Quote From: caradiaJust like anything, gaming can be addictive. So can shopping, sex, drugs, alcohol, etc... If a person has an addictive personality, he/she can be addicted to anything. I game between 8-14 hours a day, sometimes less. What I had to learn was balance. Now, when I had nothing in my life it was sleep, wake up, game, go to work, come home, game, sleep, and repeat. I could not imagine losing a job for it; however, I can see where it gets in the way of relationships. What is ironic is that I met my current live-in boyfriend in an online game over a year ago. Now, he is here and has no interest in gaming because he has me (which confuses me), while gaming is still my favorite hobby just like it was when I met him. I guess he had other reasons for gaming. So, I still game. I did have problems spending time with him, but now I make sure that other areas of my life are met before I cross to the void of gaming. Gaming is my way of relieving stress. Work, him, and life in general incur stress. So, you know, you do what you gotta do. I feel some people think it is an addiction if people actually pay to play online and/or spend over an hour a day on the game. Wrong. Just because it is not understood does not make it addiction. Think of it this way, if you watch sitcoms on TV for over an hour, then would you say you are addicted to sitcoms on TV?
Your last sentence of "Think of it this way, if you watch sitcoms on TV for over an hour, then would you say you are addicted to sitcoms on TV?" indicates to me a lack of understanding of what addiction is. Until I became addicted to video games, to be honest, I did not really understand how people could become addicted to anything. One of the things, to me, that defines an addiction to video games is not so much the number of hours per day that are spent playing, although that is often an important indicator of an addiction problem. For example, I only played about 4 hours per day, which is less than quite a few people spend on a hobby. However, the important difference is the issue of control. I only spent that much time because I had some limited control over myself but even that much time, in addition to my other procrastination methods, caused a lot of problems for me. Although I have stopped playing now, it was not an easy thing for me to do. People with just a hobby or a pastime, like watching T.V. occasionally, even for over an hour, can usually easily change the amount of time involved if they want to. Nonetheless, as you say at the start, almost anything can be addictive to certain people. However, too much time spent doing anything, whether or not it is truly an addiction, is a problem if it causes a person to ignore their real life responsibilities to themselves and those around them.
If you are interested in learning more about the issue of addiction, I am sure that there are many excellent books and other references. However, one book that I, and at least several other people that I know of, have found to be very helpful is "The Addictive Personality: Understanding the Addictive Process and Compulsive Behavior" by Craig Nakken. A link to it on Amazon is www.amazon.com/Addictive-Personality-Understanding-Compulsive-Behavior/dp/1568381298/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1221858013&sr=1-1 .
