I have been doing some research on the future of the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders). This is the "bible" of psychiatric diagnoses. Psychiatrists use it to describe, categorize, and code pshychiatric disorders. Insurance companies rely on it when determining what is a legitimate psychiatric diagnosis for determination of coverage of treatments.
As many of you know, one of the most frequent arguments used by those who discount the existence of gaming addiction or pathalogic gaming is that it does not appear in the DSM-IV. The biggest reason for its absence is that the DSM-IV was based on research that was available up to the year 1992. Research on gaming in general was in its infancy then, the internet was not widely used, and MMORPG's did not exist. Therefore, it's completely understandable that pathalogic gaming does not appear in the DSM-IV, but this needs to be corrected in the DSM-V.
Preparation for publication of the DSM-V has begun, with a target publication date of 2011. Working groups for the various categories of disorders (pathalogic gaming would most likely be categorized as an impulse control disorder, as is pathalogic gambling) are being formed THIS YEAR. You can go to www.dsm5.org and register for an e-mail newsletter which will keep you updated on the process (it's free). Once you've registered, you can also SUGGEST additions to the manual.
There has been some discussion recently on accepting input from affected persons and their families to the DSM-V. Here is some info on that, and note that this guy has an e-mail address, so consider sending him an e-mail on the subject too. http://psychservices.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/55/2/133 (scroll down for full article or download full-text pdf)
This is something concrete that you can do to further the cause of progress in this area. You can register and suggest even if you are not a professional (there's an "other" category when you register), but if you know or have contact with any psychiatric professionals that work in this area, send them an e-mail with the link to www.dsm5.org and ask them to weigh in NOW. The more input we get from folks in the psychiatric fields, the more weight this campaign will carry.
"Small service is true service while it lasts. Of humblest friends, bright creature! scorn not one
The daisy, by the shadow that it casts,
Protects the lingering dewdrop from the sun." -------William Wordsworth
OK, I got an e-mail back from Dr. Sadler (john.sadler@utsouthwestern.edu) today, and I am pasting an exerpt from it below: "Recently I had an academic colleague/friend bend my ear about her and
her husband's experience with the DSM.A They have an adult son with
Asperger disorder which, as you may know, was not classified in the DSM
until IV. Their beef about this was the conservative approach to new
diagnoses in the DSM made it difficult for families with "new" disorders
to get mental health care (reimbursed), much like you describe - until -
happily - the diagnosis was "admitted". The American Journal of Psychiatry is featuring an editorial series on
the DSM-V which are limited to 500 words.A The idea is to bring forth
ideas for DSM-V.A I don't think advocating for this or that particular
disorder will fit their intent, but an article discussing the
implications of a new condition not being in the DSM would be a novel
contribution to the literature, and one only "families" have credibility
about." So, my question to the board is this:A Have ANY of you had difficulty getting treatment of any kind for a gaming addict due to the fact that it is not a recognized mental health diagnosis?A If so, I need your story for this editorial series in the AJP.A Again, this is your chance to help legitimize this problem.
"Small service is true service while it lasts. Of humblest friends, bright creature! scorn not one
The daisy, by the shadow that it casts,
Protects the lingering dewdrop from the sun." -------William Wordsworth
To approach this from a different angle, what about eating and gambling disorders? Are those recognized as "disorders?" It's actually pretty disgusting to me that one of the criteria for disorder winning a spot in the DSM is based upon whether or not treatment for it is reimbursable, which essentially seems to be the csae. I've talked to therapists who claim that many disorders are simply made up in order to sell medicines for their treatment. Social Anxiety Disorder seems to ring a bell as one of the "disorders" mentioned. From a layman's perspective, the problem I see with the recognition of gaming addiction being accepted as a condition is because of the countless comorbidities which seem to exist in different combinations in gamers. For example, if a gamer is diagnosed as depressed and bi-polar, then that would preclude a diagnosis of online gaming addiction, would it not? Irregardless of whether or not we can get something tangible for the DSM, I would still like to see us develop a differential for helping to diagnose common problems associated with excessive and compulsive online gaming. I know when I went for therapy, I discussed the gaming briefly with my therapist, but he and the psychiatrist I was seeing chose to medicate to treat my ADD and mild depression. I think if I alluded to gaming itself as the problem, they would have had no idea what to do next. Ron
Co-Founder of OLGA and member since 2002
Eating disorders and gambling are recognized as disorders. I do have to agree that it is unfortunate that the problems have to be named as such in order to "get coverage". That's how this health system (U.S.) works. Sometimes work has to be done to declassify (as was done with homosexuality). I am receiving therapy for my child for depression. Others here have noted that many gamers seem to get depressed or be depressed. Which comes first, I haven't a clue.
