190°

Gamers appear to be addicted to drugs

Parents are bringing their kids to shrinks because they fear they are addicted to drugs when they are actually just gamers.

A doctor at Children's Hospital Boston Michael Rich says that parents believe that their kids might be hooked on crack because they are showing the same symptoms. However it turns out that they just play games too much. He said that climbing levels in games like World of Warcraft, where unlimited numbers of role-playing competitors play around the clock and around the world, can be habit-forming and disruptive for both adolescents and adults.
Nineball2112 - contributor
Published: 52 days 15 hours ago | News | Gaming
 
 

Showing: 1 - 49 of 49 Comments
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Bereaver - 52 days 15 hours ago
1 -
Parents.... always clueless....

They never understand that teens cling to anything, even it it doesn't matter. Because in fact, it does matter, and it makes them even more of an outsider when their own parent's don't understand.

Anyway, this age is about to be behind us because the average age of gamers now are approaching 40.

People will start to understand now.
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LazyDevs - 52 days 13 hours ago
1.1 -
Games are just as addictive as drugs.....
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TechWiz - 52 days 13 hours ago
1.2 - I'm addicted
I'm also a parent.
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Poopface the 2nd - 52 days 12 hours ago
1.3 - ohhh nooo
Im playing borderlands and smking ganj, I think im going to die.
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HolyOrangeCows - 52 days 7 hours ago
1.4 - "There have been a small number of reported deaths attributed to Internet addiction in Asia, but these have been usually sleep and food deprivation"
That's......pretty disturbing.
How you can go on starving and tried until the point of death?

I would fall asleep and/or just get a freaking snack.
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Relientk77 - 52 days 15 hours ago
2 -
Das fail parents
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Foxgod - 52 days 14 hours ago
3 -
Hey, i only sell virtual drugs in GTA chinatown wars (great game).
I dont go near drugs, and i vote for a new era of witch hunting.
Lets burn all drugs people!!!

Be straight edge, like me.
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TheDudeAbides - 52 days 14 hours ago
3.1 -
keep the MJ, burn the rest
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Foxgod - 52 days 14 hours ago
3.2 -
Dont worry, Youre the Dude, you got your stash in international waters.
Cant burn things on the open sea.

So as long as you stay on the sea, your narcotics are safe, Dude :)
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Hallucinate - 52 days 13 hours ago
3.3 -
keep the lsd to
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ZombieAutopsy - 52 days 10 hours ago
3.4 -
straight edge?? what the fvck is that?
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gumgum99 - 51 days 18 hours ago
3.5 -
lmao
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dredgewalker - 52 days 14 hours ago
4 -
What?? I dont need drugs...im already addicted to games. Sheesh... im also a parent and i encourage my child to play video games with me.
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Elvfam511 - 52 days 14 hours ago
5 - "Gamers appear to be addicted to drugs"
No Gamers appear to be addicted to games not drugs
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Memo-Xen x3100 - 52 days 14 hours ago
6 - Most people I know...
play games and smoke pot beforehand.
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H34RT 4TT4CK - 52 days 14 hours ago
6.1 -
Would make playing a game more fun I assume.
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Nineball2112 - 52 days 13 hours ago
6.2 -
Stay away from even the ganja or you'll end up like this...

http://www.youtube.com/watc...
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Hellsvacancy - 52 days 13 hours ago
6.3 -
Im a mega stoner - everyday i smoke the green, i work full time im not a dole seeker or anythin, but i find when im gamin or watchin a film or my favourite listenin 2 music i smoke and smoke and smoke, im causin no1 any harm (except me) its better then goin out 2 the pub gettin wasted and havin a fight wid sum punk whos givin it large coz hes wasted and gettin arrested at the end of the night (which has happend 2 me MANY of times)
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LazyDevs - 52 days 13 hours ago
6.4 -
Nothing like wasting your life on illegal drug's.
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Hellsvacancy - 52 days 13 hours ago
6.5 - ^^^^
Kiss my arse mofo its my life and im damn well entitled 2 live ANY-WAY i wish
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Daver - 52 days 12 hours ago
6.6 -
@6.4

shut up... who are you to tell someone that hes wasting his life doing what he wants..
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Poopface the 2nd - 52 days 12 hours ago
6.7 - I like to
smoke and the n play games on my pc/ps3/360. not waste time bashing one of them.
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va_bank - 52 days 11 hours ago
6.8 - Nothing against weed, but...
You do realize it slows your reflexes? Sure you can play games stoned, but question is how well do your friends do? :)
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boodybandit - 52 days 10 hours ago
6.9 - @Lazydevs "illegal drug's"
More people are addicted to and wasting their lives over "legal" addictions (booze, prescription, gambling, etc) then there are using illegal means.

