AMA May Soon Recognize Game Addiction As A Disorder
By William on Friday, June 15th, 2007 at 4:43 AM PST In Gamer Life
I came across the article quoted below on Wired.com. I think it’s a good thing to look into game addiction, but it could also backfire on the video game community. If the AMA were to recognize video game addiction as a formal diagnosed disorder, that could definitely add more fuel to the “gaming causes violence” debate. I do believe that some people can become so addicted to gaming that it takes away from their normal lives. At the same time, I am personally addicted to gaming and really don’t care. I feel like everyone needs at least one addiction in life. People that want help should definitely have some available. I just hope that the AMA is responsible with their actions and don’t play into the hands of the special interest groups.
A new report urges the American Medical Association to, among other things, formally recognize game addiction as a genuine diagnosed disorder. According to Spong, the report in question is “Report Of The Council On Science And Public Health: Emotional and Behavioral Effects, Including Addictive Potential, of Video Games” chaired by Mohamed K. Khan, MD, Phd. Included in the report is the proposed medical definition of “gamer.” Keep reading to find out if you qualify or not.
I agree that everyone needs an addiction, it’s the severity of the addiction which then causes issue. I’m a gamer, that is my addiction, but I know too when to stop and when I have the time to do it and when not to. My life does not revolve around it, but when I have free time and friends are unavailable, then yeah, I’ll jump to games. Books are SO last century :p (Not true, there are many good books)
I still enjoy a good book myself. I am a game addict for sure, but I find myself multitasking often because of it.
I’ve always told my wife when she gets a little miffed about my gaming:
I don’t smoke, I only drink socially, I don’t carouse, I’m not violent, and when I play Halo-2 after you go to bed, you know where I am (in the basement on the projector). She still doesn’t have an answer for that.