Gamersmom, if you are looking for the diagnoses of a gaming addiction, look at amphetamine dependancy and amphetamine abuse(i believe those are the right diagnoses). I have been in residential treatment for 9 months now due to an extreme gaming addiction and I have been working with my therapist to learn more about it. Paradoxically, the dependancy of amphetamine has these withdrawal symptoms:
All of the bold symptoms are symptoms that I experienced in withdrawal from World of Warcraft. If you would like to share this with the people of the DSM-4 feel free. PM me if you need more information. I will be happy to help, but I am only online till thursday.
I don't see video games as being a true form of addiction. You don't stop drinking by drinking more, but you may stop playing a video game by playing it more. At some point, it loses its appeal. It becomes less challenging or new games appear or other activities take their place. A recent study in Australia found that in the vast majority of cases these obsessions with games last a period of weeks or months. There is nothing like real addiction going on here, so we have to be careful when we read both the scientific research as well as popular reports about that research. I'm not trivializing the issue, but it's not going to help anyone to mis-diagnose the problem.
Lasivian, be careful of making blanket type statements. One thing that I have found is that people come in all shapes, sizes and types and that it is difficult to make any type of statement that applies to everybody. For example, there is your contention that you can stop playing a video game by playing it more. First, I am not sure what your basis for that statement is, although I assume that it applies to you or somebody who you know. Second, I know that it does not apply to everybody. For example, with myself, the video game that I have found to be the most addictive is the 3-D Pinball game that comes with Microsoft Windows. I have played it, on and off, for over a decade, starting soon after it was first released. In that time, there has been no noticeable change in the game, including even the removal of several annoying bugs in the program that I have noticed. Nonetheless, I have not found that my addiction to it has not decreased at all by playing it more; instead, it has increased. Perhaps I am very unusual in that respect (I will admit that there are some aspects about me that are not very common, but I don't have a problem with it since I believe that everybody is unique in some ways), but I believe that there are other people out there that are similar to me in that way. Also, note that I have read the stories from a number of other people on this site. For some of them, they have been playing the same game, for many hours per day on average, for at least several years, in some cases quite a few years. In some cases, they cannot really play it any more during the day since the few hours that they are not playing it are required for important details like sleep, eating and going to the washroom. For them, at least, it also seems that your statement also does not apply.
