When is addiction serious? (1 Viewer)

[Larry Seno Jr.]

Help! I'm addicted to a video game and it's taking over my life, but not to the point where schoolwork is getting neglected. It's a game which can stay up on my desktop in a window, so I can do my schoolwork while I play. I am constantly playing it whenever I have any free time. Im guessing I play around 12-15 hours a day. Im still getting decent grades though and when it's time to play hockey or hang with my friends I have no problems leaving it behind.

At what point should I be worried? Can you do something TOO much?

 

[Scott Weinberg]

It's Snood, isn't it?
My advice is simply try to ignore every other impulse to play...and limit game times to a few hours at a time.
Your only other option is to continue playing so much that your grades/relationships/financial income/personal hygiene suffer severely...and you don't want that.

 

[Bill Catherall]

It's Snood, isn't it?

Bahaahahaha! My wife was so addicted to that game that she had me uninstall it...she just couldn't get away from it. Then 2 weeks later she was begging me to reinstall it! What is it with that game? I can only play it about 5 times/day then I just get sick of it. Probably because our Top 10 scores are so high we'll never beat them.

 

[Brian Harnish]

At first, I thought that Larry was talking about EverQuest.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

At what point should I be worried? Can you do something TOO much?

The general rule of thumb for any kind of addiction is this: If you find yourself asking, "Am I addicted?", the answer is "Yes".
When I was studying for exams and needed to keep my internet time under control I used to keep a kitchen timer by my desk. (You know, one of those old, spring-powered white things with the dial on the front.) I'd set it for 30 or 60 minutes and when the bell rang I'd finish whatever post I was in the middle of and then turn the computer off and go study. If you try this and find you just keep going after the timer goes off, unintsall that game.
Regards,
Joe

 

[Max Leung]

It can't be serious if you posted at the HTF about it!
Don't worry, you're not that addicted yet. If we never see you again, then we KNOW it is serious!

 

[Tony_Faville]

A friend of mine logged close to 1200 hours of game time on Everquest this last year.

His problem is that he doesn't think he's addicted and will not cut back his game time.

 

[Rob FM]

SNOOD is OK.....If you want Digital Crack, try:
BEJEWELED
Holy cow, I was dreaming about those little gems.
(My high score = 109,000 // Buddy at work got 141,000)
12 hours a day on anything is probably addition whether it be work, sleep, games, sex (ok, maybe not sex...but you get the point).
.02
~Rob

 

[Bill Balcziak]

A friend of mine logged close to 1200 hours of game time on Everquest this last year.

Think what 1200 hours of life is worth to a cancer patient or someone on a transplant list. To waste that precious time playing a video game...

I bet nobody from this generation will lay on their deathbed saying, "God, I wish I had played more Everquest..."

 

[Cam S]

Dam, 12+ hours a day on a game?? shit, I don't even sleep that much! I'd say that it's borderline addiction. I thought 3+ hours of Gran Turismo 3 was alot!
Hahaha, well said Bill B

 

[Morgan Jolley]

Tetris Attack is also extremely addictive. I've played that game for hours at a time, on the same level.

What game is it? It can't be a serious addiction...

I'm also "addicted" to videogames. I have over 60 for just the last few years worth of consoles (pretty much PSX/N64 on). I have more games for the PlayStation than my one friend has for every console in their house.

 

[Tony_Faville]

Think what 1200 hours of life is worth to a cancer patient or someone on a transplant list.

That is 50 solid days of game play Bill. I have told him if he doesn't back off I will be considering intervention.

I am so glad I never had the urge to play the game.

 

[Iain Lambert]

To defend this friend, that '50 solid days' in one year is 3 hours and 17 minutes a day average. Anyone here want to tell the people they know who watch that much telvision or two reasonably short films a day to back off before you intervene?

He may well be addicted to the game. He might just find playing online with people he knows through the game more interesting than watching TV. I trust you know the situation more than I do, but in the context of spending a bit over 3 hours on something that doesn't earn you a wage but you just enjoy references to cancer patients do seem out of place here.

 

[Bill Balcziak]

I was in high school when Dungeons and Dragons became popular. The people I knew who got seriously obsessed with it are still completely f*cked up 20 years later. These were normal kids from decent families, but at a time when they should have been developing social skills they were holed up in somebody's basement for 12 hours a day rolling dice and drawing maps. Now, they're working for minimum wage and can't handle the stress of a conversation. That didn't happen to the kids who just watched too much TV.

Tell me how an obsession with D&D is not largely to blame.

 

[Ted Lee]

Tell me how an obsession with D&D is not largely to blame.

i was into that game pretty hard-core for a while. i even wrote my own program to generate characters for me. my friends and i played that all weekend and mostly every day.
i think i turned out okay...
that's why i'm sitting here, anonymously, behind a computer screen, trying to socialize with a bunch of people i've never even met.

 

[Adil M]

I played D&D. I liked it. I think it stimulated the creative side of your mind. I played sports in HS and had every other academic accomplishment. I have friends. That "generalization" there can just choke on my "individual experience."
PS I quoted those words, b/c generalizations vs. individual experiences seems to be the basis of every arguement I've read on HTF.