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Only 15% of Gamers are Internet Addicts
Posted by
samzenpus
on Thu Mar 10, 2005 10:59 AM
from the I-know-I-could-remember-if-i-could-just-play-a-game dept.
from the I-know-I-could-remember-if-i-could-just-play-a-game dept.
Huckster writes "Jeffrey Parsons - a doctoral candidate from University of Iowa has resently conducted a research on MMORPG addiction. It took a while to get the results - but they are now available.
The study found that about 15% of gamers meet the criteria for Internet addiction as provided by Kimberly Young, a leading researcher in Internet addiction. Using more strict criteria, a minimum of at least 10% of gamers met criteria for Internet addiction. Compared to national studies of Internet addiction, this numbers are somewhat elevated. However, given the sheer number of hours MMORPG gamers spend online (in comparison to the general population), even a 15% addiction rate is somewhat low.
To illustrate the point, the college student spends 10 hours on the Internet per week. The average MMORPG gamer (addicted or not) spends 20-25 hours per week just playing MMORPGs, and an additional 10-15 hours per week in other Internet use. In other words, MMORPG players are spending 4x as much time online as non-gamers."
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Technology: Discussion of Internet Addiction as Mental Illness Resurfaces 279 comments
Lone Writer writes "The editorial section of the American Journal of Psychiatry for March offers the opinion that Internet addiction is a 'compulsive-impulsive' disorder, and should be added to the official guidebook of disorders. The editorial characterizes net addiction as including 'excessive gaming, [online] sexual pre-occupations and e-mail/text messaging'. From the article: 'Like other addicts, users experience cravings, urges, withdrawal and tolerance, requiring more and better equipment and software, or more and more hours online, according to Dr. Jerald Block, a psychiatrist at the Oregon Health and Science University in Portland. Dr. Block says people can lose all track of time or neglect "basic drives," like eating or sleeping. Relapse rates are high, he writes, and some people may need psychoactive medications or hospitalization."
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Bit of a strawman (I think), however... (Score:5, Insightful)
If 15% of people who enjoyed a cold beer or a glass of wine were considered alcoholics I'm sure the word "only" wouldn't be in the headline.
Re:Bit of a strawman (I think), however... (Score:5, Insightful)
During softball season, I spend close to 10 hours a week either playing games or practicing fastpitch softball, and I'm considered a very "casual" player in my league. Some people spend more time playing softball than they spend at their jobs.
In High School, I knew a guy who spent almost every evening and every weekend hacking and wardialing for hours on end. These days, he's gainfully employed in the IT field.
"Does something a lot" != "Addicted"
The only thing which makes a person who spends 30 hours a week playing a game different from most people is that their chosen form of recreation happens to be a fringe activity. They are not hurting anybody, so I say leave them the hell alone.
Furthermore, can we get past this stupid habbit of calling every apparant obsessive/compulsive behavior an "addiction?" It's not as if these people are going to go through withdrawl symptoms if they are deprived of their gaming "fix" for a couple weeks.
Parent
Re:Bit of a strawman (I think), however... (Score:5, Informative)
Have you ever played a MMORPG? I played Everquest for several hours every day for over two years back in high school, and yes, it was an addiction. I wasn't alone, either, or even in the minority.
If someone had deprived me, or most of the other people who played that game, of my gaming "fix" for a couple weeks, I would have had serious withdrawls.
Parent
Re:Bit of a strawman (I think), however... (Score:5, Insightful)
Furthermore, can we get past this stupid habbit of calling every apparant obsessive/compulsive behavior an "addiction?"
Addiction, by defenition, is :
- Compulsive physiological and psychological need for a habit-forming substance.
- The condition of being habitually or compulsively occupied with or or involved in something.
So calling "apparent obsessive/compulsive behaviour" an addiction, is only because that -is- the defenition of it :
I do agree with him though ; that 'spending alot of time' does not equal addiction.
It's not as if these people are going to go through withdrawl symptoms if they are deprived of their gaming "fix" for a couple weeks.
That's only true if you are comparing withdrawal symptons from, let's say, heroine addiction, to the withdrawal symptons from missing out on a month of RPG-ing.
Hell, even I really long for playing a (FPS) game when I haven't done so for a week.
Parent
Re:Bit of a strawman (I think), however... (Score:5, Interesting)
According to medical research, one or two pints of beer (or glasses of red wine) per night is a healthy practice, reducing the chances of heart disease and alzeimer's while reducing stress.
According to AA, two or three pints a night means you are an alcoholic.
There's an overlap here, which means either 1) One side or the other is full of crap, or 2) Mild alcoholism is good for you.
In either case, I enjoy beer or wine with my dinner on a regular basis, and if that makes me a drunkard then so be it.
Parent
Only 15% of Doctoral Canidates are useful (Score:5, Insightful)
Internet addiction is a made up/hyped up thing so Frauds can scam money from the gullible.
Re:Only 15% of Doctoral Canidates are useful (Score:5, Insightful)
Speak for yourself. Back in the day when I was a MUD addict, it cost me about seven years of my life. About four years playing and doing nothing else, three more of depression when I had finally kicked it. Needed several psychologists to finally get back on my feet. It was a very big problem, I was aware of it and miserable, and unable to stop.
Parent
Re:Only 15% of Doctoral Canidates are useful (Score:5, Interesting)
Except for the 15 odd percent that are addicted. I went to a tech college and there were all sort of MUD, MMORPG, and FPS gamers. For most of them it was a perfectly healthy recreation / break from studies. Then there were the few that ended up failing out of college because the couldn't pull themselves away from the computer.