I have a strong interest, and some knowledge, of nutritional research. For a few years, over a decade ago, I was a distributor for the MLM company Cell Tech (now called Simplexity) who make nutritional supplements from a special type of algae. During that time, I learned a lot about nutrition and its effect on health. Since then, I still keep my eyes open about anything health related that I read in the popular media. One thing that I have noticed is how often scientific studies seem to contradict each other regarding certain controversial health issues, such as taking vitamin supplements, the effect that eating cholesterol has on your cholesterol levels, etc. As such, one study does not really prove anything. Nonetheless, this study that you mention does sound very interesting. Before I can form any kind of opinion about it, however, there are many things that I need to know about it. For example, who did it, who paid for it (e.g., if it was by video game manufacturers, you have to be extra careful that the results are not biased), how many participants were there and how were they selected, what criteria were being examined, etc. If you have a link to the study details, or even a detailed summary, that would be much appreciated. In your next sentence, you have taken the results of this one study that you mention, plus your own opinion, and somehow seem to use that to discount the results of "both the scientific research as well as popular reports about that research". Well, I, for one, am not willing to do that just yet, certainly not based on a study that I don't know anything about yet. As for whether or not it is "real addiction", that depends to some extent on exactly which definition you use. Also, to a certain extent, I don't really care whether it is called addiction or if it is just called compulsive/excessive since the end results and how to treat it are more important (aside, I used Google to check on the term "gameoholic" as a possible term to use instead but found that it was used with pride by dedicated gamers and there is even a joke "infomercial" regarding it). I believe that we are both in agreement that it can be a significant problem for some people. Since the effects of it are similar to that of drug and alcohol addictions, it stands to reason that similar treatment options will be effective. Although I personally have not tried the 12-steps that this site espouses, it seems to have helped quite a few people. Nonetheless, therapy has been helping me, as it has helped other people with video game, alcohol, drug and other related problems. Regardless of the exact terminology that is used, I think that this problem should be listed in the DSM-V since, for some people, medical treatment is required and this will help them get the help that they need. That, to me, is also important even though I don't think that it will affect me directly. Lasivian, although I don't agree with you in this regard and your views tend to be controversial on this site, I do appreciate your presence and your information since you have presented it without being offensive or putting people down. We should all try to not be too set in our ways. I try to keep an open mind so I will consider changing it if I am given enough appropriate information to justify it. That is why I, for one, would be really interested in reading the details of that Australian study that you mention, plus any other appropriate information that you may have.
- John O.
[em]Carpe Diem![/em] (Seize the Day!)
I have to disagree with you this basic philosophy. There are people in this world who don't drink all the time, but when they do they drink excessively/dangerously. Just because they are able to stop for a while doesn't mean they don't have a problem. They still abuse the alcohol when they drink and this IS a problem. It is called binge drinking and is just as serious as the alcoholic who drinks from day to day. You say the game gets boring and people move on. I would get 'bored' with WOW, and would quit for a while, but always ended up going back. And during the times that I wasn't playing WOW, there was always some other multi-player game to keep me busy. I don't think I ever truly stopped playing games. And even for the short time I did actually stop, it was always on my mind what game I was going to play next. This went on for many months....and months.....and months... Those months totaled NINE years. So although you may doubt that games are truly addictive, I don't see how you can say something that has done the damage shown on these pages and takes years of peoples lives isn't addictive. I think some people think that if something isn't physically addictive, that it isn't an addiction. Not all alcoholics are physically addicted to the substance, but are psychologically addicted. Their bodies do not NEED it, but they feel that they do. Does it make the problem any less of a problem? Not really. Just my scattered opinions on early in the morning.
Would you please give us a citation for the Australian study lasivian?
"Small service is true service while it lasts. Of humblest friends, bright creature! scorn not one
The daisy, by the shadow that it casts,
Protects the lingering dewdrop from the sun." -------William Wordsworth
http://www.ieaa.com.au/factsAndResearch/gamePlayAustralia.do
Yes, that would be a problem, but it would not be an addiction in the medical sense of the word.
Drug addicts don't just quit drugs for awhile and end up going back.
I'm making a distinction between "damaging" and "addicting". A video game does not have the same chemical grip on a human being that alcohol, morphine, crack or heroin do. That chemical grip is what true addiction is about. If anything I advocate adding a new distinction to classify "Addictions of choice" rather than "Addictions of chemical". Just because the people in this forum think something is an addiction does not truly make it one in the eyes of the current scientific community. The DSM 1 listed Homosexuality as a "fixable mental condition", it has long since been removed, but it remains a black eye that i'm sure reminds the compilers of the DSM 5 to tread cautiously.
