My plan was to make a lighter episode this week, since last week got a bit sincere with age ratings. But then Norwegian broadcasting agency decided to make a report about the connection between video addiction and unemployment.
Problem was that most of the report was from the view of an unemployment consultant, pretty much just pulling out numbers without any real statistics or research to back up his claim. He just saw a connection that people who were unemployed were also playing a lot of video games.
I feel reports like this only helps to further stigmatize people who play video games. Which is pretty much the exact opposite of what I want to do with this channel.
What we got here is a lack of understanding and general fear of a medium. So since this consultant and journalist felt like giving their uneducated opinions, maybe I should give my own uneducated opinion too. But maybe back it with some facts.
Let me point out right away, yes you can get addicted to videogames. Video games is a powerful dopamine inducing medium, And for many people it can control their lives.
What is dopamine?
Well according to Psychology Today
“Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that helps control the brain's reward and pleasure centers. Dopamine also helps regulate movement and emotional responses, and it enables us not only to see rewards, but to take action to move toward them.”
In other words dopamine is a substance that's rel eased in your brain to give you a sense of reward and contempt. When you do any activity that stimulates dopamine to your brain you will feel good and happy.
Strong narcotics like crystal meth or heroin releases an extreme amount of dopamine. And a drug addict will reached heights of happiness that we will never experience. But they will also crash down to the lowest low and the chemicals put in the drugs will make you physically addicted, resulting in physical withdrawal if you stop. Drugs with addictive substances which chemically induces dopamine in your brain, are the type of addictions we are most afraid of. Smoking is probably the mildest version of an addiction like this.
But there are also other dopamine inducing drugs that does not necessarily contain addictive substances like marijuana or alcohol. And still we all know that there a lot of very hard abusers of these substances.
So you're probably wondering why do I not agree that they can be of correlation between video game addiction and unemployment. Well because when you're addicted to a dopamine inducing activity or substance that isn't physically addictive, the addiction itself isn't the disease, it's a symptom of something deeper psychologically or socially with the person in question.
Bruce K. Alexander Is a psychiatrist and a researcher of addictions. And he made the famous Rat Park experiment in the 1970s.
“When I talk to addicted people, whether they are addicted to alcohol, drugs, gambling, Internet-use, sex, or anything else, I encounter human beings who really do not have a viable social or cultural life. They use their addictions as a way of coping with their dislocation: as an escape, a pain killer, or a kind of substitute for a full life.”
In other words a lot of people addicted to dopamine inducing activities are self medicating their own psychological or social problems. You can ask an alcoholic to stop drinking, but if you don't find the reason why he or she started drinking in the first place, the person will always fall back.
Note that i said dopamine inducing activities, and not playing video games. Because there alot of dopamine inducing activities. Do you know what else is dopamine inducing.
medicalnewstoday writes
“Addictions do not only include physical things we consume, such as drugs or alcohol, but may include virtually anything, such abstract things as gambling to seemingly harmless products, such as chocolate - in other words, addiction may refer to a substance dependence (e.g. drug addiction) or behavioral addiction (e.g. gambling addiction)”
All activities where your performing well, or winning, your brain will reward you with a shower of dopamin. It's your brain patting you on the back and saying good job buddy. Rewarding you for accomplishing something.
Same happens during an adrenaline kick. after the dangers over your brain will reward you for surviving by dowsing you with Dopamine. That's why a lot of people are addicted to extreme sports, risking their lives every day for a kick.
In games the entire point is to win and accomplish something, therefor it's a very dopamine inducing medium. This counts just as much for Candy Crush players, as it does for Destiny or Call of Duty… But if you are doing activities like this not to cover over some lingering psychological problems or social problems. I would insist the these activities it's really good for you, making your days a lot brighter.
So let's get back to this report on unemployment and video games. The report suggests that people are unemployed because they play too much video games, and I really don't think that's the case. Could it be that they’re playing a lot of games because they're unemployed, and not the other way around.
If you motivate them to get a job and fill their life with something meaningful, they will automatically start playing less games. that doesn't mean that game is a negative part of their lives.
If someone is playing a lot of video games and socially closing themselves off from society. There is probably a social or psychological problem under there that needs to be dealt with first, before you take away their controller. In the case of this article most of these people got the same problem; their unemployed. And if that's not the case they might be depressed, have anxiety, be fed up with school, be in grief or one of the hundreds of other sosial problems we kan have.
So if someone close to you sits inside all day playing video games, might I suggest sitting down with them and ask them how they're doing. It might be that they're not coping so well with some other issue.
To be honest with you I would rather people self medicate with video games then illegal drugs. Because that's a viable option.
But with that is said there are a few games that are designed to reward you regularly, and in some cases these are more addictive than other games. I'm looking at you all the World of Warcraft and other MMO games. But even in these cases I still think it's more a symptom then a disease.
