classifies video-game addiction and Internet addiction as “reward driven behavioral disorders”. It will include these and others in an appendix of the next edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. See, they really DO right the book on addiction. They still aren’t considering it an addiction, but are including it to encourage further study.

In the previous post, I indicated only that the APA doesn’t view video-game “addiction” as an addiction. The fact that they are encouraging additional study indicates it’s still a possibility. In the meantime, let’s try understanding instead of labeling.

Cheers, Winston

So I’ve been reading again. This time, it was an article about the perils of video-game addiction. I actually found it sort of refreshing. In amongst the drama of neglected family and career, there was an item rarely seen in such an article.

Turns out, the American Psychiatric Association (the organization that literally writes the book on addictions) doesn’t believe that video-game addiction is real. I think that is great news. It’s not because I don’t believe that some people do really bizarre things in the name of gaming, it just removes the easy reason. Let me explain what I mean by that.

Many people seem not to really understand the concept of addiction. I have a teenage daughter (your sympathy is appreciated), and she and her friends use addiction to describe anything they consume in excess amounts. A song, a tv show, a snack, a celebrity, all have been preceded by “I’m totally addicted to….”

The culture of their youth was saturated with a conflicted message. Public Service Messages told them that alcohol, tobacco and drugs are addictive, but the social message was that they are enjoyable. This creates the shorthand association between pleasurable excess and addiction. My daughter understands that she isn’t actually addicted to the song, snack or whatever. It’s just a figure of speech. The problem is that common usage corrupts and replaces the actual meaning in peoples minds. That leads to a larger problem.

My daughter says she can’t possibly do dishes right now because she’s “addicted” to the show she’s watching. Someone else says they’re not attracted to their spouse anymore because they’re “addicted” to pornography. Is it really surprising that someone will say their life was ruined because they are “addicted” to video-games?

Jackson Toby, professor emeritus at Rutgers University writes, “I do not believe that the concept of `addiction’ is useful; it only describes strong temptations; it does not explain strong temptations. What makes the temptation so strong? The memory of past pleasant experiences with the behavior that we are talking about – in this case video-games.” He goes on to say “I don’t believe that someone can be addicted to video games.”. Addiction is a label, and the label isn’t the thing.

As soon as you apply that label, you avoid responsibility. “It’s not my fault, I’m an addict.” The person isn’t choosing to spend sixty hours a week playing World of Warcraft, they can’t help themselves. It’s not accurate, but if they see it enough in the media, it becomes real. The addiction label is also incredibly disempowering. Once the person believes themselves addicted, they assume the addiction has power over them. Not only are they being told they aren’t responsible for their actions, they’re powerless to change them.

The video-game addiction label is also a mask. It’s a false image hiding the real cause of the behavior. If a person can’t actually be addicted to video-games, then why are they destroying their lives? It’s easier to accept the mask than look at what it hides. There’s no one-size-fits-all answer, but that’s what we want.

When I was a teenager, video-games weren’t the boogeyman. I guess Pong just didn’t get it done for everyone. Back then, Dungeons & Dragons was the mind destroying addiction. One person killed themselves when their character died in game. Another was killed during a “live-action” adventure. Grades suffered as kids cut class to game. It was the “gamepokalypse” of it’s day. Then people moved on to the next media sensation and the hype died. Everyone realized that D&D hadn’t caused the tragedies associated with it. It was just a vehicle for deeper issues. Video-game addiction is no different.

If someone loses their spouse, children, house, job or even their life because they won’t stop playing a video-game, you need to wonder what’s going on inside. Saying “addiction” isn’t going to help anyone. At least not anyone looking for an answer instead of a soundbite.

Cheers, Winston