I'd rather have friends that smoke pots over being addicted to pills or alcohol.
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LazyDevs - 52 days 7 hours ago
6.10 - @Hellsvacancy
Yeah you have the freedom of speech to say how you live your life. And i have the freedom of speech to knock it, especially if it is illegal. Nothing say's smoking weed, to give our younger generation something to shoot for.

And to the person above this about illegal drugs doesn't matter about anything else. So if you can not stick to topic then don't post.
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Hellsvacancy - 52 days 7 hours ago
6.11 - LazyGamer
Your such an idiot no - your an ill-informed idiot, how do know that i dont live in 1 of the 5 countries where weed is legal? your comment "Nothing like wasting your life on illegal drug's" would b completly void

Although i live in the Uk but that besides the point :-P
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stewgart - 52 days 6 hours ago
6.12 - @LazyDevs
you appear to be assuming that if something is illegal it is implicitly wrong. An obvious fallacy. Alchohol and tobacco kill more people than grass ever will and those drugs are perfectly legal. Marijana even has several therapeutical benefits, more than what can be said for tobacco and alchohol. Do a little research before jumping to a premature conclusion.
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ShOtCall3r33 - 52 days 14 hours ago
7 - ooooooooo crap
im soo high right now..... ican hear my dogg talk
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gumgum99 - 51 days 17 hours ago
7.1 -
oh gosh...
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Danteh - 52 days 14 hours ago
8 - lol
Well I know that some people have withdrawal symptoms when they can't play World of Warcraft...only that game though. Damn, WOW must be the most damaging game that has ever existed, so addicting it's like crack.

Die WOW!!
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Ares84PS3 - 52 days 13 hours ago
9 - Parents......
Some parents don't know what their kids are doing and try to be parents when it's too late. I hate these people when they don't raise their kids right and they blame it on the kid. Yeah it's the 10 year olds fault that he plays video games 15hours a day...yeah right. Idiot people are idiot.

Also on addiction.

Anything can get addicting. Cigarettes, alcohol are much worse than video games. But There are people who would wanna fish all day, or ride their bikes all day or paint all day. People get addicted to different things. The key is to limit yourself....like let's say ok I wake up at 10 in the morning I play 2-3 hours of video games than let's do something else...go outside, go to the movies...go to a friends house etc.
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Nineball2112 - 52 days 13 hours ago
9.1 -
^^^

I agree with you 100%. Moderation is the key and even knowing that, sometimes I game too much.
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Ares84PS3 - 52 days 12 hours ago
9.2 - @9.1
Sad that many "parents" don't know that. Well it's not suprising when they have their kids at the age of 14-15. When kids having kids...why are we suprised that there are these kind of problems?
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Rowsdower - 52 days 13 hours ago
10 - i always thought you had
to be smoking crack to enjoy WOW.

i joke because i love
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Hellsvacancy - 52 days 9 hours ago
10.1 - ^^^^
Wot love crack ?
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iceman06 - 51 days 16 hours ago
10.2 - See....
and I always thought that you would smoke MORE crack...to play more WOW...to smoke more crack...to play more.....whoa...this cycle doesn't end!!!*L*

