A change for the better and a warning

Well having finished some extensive work on my computer system I am now able to publish in a different way that could speed up the process. The good news for anyone who follows this blog, is that means that I likely will post more often, and hopefully have fewer spelling errors. Can I guarantee this? No, but one can always hope, and/or dream.


Now on to the warning... people often think of addictions in terms of drug use, be it tobacco, alcohol, or illegal drugs. I'd like to say that this likely the most common form of addiction however I personally know that there is another type of addiction that is highly under estimated, largely because people don't think about it in those terms. The addiction that I am talking about is an addiction to games, gaming (i.e. the act of playing games), and building games. Generally speaking most people don't see that they can be addicted here, unless you are talking about online poker, or other gambling situations, however this addiction is real.


Evidence you ask? Well beyond my own life experiences, seeing people who can't step away from their characters, who talk about characters as if they are real, and who think of themselves as their characters, there is a growing body of evidence, and here are a few examples. The first article looks at the question of "Is World of Warcraft causing kids to flunk school?" to which my personal answer is possibly, but there will be a different article about this later. The second discusses the difference between Porn addicts and Warcraft addicts, which I do happen to agree with, language is a huge barrier towards communication. Finally there is a Psychologist who is looking to treat WoW addicts in game , something I really don't have a strong opinion on. 


In school we are taught how to recognize some of the signs of addiction in health class, and some of them hold true here too. The problem is that we are also told via implication or outright that these apply to drugs, not to things in real life. True there are some arguments for gamers having Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), however OCD does not account for all of them, nor does it account for the people who have died playing WoW in my opinion. So if OCD doesn't apply here what does? First check you're self, as well as others you game with. 

• Can you easily step away from the game, or do you need to play? Do you feel a drive to play constantly? 
• When you are done playing can you easily move on to other tasks or do you constantly feel the drive to think about, discuss or work on your character? 
• Can you easily separate things that have happened to you from things that have happened to your character?
• Do you think about yourself and your character as separate entities or preferably you as the creator and the character as a creation?
• Do you lose time playing games? 
• Has your life changed, or your habits, friends, or how you spend your time seriously changed?
• Do you do things like stay up risking not getting enough sleep to be able to drive or work safely?

If you answer yes to one of these questions, you're probably alright. After all some of them are very subjective, such as your free time changing since a true gaming campaign in Dungeons and Dragons for example usually eats a multiple hour block of time out of any day you play. However this list is by no means comprehensive nor should it be taken as medical advice or proof of addiction.  These are merely warning signs that I have noticed people have exhibited in my own life experiences. If you answer yes multiple or to all of the questions, I certainly would speak to a medical professional or at bare minimum look up more information and act on it.


Anyway the point of the post is this. We need to examine ourselves, our lives, and our values, not once, or twice, but constantly. Addictions can begin at any time; they can worsen with time, and affect people of all ages. There is no 100% cure for any addiction that I am aware of but it is important to note that it is a form of disease, that there is nothing necessarily wrong with the person other than the addiction. If you do see these warning signs, please seek help, as any addiction can be hazardous even dangerous and alter your life.


Edit on 5/9/12:  In adding jump breaks to the blog, I noticed a few pages that I could clear up points on here.  I made these minor edits (such as the list being bullet pointed instead of in a paragraph format), and added the jump break.