Gaming addiction is not made up, and while some people may hype it, these scientists aren't among them. Their methods are good, and their definition(s) of addiction fall very much in line with other forms of addiction. And the number they found is about right from what I've seen personally. If anything, they have done the MMORPG group a favor by showing that 85-90% of gamers are not addicted and many are well balanced individuals.
Parent
Interesting.... (Score:5, Funny)
Perhaps somebody was fooling around on the INTERNET when they should have been working?
Jeez, I'm one to talk...
Well.... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Well.... (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Why always focus on MMOPRGs? (Score:5, Interesting)
~ 23 or 24 appears to be the net mean age of all survey groups, and in my experience, and as someone from that generation, we spend a lot of time online for many different reasons.
I'm a programmer and an information junkie who's never played a MMORPG in his life. When I was interviewed for my job last year, I was told the company was looking for someone who "lives on the web." All these people focusing on games don't realize the most obvious phenomenon: the web as a lifestyle.
The problem is with Addictive Personalities (Score:5, Insightful)
This probably seems obvious, but the important point is, people who become addicted easily can become addicted to anything they come into contact with - drugs (legal or illegal), internet browsing, exercise/fitness, even possible reading Slashdot!
However, I think a disproportionate number of people with addictive personalities are drawn into gaming, especially MMPORGs, and for this reason you have this, actually relatively high figure for addiction.
And in other news.... (Score:5, Funny)
They're designed to be that way. (Score:5, Insightful)
The first level is easy to accomplish.
Second level is marginally harder.
Before long, you have to press the lever 10,000 times to get your treat. By that time, you've grown old, wife left, dog died.. etc.
The games are DESIGNED to addict you. You don't make subscription money if you don't have a good core base of addicts.
MMORPG's are designed to last for years. The more addicting, and the ability to constantly provide rewards througout the game, will keep a guy hemmed up for years.
Re:They're designed to be that way. (Score:5, Insightful)
The first level is easy to accomplish.
Second level is marginally harder.
This basic structure is the only way to make a fun game. It isn't the problem.
The insidious aspect of MMORPGs is that they make this explicit in the "stats" and "levels" that you have to keep track of and improve. The *actual* game of these games is just "make the number bigger", which is a very primitive goal (think Pac-Man). You're paying $10+ a month just to play Pac-Man.
Other games tend to have more complex goals, like "get to the next stage, see more of the world, advance the story". You can "beat" these games. You can't beat a MMORPG, except by ending it yourself.
Parent
Not addiction... (Score:5, Interesting)
Hate the word "addiction" (Score:5, Insightful)
Why is every bad habit these days assigned a diagnosis of "addiction"?
I'll tell you why. Because if we can blame our bad habits on a disease, something out of our control, then we can absolve ourselves of any responsibility for it.
Face it, most of these purely psychological "addictions" that plague modern society can be corrected with a little behavior modification and a little willpower.
I've seen it first hand (Score:5, Informative)
definition of Internet Addiction (Score:5, Informative)
My favorite thing is... (Score:5, Interesting)
Gone on the road for two weeks, working 14 days straight for a total of 145 hours. Come back and play with friends on an afternoon, what's the verdict: I play too much videogames.
It really is mainly about some people's perception of valid use of your free time. My rule of thumb is not to tell any woman born before 1980 that I even know what a computer is.
unsubscribed from WOW (Score:5, Interesting)
People get so touchy... (Score:5, Interesting)
Go read any of the BBs out there for mmorpgs, some people call 30 hours/wk 'casual' -- that's pretty much a job. They will adamantly talk about how I'm not an addict, I have a life, a job, etc. Well, so do lots of gambling addicts and alchoholic, doesn't mean a thing. Plus they are often posting to the boards that are filled with fellow junkies, looking for reinforcement of their behavior. And there's a lot of the 'well I only play 30 hrs, so and so plays 40, he/she is clearly out of control, but I'm fine'
I am a mmorpg player. I've played a ton of the d*mn things (EQ, AO, DAoC, CoH, WoW) they can suck up all your time, cut into sleep, etc etc. Luckily, with each new one I've played I found I quit them sooner and sooner and get bored more easily. Nonetheless, I still play them WAY more than I should, they are clearly unproductive timesinks, nothing more. Yes, I've had fun and met some cool people - but mmorpgs can get in the way of more important things for sure.
Some people though, live in these things. Sad but true story - there's a friend's friend who has been playing EverCrack ever since it came out like 5(?) years ago. He's late 30s lives with his mom, has no job, and plays EQ like 8-10 hours a day. He threatens to go back to get his college degree every now and again, takes one or two classes here or there - but usually has some excuse on why he can't finish, goes back to playing f/t and just lives off his mom (who should clearly kiss his a*s out, but that's another story...)
While his story might be a bit more extreme than most, I don't think his is unique.
Re:What is "addiction?" (Score:5, Informative)
Parent
Re:What is "addiction?" (Score:5, Insightful)
For many of us, the Internet is just another part of our computer. We use it when we want, and go on about our bussiness. I don't "log in" to check e-mail, I just run SSH if I want to see it (or look at my Sunblade if I'm at work). I can be writing a paper, have soemthing I need to look up, access JStor, and go back to writing the paper in less than a minute.
Seems to me that these researchers have a severly distorted view of how the Internet works for many people. It's not a special, seperate thing, it's just another part of computing.
I particularly notice this if my connection goes down. Even though I know it's down, I'll find myself perpetually trying to access something online because I just don't think about it. Like I'll be reading a PDF on something, and want more info on a topic and pop open a browser and try to search for it, before I remember that no, can't do that right now. It's just natural, just a part of being on a computer. It works basically like any other tool on the computer, just use it when you want it for something.
Parent