09-21-2006, 05:46 AM
/. ran a story a while back. Some center in the Netherlands popped up for 'video game addiction'. I think that's crap.
http://www.edge-online.co.uk/archives/20..._hab_1.php
The psychologists there plan on getting them accustomed to high-adrenaline sports rather than video games. So, in essence, they're replacing one addiction with another one.
FTA:
In order to replace the fantasy excitement with real excitement, we provide various activities for the gaming clients, some of which are high adrenaline and provide the thrill of real life situations. Our coaches work with the clients to find new activities with which the client can fill the lost "time warp" hours.
When I read this, I thought to myself, "Okay, they don't like what these people are doing in their spare time, so they're trying to get them to do something else that they prefer."
I mean, let's face it; when people have free time, they choose what to do with it. Some people do drugs, some people gamble, some people "engage in romance", others play games, read books.
Let's replace games with books for a moment. Some people love to read books; they do it for several hours every day. Most people would in modern society would be highly offended if you tried to suggest that this voracious reader has a compulsive, addictive habit. If they stopped, they'd probably be dying to get back to their reading. That's "withdrawal" I guess. The time they read could be better spent...uh..I don't know.. playing sports or something. Oh yeah, that's SO much healthier. I've seen what sports have done to some people, and we're talking way beyond Counterstrike.
And for damaging relationships... a lot of the games mentioned are highly social--moreso than books. Say someone reads a lot? God forbid they spend most of their free time enjoying themselves in a way that doesn't involve other people. Some people like that--get over it.
http://www.edge-online.co.uk/archives/20..._hab_1.php
The psychologists there plan on getting them accustomed to high-adrenaline sports rather than video games. So, in essence, they're replacing one addiction with another one.
FTA:
In order to replace the fantasy excitement with real excitement, we provide various activities for the gaming clients, some of which are high adrenaline and provide the thrill of real life situations. Our coaches work with the clients to find new activities with which the client can fill the lost "time warp" hours.
When I read this, I thought to myself, "Okay, they don't like what these people are doing in their spare time, so they're trying to get them to do something else that they prefer."
I mean, let's face it; when people have free time, they choose what to do with it. Some people do drugs, some people gamble, some people "engage in romance", others play games, read books.
Let's replace games with books for a moment. Some people love to read books; they do it for several hours every day. Most people would in modern society would be highly offended if you tried to suggest that this voracious reader has a compulsive, addictive habit. If they stopped, they'd probably be dying to get back to their reading. That's "withdrawal" I guess. The time they read could be better spent...uh..I don't know.. playing sports or something. Oh yeah, that's SO much healthier. I've seen what sports have done to some people, and we're talking way beyond Counterstrike.
And for damaging relationships... a lot of the games mentioned are highly social--moreso than books. Say someone reads a lot? God forbid they spend most of their free time enjoying themselves in a way that doesn't involve other people. Some people like that--get over it.