Video game addiction

I do not know that much about video games in general, or addiction to them in specific. MMOGs are a completely new expression to me, and because of that I had to ponder a while before writing this blog. Although these things are rather new to me, it is possible for me to realize that people can get addicted. I mean, I have trouble going to bed without successfully finishing the Solitaire on my computer...

I think every human being has a certain amount of “addiction-genes”. The thing that varies is how much these genes are expressed. Some of us aren’t addicted to anything, whereas some feel compelled to use a number of things like alcohol, drugs, sex, gambling, shopping etc. I think that a person, who easily falls for temptations, most certainly can become addicted to a video game.

I actually have an example from my circle of friends. A friend of mine had a boyfriend and he was on the verge of addiction to the video game Vietcong. I wrote had, because they are no longer a couple. To him, the game always came first. There were several matches during the weekends, and I can assure you that she had no interest in playing Vietcong at 9 pm on a Saturday evening, or being a spectator for that matter. She could never accept being number two after a video game (who could?) and because of that their relationship ended. I sometimes wonder whether he still plays Vietcong or not. Did he learn his lesson or is he simply addicted to the game?

How could a game be that important to him? The only answer I can find to that question is that it must have given him some sort of satisfaction – which his girlfriend, or other friends for that matter, could not give him. Maybe it was the feeling of being part of something bigger that thrilled him. Maybe he just enjoyed entering another world as another character. His relationship was obviously not exciting enough, and his search for a thrill drove them apart.

Is there a difference between being addicted to drugs or alcohol compared to addiction to videogames? In the society of today I think it is more accepted to be a drug addict, than a video game addict. Part of this can be explained by the fact that it is not entirely okay for an adult to play video games at all. It is considered entertainment for children and teenagers! Drugs and alcohol, on the other hand, which evidently are more health damaging, are more accepted as addictives. To me, there is no logic in that, nor the fact that people actually can spend days in front of their computers playing video games, or the fact that addictions can be ranked. Nothing is worse than the other when you can’t control your needs, whether it is an imaginary world or a drug.