"Addiction of choice" seems to indicate that I CHOSE to become addicted.A I did not choose to become addicted.A Yes, I made the choice to start playing games totally unaware that I could become attached to them.A I am well aware of the problems caused by addiction because my mom is a recovering (overA 30 years sober) alcoholic.A I have reason to believe that my sister has also followed that path, but do not know her well enough anymore to be able to say for sure.A All my life I made a great effort to avoid becoming addicted to drugs and alcohol.A I have never tried any street drugs (not even marijuana) and other than a short sting of partying in college, I try not to drink too much.A If I had known I could become addicted (by my understanding of the word) to computer games, I would have made an effort to avoid them as well. I think we are debating the semantics of the term addiction.A Dictionary.com defines addiction as "the state of being enslaved to a habit or practice or to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming, as narcotics, to such an extent that its cessation causes severe trauma. "A Trauma has several definitions, but this the one that best fits this situation; "an experience that produces psychological injury or pain"A and "the psychological injury so caused."A I think gaming addiction fits into these definitions well.A Gaming is habit forming.A How many gamers say they rearrange thier entire lives just to be able to play. If that isn't a habit, than I guess I have no idea what a habit is.A Quitting is also traumatic.A I literally grieved the loss of my online games to the point where I was depressed and extremely tired.A I slept 12 to 14 hours a day for the first couple of weeks. I guess it all comes down to what people perceive addiction is.A By my understanding, gaming falls into that category quite nicely. I do have to take a step back, though, and admit that my perception may be a bit prejudiced because I am the one having to deal with the repercussions of my gaming.
I have read this entire report.A However, this study was done on gamers in general, getting various statistical information about them.A Although this report was done by a university, it was paid for by the IEAA (Interactive Entertainment Association of Australia).A Even if the university tried to be completely unbiased, which by the way I am not questioning, I doubt that the IEAA would pay for any study that had, within its scope, a mandate to look at all aspects of gaming, including its problems.A As such, this was very likely never looked at and definitely was not reported.A I don't mean to put down the Bond University, but that makes its report less comprehensive and objective, IMHO. Also, the report does not mention anything in the 13 page report about what Lasivian said earlier, i.e.,
Lasivian, please point out which page from this report you got that information.A If you cannot, then please determine and tell us where you did get that information.A Thank you.
- John O.
[em]Carpe Diem![/em] (Seize the Day!)
I agree. I see nothing in this report to indicate that any questions were asked about excessive use of video games. I also see nothing about obsessions lasting a matter of months and then ending. I suspect that there were other questions asked in this survey and that the IEAA did not want to publish the answers to them, or that the IEAA did not even want to ask the questions in the first place. The university involved simply carried out the mechanics of asking the questions for the IEAA.
"Small service is true service while it lasts. Of humblest friends, bright creature! scorn not one
The daisy, by the shadow that it casts,
Protects the lingering dewdrop from the sun." -------William Wordsworth
I got it from the medical publications of this report in Psychology Today. The PDF version contains only a tiny amount of the information from the full study. I'll see if I can dig up a scanner to post the data from the magazine. I can't find it online anywhere. Which brings up another issue, the lack of hard data. The best I can find online are studies like this one: http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1635698 which only touches on the issue, or articles like this one: http://www.cavalierdaily.com/CVArticle.asp?ID=18056&pid=1090 I would say if anything you might want to directly address the lack of scholarly interest before trying to change the DSM.
I have several references. I can't post links because they are not all available online, and most of them were only available through my subscription to my university full-text-online service. I am working on learning to use Refworks and will be able to post the citations easily. There isn't a whole lot of study on this because it hasn't been taken seriously until recently, and because it takes time to get research funding, formulate a study, carry it out, and publish the results. I predict we will be seeing MUCH more research in the next couple of years.
"Small service is true service while it lasts. Of humblest friends, bright creature! scorn not one
The daisy, by the shadow that it casts,
Protects the lingering dewdrop from the sun." -------William Wordsworth
Well, it looks like the cause is getting some support. Bruce posted this link in another thread, but i want to post one piece of it here because I was SO excited to see it. "6. That our AMA strongly encourage the consideration and inclusion of aEUoeInternet/video game addictionaEU as a formal diagnostic disorder in the upcoming revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV. (Directive to Take Action)" Here is the link to the full report, for anyone who is interested, and THANK-YOU for posting it Bruce. You made my day. http://www.ama-assn.org/ama1/pub/upload/mm/467/csaph12a07.doc
"Small service is true service while it lasts. Of humblest friends, bright creature! scorn not one
The daisy, by the shadow that it casts,
Protects the lingering dewdrop from the sun." -------William Wordsworth
I can't take all the credit. Lasivian's poll put me on the right search engine using the right words to see the link. Still, its hard to argue with the American Medical Association, it's being careful with its terminology but its intention is crystal-clear. Generally speaking, when the AMA speaks, everybody from the Surgeon General down listens. It doesn't mean we shouldn't help, though, we have our own parts to play, right?
