Gaming Addiction

Nope, on the contrary, I have close family who suffers from depression and I truly believe mental health is a top priority. I also believe that "addicts" are diverting money and resources away from people who have genuine mental health problems (people who I care about). Someone chooses to take drugs, someone chooses to play a game too long, someone chooses to stick a quid in a fruit machine, someone chooses to eat too much cake. These aren't mental health issues, they're an education issue.

No one will ever convince me that an obese, game obsessed, alcoholic smack head deserves a penny spending on them over my family who genuinely need help and can't get it, all because the fukcing system is too busy dealing with people who choose to fukc up.

 

Classifying something as a problem such as a form of addiction isn't designed to allow the afflicted person the opportunity to go about life as they please without taking responsibility. It is about providing them support with their problems, of which one fundamental part of this will be taking responsibility.

They are taking responsibility if they go into therapy- if someone with alcohol or gambling problems goes into therapy and doesn't engage, then perhaps they aren't ready to. I've worked in addictions in the past and people who tend to disengage are the ones who are pressured into it by family. It has to be them and them alone making that choice.

We all have our vices and most of us thankfully never experience a debilitating addiction, but let's not knock people seeking support for it and wanting to change their problems, nor pretend it is as easy as waking up one day and making a conscious choice to stop- it isn't.

 

All I can say to this and your preceding posts is- I am glad you are no longer working in addictions, and hope you are no longer working in healthcare.

 

Would it be tremendously beige of me to suggest that the reality of the situation lies somewhere towards the middle of the extremes in this thread?

 

Why? Because I've got my head on straight? Health system needs a dose of reality. The way we pander to people who mess up their lives is appalling.

"I've spent my kids savings on gambling, my wife and kid are also living in a refuge because I decided to stop paying the mortgage because I was sure I could win my money back"

"I lost my job so I decided to spend my redundancy on getting pissed every day, now I'm addicted and it's the boozes fault."

"My stepdad said/did inappropriate things to me so I started taking drugs to forget, I hate my stepdad, he made me this way."

"Oh, that's terrible, it's not your fault. You have an illness, please step this way for thousands of pounds worth of free treatment"



"I'm struggling to cope and I'm afraid I might do something stupid"

"Do you take drugs, drink to excess or are you addicted to anything else (please say yes as this is the only way we get more money in the budget)?"

"no"

"You're not suitable for any help as you're not meeting our criteria"

Addiction is the great con of our generation and a lot of "addicts" know how to play the game.

 

I think that's fair, but equally if I was passing comment on things I'm not qualified to make comment on, such as the merits of neurological surgery on X problem, whether it's worthwhile remapping a vehicle's ECU or giving an opinion on the latest electrical guidelines then I wouldn't expect people to take me as seriously and I'd imagine the people who have expertise in those fields would be pretty annoyed too.

Unfortunately, with this particular problem, some of the opinions on here can be highly damaging to anyone reading it with an existing addiction or with loved ones who are experiencing addiction.

 

Don't get me wrong, I do believe that addiction exists but personally I find it easier to understand physical addictions rather than mental ones. I love a beer as much as anyone but I don't think I would ever become an alcoholic, but I can understand why and how many do. I would never take drugs but I can understand how people become addicted. However, for the life of me I can't see how playing computer games can be classified as an addiction. Where does it stop? Are we going to classify every "addiction" as a disease? It's a slippery slope. I'm convinced that in twenty years time or so paedos will be victims of their own desires and looking at child porn will be an "addiction".

We should be a tolerant and caring society towards mental health. However, we should be mindful about putting everything down to mental health and absolving people of any responsibility. That's the road we're going down.

 

No because you haven't clearly got your head on straight. Nobody condones what they have done, nor do they chastise them for it. So your solution with addicts is what exactly? If we do nothing about it, the crime rates will likely spike. More families become torn apart.

As for meeting criteria for support. Local IAPTs will not treat addiction of any kind at present, only people with common mental health problems such as anxiety or depression and PTSD. Secondary care will only treat risky people who are suicidal. Some areas have specialist addictions services.

You are way off the mark.

 

I get what you're saying TM. I've got an ex wife who suffered from depression and my other ex worked in mental care. I've seen how horrible mental illness is from close quarters. I also can't help in thinking that there are points where any intelligent person has to look at certain situations and take some personal responsibility. I'm talking about addictive personalities here, not things like depression. They should still get help and counselling of course. I guess it's easy for me to say as I don't have an addictive personality although I think we're all close to having one, we all have weaknesses.

 

This is the problem though Conan, just because you cannot empathise with it, it doesn't necessarily mean it is not worthy of support.

There is a huge evidence base out there for why people become addicted. Alcohol is one of the few physically addictive drugs out there. It is the only one to my knowledge that can kill you if you immediately stop when drinking to dependent levels.

