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Majority of Compulsive Gamers Not Addicted to Games: Game De-Addiction Expert

Posted 12/01/08 at 04:06:13 PM  by Pulkit Chandna

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the poster boy of social isolation in video games

The exact nature of the impact that video games have on humans is a contentious issue among researchers and any possibility of a consensus seems inconceivable. It is almost like an incessant war between the myriad of video game researchers across the globe with contradictory video game studies being continuously exchanged by them instead of lead.

The founder of the Smith & Jones Centre in Amsterdam - Europe’s very first and sole video game de-addiction clinic - Keith Bakker has downplayed video game addiction, which he believes is immensely exaggerated. Only 10% of all compulsive gamers, according to Bakker, are actually addicted to video games, while the rest are riveted to video games as a direct result of social problems confronting them.

His postulate is remarkable in the sense that it views social isolation to be a cause of compulsive gaming in most cases rather than an effect, as is commonly perceived.

“If I continue to call gaming an addiction it takes away the element of choice these people have,” says Bakker. “It's a complete shift in my thinking and also a shift in the thinking of my clinic and the way it treats these people. In most cases of compulsive gaming, it is not addiction and in that case, the solution lies elsewhere."

Mr. Bakker’s views must have come as a huge disappointment to Hollywood stars, who have been planning to use video game addiction as a pretext for future rehab visits after having expended all other plausible excuses.

Image Credit: Dofus

COMMENTS:4
TAGS: video games, violence, addiction, rehab, de-addiction, treatment, keith bakker
COMMENTS
avataraddiction

Submitted by diaboliq on Mon, 09/14/2009 - 9:54pm

I have been addicted to a online RPG for two years and it almost made me drop out of school and i managed to quit with some Addiction Treatment i found online

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avatartold them

Submitted by AttilaTheHunk on Mon, 12/01/2008 - 6:08pm

This is what I keep telling to my colleagues. I'm not addicted to video games it just happens that gaming is a much more convenient stress reliever to me.

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avatarIt's a symptom of a larger

Submitted by tehR0XX0Rz on Mon, 12/01/2008 - 5:27pm

It's a symptom of a larger problem. The million-dollar question is what makes someone susceptible to addiction in the first place? My bet would be clininical depression; and feeding the addiction is a great way to get those serotonin levels up (or would it be endorphin?). But what do I know--I'm an idiot.

Of all the things you could be addicted to, video games are probably the least harmful.

I think I'm somewhat addicted to games, because I sometimes think about them at work and can't wait to go home and play them. But this behavior comes & goes--some times I don't care about games at all.

But I have no doubt whatsoever that you can be addicted to video games the same way you can be addicted to so many other things.

 

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avatarFinally.

Submitted by habuza on Mon, 12/01/2008 - 2:27pm

I've been saying this ever since I started video gaming. ( well over 15 years ago ( I'm 24 ) )

refreshing to see a counter-argument to the "Video games cause xxxx social problems." By that logic, I can say spoons caused rosie o'donnel to be a fat ass. I can say McDonalds causes fat bodies. Guns kill people ( i'm an avid gun supporter, don't take that the wrong way ) , sex causes babies, babies cause stress, stress causes death so therefor sex causes death. See where I'm going with that?

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