Leveling in Real Life
Gosh, thanks Lasivian. ;D
"Small service is true service while it lasts. Of humblest friends, bright creature! scorn not one
The daisy, by the shadow that it casts,
Protects the lingering dewdrop from the sun." -------William Wordsworth
I was ambivalent about classifying video gaming as an addiction at first. Being an avid gamer myself, I don't want my hobby to be stigmatized. However, I do believe that there's something inherent about gaming that's different from other hobbies (such as baseball, golf, stamp collecting, etc). I have never heard of anyone who lost their job because they're so obsessed about collecting stamps, for example. So I am glad that it's being recognized as a new medical condition. The AMA will take the APA's lead, as evident from today's news report.
Since we started OLGA 5 years ago, we've been pelted with the argument that someone could get addicted to book reading just as easily as online gaming; or golf, or watching TV or whatever. But gaming is different. It is immersive, it's adaptive, it's controllable, it's interactive. It's everything that our mind needs to create whatever 'reality' we want or need. Almost all other things are one or two of those but not all. Online gaming addicts over time, supplant their real life with their game life. The in-game experiences begin to elicit the same feeling and emotions of real life and the brain doesn't know any different. The body does though and years of sedentary living and unhealthy eating takes its toll. When the body breaks down, the mind goes with it. The best medical advice I've ever heard... "Everything in moderation." Scary stuff. Ron
Co-Founder of OLGA and member since 2002
Hello Anna, I could not find anyone to treat my son for his gaming, when he was addicted. I would like to be an active part in this process. How can I do that? Liz
Liz Woolley
Read my first response to my original post in this thread and send an e-mail describing what you went through to Dr Sadler, Whose e-mail address is in the first response.
"Small service is true service while it lasts. Of humblest friends, bright creature! scorn not one
The daisy, by the shadow that it casts,
Protects the lingering dewdrop from the sun." -------William Wordsworth
The truth is that games do have the same chemical grip accept this beast is just a different drug called dopamine. Dopamine is part of the brains reward system. These types of games trigger this brain reward system over and over again. So when you stop playing you experince very real withdrawl of dopamine levels. This is why most people get treated for depression after they have stopped gaming. In severe cases, the dopamine system has been so overworked in the brain that it partly or all together breaks and now the person will have depression for the rest of their lives. Here is the link on the whole explaination of dopamine: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dopamine
Actually I don't know where you're getting your information from, but there are a good number of addictions that are considered to be "psycholgically" addictive rather than physically addictive. Majriuna dependence is considered one of them; it is consisidered psychologically addictive and not phsyically. Also, pathological gambling is an addiction that is in the DSM and the addict doesn't even take in any substance; the "chemicals" are all created in the brain if you will. Yet it has ruined many lives. (I have met at least one victim of patholocial gambling- no money, no life, etc because of the gambling. yet he couldn't seem to stop.) I took psychology courses in undergrad, and it's actually a common misperception that addictions have to be physical. The fact of the matter is, most physical addictions are also psychological. If they were not psychological, it would be easy (although painful) for the people to quit. And as far as your comment that true addicts would never go back to their drug of choice... I knew a guy that got clean of heroin for several months... he was no longer physically addicted to it,; he had gone through the agony of it all... (something he described as..something he wouldn't wish on his worst enemy)... and things seemed to be looking up. But, something bad happened (I'm not sure what, something to do with hir girlfriend or ex-girlfriend I think) he immeditaly went back into heroin use, started stealing from people he cared deeply about, and repeated the whole cycle again. Yet, his body had gotten over the physical addiction! So why would he go back to it if it wasn't psychological as well? But anyway, it really is true, I've heard it many times: it's a common misconception that drugs have to be physically addicting to be addictive. And just because they are psychologically addictive doesn't mean that the person is doing it be choice. Try to remember, nobody wants to intentionally suffer (unless they feel that what they gain is worth what they suffer, in some unconcious way) Nobody chooses just to suffer just because they like it.