Try to move away from the actual activity perceived as the addiction and focus more on the cognitive processes behind it and then you will understand why it is a disease like anxiety or depression. People tend to be addicted to something because behaviourally it is either filling a void or cognitively it is replacing a distressing thought or situation. People tend to take drugs due to blocking out depression, anxiety or trauma- the addiction is secondary to this. It isn't someone who simply woke up one day and decided to get hooked on drugs, gambling, porn or games. This is how your average man on the street perceives it and it is extremely damaging.

 

Like I've said, I've never heard of anyone making a conscious choice of becoming addicted to something. If they have done, then they should seek help. Doing that is taking responsibility.

Nobody tends to walk away from severe depression and anxiety without some form of support, be it antidepressants or anxiolytics or therapy. We shouldn't expect people with addictions to be able to miraculously cure themselves either.

So in summary, people on here are criticising people with addictions for not taking responsibility, however are then criticising them for seeking support- which is ultimately them holding their hands up, saying they have a problem - and taking responsibility.

 

I don't think people believe that others "choose" to get addicted, although someone getting into computer games getting into it for the first time would not expect to get "addicted" whereas someone getting into heroin would be fully aware of the risks. I do think we have to legitimise activities though in terms of how likely they are to become addictive. Otherwise everything can become an addiction and we just put it down to mental health. That can't be realistic.

Just as an aside, I once had knee surgery and was in quite a bit of pain afterwards. So they injected some morphine into my stomach. That's an experience I would never want to repeat.

 

I've said what we need to do. Education is the only solution to any kind of addiction and acting on the initial cry for help instead of letting it develop into something destructive.

Things may well have changed in drug services in the 9 years I've been out of it, but it doesn't change the fact that, as a society we still make excuses for people with addictions and because they are a visible problem they seem to get the lions share of attention, to the detriment of other, more pressing cases. We've created this problem ourselves, we're too quick to blame dealers, blame gambling companies, blame games manufactures, instead of saying "hang on, you bought the ****, what the fukc did you think was going to happen?".

If anything, the mental health issues which may precede any addiction need the treatment - why are we always trying to close the gate after the horse has bolted? We've got it totally backwards. Spend the money where it can do the most good.

It may come across as simplistic, but generally the most simple course of action is the right one.

 

I believe anyone could become addicted to anything within reason, as it is not particularly the actual activity itself but the purpose it serves. From what research I've read on gaming addiction, there appear to be differing traits than other addictions hence the individual classification.

When I had an op to stop snoring, they gave me a couple of weeks' worth of tramadol to take. I absolutely loved it, not just because it took the pain away but because it felt like getting into a warm bath too. I can totally see how drugs in particular can become addictive and that thought alone keeps me away from them. If my life completely spiralled though and the only thing I knew to make me feel better and stop me killing myself was drugs or alcohol then perhaps i'd resort to one of those- and I'm a mental health professional.

 

Dopamine is the neurotransmitter which drives reward-based behaviour. The same thing that makes you drink or beer, eat chocolate, or do pretty much anything is the same thing that plays a role in computer game addiction.

Also, games companies are paid A LOT and make A LOT due to designing games to trigger addictive behaviour. EA for example, who make Fifa games are notoriously bad for it.

This isn't anything new though. Go to any amusement arcade or casino and they're all designed to create a craving in the kinds of people who are susceptible to addictive behaviour.

It's easy for someone who has never suffered from, or seen the effects of addiction to say that fat people should just stop eating or alcoholics should just stop drinking but it shows a lack of real understanding about the subject and the science behind addiction.

 

I agree with some of what you say, but feel that products that do harm such as tobacco, alcohol, gambling sites etc should take some responsibility for the problems they contribute to.

As for treating the mental health problem before it spirals- this is the fundamental problem and I totally agree. Unfortunately, most people who go down the route of addiction lack that insight and whilst greater education will help that somewhat, there are several major barriers to many people digesting that information. Deprivation, education, upbringing/ learnt behaviours etc.

 

I agree with a lot of what you say in the last paragraph despite my own experience with strong painkillers.

If the addiction serves the purpose, where do we draw the line with that activity and the impact it has on others?

 

We need to help people through treatment to replace that addiction with more positive coping strategies, but naturally they need to be ready, willing and able to do this. This is the problem and there is no perfect solution to it.

 

I've not read anyone say "they should just stop". Physical dependencies especially are next to impossible to "just stop" and I think most people know that.

 

There are very little things in life that we are physically dependent on. Alcohol is one of them. Most drug addictions as you're no doubt aware are due to psychological dependency with exception of benzos and opiate based drugs that provide nasty physical withdrawl symptoms but won't kill you if you stop.