So again, yes you can get addicted to videogames just like you can get addicted to any dopamine inducing activity like extremesports, alcohol, shopping or sex. But what's important is to remember i that not all people who shop are shopaholics. And most people who play video games aren't addicted to playing video games, but we do enjoy it.
Luckily the entire report was sooner debunked by a radio interview which I think nobody heard. Where a real specialists on game addiction gave his thoughts and opinion on the matter, and pretty much just debunked the entire situation, accusing them of pulling facts about their ass (Not in those words of course). When the radio hosts ask the specialists, what parents can do if they thought the child have a game addiction, his response was very good.
“Parents should educate themselves on video games and figure out how it benefits their kids, and why are their spending so much time playing them.”
So pretty much what I said last episode.
If you got close once with a video game addiction, it's absolutely a real problem that has to be treated. But I might also encourage you to look past addiction because there might be something a lot deeper psychologically or socially that you can't help that individuals with more than his video game addiction.
An when you meet someone like me who plays a lot of video games, don't automatically conclude that we got a problem. We just like video games.
I’ll link to a great video here about addiction:
In other words a lot of people addicted to dopamine inducing activities are self medicating their own psychological or social problems. You can ask an alcoholic to stop drinking, but if you don't find the reason why he or she started drinking in the first place, the person will always fall back.
Note that i said dopamine inducing activities, and not playing video games. Because there alot of dopamine inducing activities. Do you know what else is dopamine inducing.
- Social media
- sex
- Pornography
- Gambling
- Training
- Shopping
- Sports
- extreme sports
- Just generally performing well at work
- When you made a great deal
- Giving birth is very dopamine infusing
- Even even eating will release dopamine in your brain especially if what you reading contains sugar
medicalnewstoday writes
“Addictions do not only include physical things we consume, such as drugs or alcohol, but may include virtually anything, such abstract things as gambling to seemingly harmless products, such as chocolate - in other words, addiction may refer to a substance dependence (e.g. drug addiction) or behavioral addiction (e.g. gambling addiction)”
All activities where your performing well, or winning, your brain will reward you with a shower of dopamin. It's your brain patting you on the back and saying good job buddy. Rewarding you for accomplishing something.
Same happens during an adrenaline kick. after the dangers over your brain will reward you for surviving by dowsing you with Dopamine. That's why a lot of people are addicted to extreme sports, risking their lives every day for a kick.
In games the entire point is to win and accomplish something, therefor it's a very dopamine inducing medium. This counts just as much for Candy Crush players, as it does for Destiny or Call of Duty… But if you are doing activities like this not to cover over some lingering psychological problems or social problems. I would insist the these activities it's really good for you, making your days a lot brighter.
So let's get back to this report on unemployment and video games. The report suggests that people are unemployed because they play too much video games, and I really don't think that's the case. Could it be that they’re playing a lot of games because they're unemployed, and not the other way around.
If you motivate them to get a job and fill their life with something meaningful, they will automatically start playing less games. that doesn't mean that game is a negative part of their lives.
If someone is playing a lot of video games and socially closing themselves off from society. There is probably a social or psychological problem under there that needs to be dealt with first, before you take away their controller. In the case of this article most of these people got the same problem; their unemployed. And if that's not the case they might be depressed, have anxiety, be fed up with school, be in grief or one of the hundreds of other sosial problems we kan have.
So if someone close to you sits inside all day playing video games, might I suggest sitting down with them and ask them how they're doing. It might be that they're not coping so well with some other issue.
To be honest with you I would rather people self medicate with video games then illegal drugs. Because that's a viable option.
But with that is said there are a few games that are designed to reward you regularly, and in some cases these are more addictive than other games. I'm looking at you all the World of Warcraft and other MMO games. But even in these cases I still think it's more a symptom then a disease.
So again, yes you can get addicted to videogames just like you can get addicted to any dopamine inducing activity like extremesports, alcohol, shopping or sex. But what's important is to remember i that not all people who shop are shopaholics. And most people who play video games aren't addicted to playing video games, but we do enjoy it.
Luckily the entire report was sooner debunked by a radio interview which I think nobody heard. Where a real specialists on game addiction gave his thoughts and opinion on the matter, and pretty much just debunked the entire situation, accusing them of pulling facts about their ass (Not in those words of course). When the radio hosts ask the specialists, what parents can do if they thought the child have a game addiction, his response was very good.
“Parents should educate themselves on video games and figure out how it benefits their kids, and why are their spending so much time playing them.”
So pretty much what I said last episode.
If you got close once with a video game addiction, it's absolutely a real problem that has to be treated. But I might also encourage you to look past addiction because there might be something a lot deeper psychologically or socially that you can't help that individuals with more than his video game addiction.
An when you meet someone like me who plays a lot of video games, don't automatically conclude that we got a problem. We just like video games.
I’ll link to a great video here about addiction:
I recommend you'll take a look at that It.
I guess I'll talk to you later.
I guess I'll talk to you later.
No comments:
Post a Comment