:)
Nice read, how is the progress? any new research you have come accross?
Be Good to yourself! Rule #62: "Don't take yourself too **** seriously! " 12x12 Book And dont forget to donate... Donate
RE: The OP
and
"For pathological gambling, treatment usually involves an adaptation of the model set forth by Alcoholics Anonymous." - http://www.healthatoz.com/healthatoz/Atoz/common/standard/transform.jsp?requestURI=/healthatoz/Atoz/ency/impulse_control_disorders.jsp "...the facts about present-day A.A. are these in their studies: (a) A definite 75% fail to maintain sobriety. (b) Probably no more than one to five percent maintain permanent sobriety. (c) As often as not, those who aligned with AA have a lower success rate than those who got sober without AA." - http://www.dickb-blog.com/aahistorysources3.html So the solution is to use a strategy that doesn't work?
The solution is the process of recovery within the principles behind the 12 steps, and whether or not a person can surrender to them!
"There is little difference in people, but that little difference makes a big difference. The little difference is attitude. The big difference is whether it is positive or negative." --W. Clement Stone
Spackle...Read his 10th bullet...not sure where he gets the stats though in the previous ones... and One has to define soberity...to me its a consious commitment, not one "attending" meetings...many attend for many reasons, but far from Soberity. I celebrated 25 yrs this feb, here are my observations (since I stay close to many i have gotton sober with)...about 10% are dead as a direct result of addicitve disease, about 60% are still clean and have not picked up and we reamain in contact, about 20% relapse yearly and do come in and out but are always in a worse situation (job loss, injury, homeless, etc) and about 20 % are are unheard from. I would say it consists of 150 friends i have stay close with eaither with supporting or they supporting me. Sticks with the winners, it works if you work it.
Be Good to yourself! Rule #62: "Don't take yourself too **** seriously! " 12x12 Book And dont forget to donate... Donate
I have an idea that might get something about gaming addictions into the DSM-V.
A lot of counter-arguments against our cause, that state why Internet Addiction Disorder or Video Game Addiction shouldn't be in the DSM is because they are not "real addictions", or the symptoms aren't exactly the same as those of a specific addiction or disorder. While this may be true, it is a bit too extreme to be a "soft addiction" and it is definitely a growing problem in society. Then their counter-argument becomes "it's defined under existing labels, so it's all covered." The faulty logic here is that it's still a growing problem, whether it's technically "covered" in the DSM or not.
The problem with it not being listed in the DSM-V is that most relations between known disorders, symptoms, and gaming addictions are relatively unclear. Explaining it to a medical insurance agent to claim benefits or to a lawyer or judge in a court case is difficult, because they don't understand the situations nearly as well as people who play the games. Results in serious matters like these can sometimes be futile if the authorities or evaluators feel that addicted gamers are just speaking Japanese or Elvish to them when describing their situations.
This brings me to my proposed solution: Instead of pushing to have "pathological video game overuse" or something like that listed in the DSM-V as a separate disorder, which would imply that game addiction is simply a disorder on its own (and would probably still be questioned by professional psychiatrists,) we should push to have more information in the DSM-V about gaming addictions on these "existing labels" that they are already "covered" under. If symptoms and diagnoses can be more easily linked to a potentially treatable disorder, the gaming addictions would also likely be more treatable. Psychological evaluations about people with gaming addictions would be more easily explainable to those who might not understand it, and information on gaming addictions would probably be more accepted by the professionals in this manner, as well.
