Video Game Addiction Back In The News

from the time-to-drum-up-some-business... dept

We're always a little wary when psychologists start talking about some new "addiction" to technology. It often seems to come from a psychologist who is clearly trying to drum up more business for their own practice. For a while, the popular one was internet addiction, and that still gets some press every month or so. However, this time it's video game addictions that are back in the news. Of course, an actual study last year (not just simply psychologists talking about things) suggested that video games, by themselves, are no more addictive than school or work. In other words, while some people clearly do have problems giving up video game play, it's not so much an addiction, as a symptom of other problems. Blaming the games seems a bit simplistic, and unlikely to get at the real issues.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  1. identicon
    achacha, 5 Oct 2004 @ 11:45am

    Legalized?

    Well if marijuana was legalized kids wouldn't be turning to these "dangerous" legal highs and getting addicted. :)

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    bob, 11 Apr 2008 @ 7:16am

    Re: Legalized?

    suck my balls

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    bob, 11 Apr 2008 @ 7:16am

    Re: Legalized?

    suck my balls

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. identicon
    Tweeky, 24 Aug 2008 @ 2:01am

    My Answer

    Admit it gaming and the internet are addictive, but that doesn't mean that it's bad. If you spend whole your day to play games then your just spending your time...if you keep studying for school or work and you already know everything, then you're also spending your time! Self control can resolve all your addiction problems remember this.

    link to this | view in thread ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.