Seriously, one of the funniest comments of the day Rowsdower!!!
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rawrockkillz - 52 days 12 hours ago
11 -
Cool...Excuse me while I go snort some Team Fortress 2.
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Vortex3D - 52 days 12 hours ago
12 -
Difference between drugs and games addiction is business is pushing for more games addiction because it's money. As any kind of addiction, by the time it has become a serious problem widely, it's too late trying to control it. People who aren't real gamers still don't understand the meaning of games addiction. With drugs, the person addicted to it still have to buy it from the black market. With games, it's much easier to stay addicted because the person can play the games at the friends' house for "free".
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iceman06 - 51 days 16 hours ago
12.1 - You don't think...
that the makers of pharmaceuticals (legal or otherwise) aren't pushing for addiction for money? That was the reason that crack was created...it was cheaper...easier to conceal...and HIGHLY addictive. It's the reason why marijuana was laced. It's the reason why heroin became more and more pure. Plus, have you ever seen an add for marijuana, cocaine, LSD, or heroin? Illicit drugs don't need commercials..they sell themselves. That's why most people could get a hold of most drugs with a phone call.
Addiction is addiction...it's really NOT about the focus of the addiction (proven by the fact that addicted people will usually supplant one with another if they try to get sober). It's more about a personality trait concurrent with other psychological pathologies. So, if it weren't drugs, games, gambling, sex, alcohol, tobacco, or whatever...an addictive personality would find something NEW to be addicted to. Some people are just destined to live by the old adage "everything in moderation...including moderation itself."
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va_bank - 52 days 11 hours ago
13 - Now lets step back for a second.
Lets imagine you're a parent and know nothing about games. Your kid runs downstairs screaming "The Orcs are invading!!!I'm running next door to see if my friend will sell me some Mana potions!".

What is your first thought?
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Unending Punishment - 52 days 11 hours ago
13.1 -
Me and my friend used to joke about old women on the bus and what they would sound like talking about games.

"That juke you pulled on me was totally sick. Knocked me clean over."

Something like that, and then people would all be like "Do they REALLY play football?" Lol.
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Highlife - 52 days 11 hours ago
13.2 -
He is a dork! But maybe that is because I know my games.
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gumgum99 - 51 days 17 hours ago
13.3 -
to be honest...I wouldn't know what to think.
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Unending Punishment - 52 days 11 hours ago
14 -
Drugs are for the people who can't find something more valuable in their lives. I'm not against recreational use of drugs, but I will say that if drugs are something you like boast about then you need to get your priorities straight.

That's just so immature, boasting about your recreational enjoyment of drugs. Just because you do it doesn't mean everyone has to know.
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Ninjamonkey - 52 days 11 hours ago
15 - On BBC news
Today they had a piece about an addictions hospital (rehab centre) which generally specialised with drugs and alcohol is now also opened up for games addiction.

Just like drugs game addiction has been proved to create function disorders, eating disorders, isolation ect. Especially for kids where they start to prioritise games over their homework.

Theres no problem with playing games a lot. If you rather that than watching TV at the end of the day it is better for you as it keeps your brain active 9well some games at least).

But games addiction is a reality. A perfect example is WoW, which the BBC news programme actually showed. Poeple literally live their lives on their, making virtual friends instead of real ones and they definately need help.
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iceman06 - 51 days 16 hours ago
15.1 - Agree...
that it is a reality...but it is just an offshoot of the REAL issues that surround those people. Those that are addicts usually have concurrent personality disorders that create the NEED or DESIRE for addiction. They are more predisposed to addiction because of their psychological makeup. As for the kiddies...that is more about conditioning than anything else. Kids' brains are HIGHLY impressionable up and through their early 20's. So, if you allow them to create their own irrational paths...well you will get addictive behaviors. However, if you place LIMITS and RULES on them...well...they will be conditioned to more closely follow said rules.
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Feral Gamer - 52 days 9 hours ago
16 -
I think the FUD in fudzilla explains that site well enough. I don't bother to read their crap.
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devilmaycry2020 - 52 days 7 hours ago
17 - This reminds me....
I need aspirin.
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djfullshred - 52 days ago
18 -
Funny debate on the virtues of addiction.

But you all should know that being an addict of anything - pot, games, food, alcohol, chocolate, whatever...is all about giving up your control & free will to a vice. At first there is enjoyment. Years go by, and eventually your addiction dominates your life and controls you. The enjoyment is gone, but the obsession remains. And you don't even know why anymore why you feel you can't live without something that overall now makes you unhappy.

I am not preaching that anyone should change their lifestyle. Just beware of the path you could be going down.
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