Examples of this solution idea:
There's one more thing I want to point out, on a slightly different topic but might be good "food for thought." This series of videos ( http://www.youtube.com/watchtheguild ) parodizes online gaming addictions. I've noticed that every gaming addict I've met online has had a similar personality to one of the characters in this series, though not always to the extremes depicted in the episodes. (For example, none of the "mom-gamers" I've met seemed to neglect their young children in hazardous situations, as "Clara" does, and none of the "creepy love-starved stalkers" seem to know every single detail about their love interest's life from past to present, as "Zaboo" does about "Codex".) I would still encourage game addicts to identify which "character" from "The Guild" they feel they are most similar to, or the one they personally understand or empathize with the most.
Whoa, this kind of turned into a forum research paper. Sorry it became so long! Does anyone else think that this suggestion idea might work?
This is an ongoing problem for me - my old man's counselor doesn't see the problem with gaming - or so he says. He has now under their direction (supposedly) just switched games. However, it is nearly us toward a breakup. He also treats me like a college pal, not a romantic partner. I feel he has blunted emotions - except if he's defending the game. Probably depression.
hit the nail on the head. Some addictions are immersive as well such as thrill-seeking or gambeling, but others like food, alcohol, and drugs are not immersive and thus are usually less strong/life destructive as immersive addictions!
Keys to successful life
A) No more video games.. yeah it started with tetris but it ended up with MMORPG's. Video games are a gate-way drug to MMO's and robbing your life from you.
B) DELETE ALL YOUR ACCOUNTS! Don't sell.. why give your poison to someone else? Get rid of it all together, uninstall, give away your gaming rig/ video game consoles.
C) DON'T ASSOCIATE WITH GAMERS! Just like a recovering alcoholic won't associate with alcoholic friends.. a recovering gaming addict CANNOT associate with gamers and expect to be successful! If they really love you they will understand.
Internet Gaming Disorder listed in DSM-V
http://www.dsm5.org/Documents/Internet%20Gaming%20Disorder%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf
In the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), Internet Gaming Disorder is identified in Section III as a condition warranting more clinical research and experience before it might be considered for inclusion in the main book as a formal disorder.
A New Phenomenon
The Internet is now an integral, even inescapable, part of many people's daily lives; they turn to it to send messages, read news, conduct business, and much more. But recent scientific reports have begun to focus on the preoccupation some people develop with certain aspects of the Internet, particularly online games. The "gamers" play compulsively, to the exclusion of other interests, and their persistent and recurrent online activity results in clinically significant impairment or distress. People with this condition endanger their academic or job functioning because of the amount of time they spend playing. They experience symptoms of withdrawal when pulled away from gaming.
Much of this literature stems from evidence from Asian countries and centers on young males. The studies suggest that when these individuals are engrossed in Internet games, certain pathways in their brains are triggered in the same direct and intense way that a drug addict's brain is affected by a particular substance. The gaming prompts a neurological response that influences feelings of pleasure and reward, and the result, in the extreme, is manifested as addictive behavior.
Further research will determine if the same patterns of excessive online gaming are detected using the proposed criteria. At this time, the criteria for this condition are limited to Internet gaming and do not include general use of the Internet, online gambling, or social media.
By listing Internet Gaming Disorder in DSM'5 Section III, APA hopes to encourage research to determine whether the condition should be added to the manual as a disorder.
DSM is the manual used by clinicians and researchers to diagnose and classify mental disorders. The American Psychiatric Association (APA) will publish DSM-5 in 2013, culminating a 14-year revision process. For more information, go to www.DSM5.org.
APA is a national medical specialty society whose more than 36,000 physician members specialize in the diagnosis, treatment, prevention and research of mental illnesses, including substance use disorders. Visit the APA at www.psychiatry.org and www.healthyminds.org.
Andrew P. Doan, MPH, MD, PhD
My Gaming Addiction Videos on YouTube: YouTube.com/@DrAndrewDoan
*The views expressed are of the author's and do not necessarily reflect the official policy of the U.S. Navy, DHA or Department of Defense.