Gaming Not an Illness

[Kalah]

Here's a small something for you on a slow news day ...



You've probably all heard about kids who play "too much" computer games, and how this affects their lives in a profoundly negative way. God knows I have. Truth be told, the slightest deviation from anything study and career related <i>may</i> have a detrimental effect on your career, but there are also studies showing that focusing too hard on work can cause people to burn out more quickly. The typical median solution of playing games but focusing on other, more "serious" matters too, seems the most sensible solution ... but are you really suffering from an illness if you spend several hours a day playing games?



A recent <a href="/http://www.medietilsynet.no/no/Nyheter/ ... >Norwegian study</a> effectively reports that the "big gamers" are essentially healthy, and that people who have actual daily life <i>problems</i> from playing games too much, (<i>compulsive</i> gamers) have problems in other areas of their lives already:



<ul><li>The "big gamer" is almost always a boy, and plays online games 4-5 hours every day; ca. 10% of boys aged 12-17 are found in this group.

<li>The "problem gamer" uses computer games in a pathological, destructive or compulsive manner; only ca. 0.9% of youngsters aged 12-17 are found in this group.

<li>Most "big gamers" see gaming as a positive social interaction.

<li>Most "problem gamers" have other illnesses, something called co-sickliness.

</ul>



Conclusion: If you're actually <i>compulsive</i> in your gaming behaviour, it's a sign that you're having other problems you should be treated for. If not ... <i>game on</i>.



How many hours a day do <i>you</i> spend online? How many are spent on gaming? Do you feel like it's too much? Discuss!

If you would like to take a look at the original page visit this link:
https://www.celestialheavens.com/1303676979

[GreatEmerald]

It makes sense, I guess. Personally, I seem to spend more time developing than actually playing games. It's sort of a good alternative, still lets you relax (unless you are debugging... ) and is actually useful, too. And you get to play while you're testing, too.

And generally I play a lot less now because the exams are coming up, thus I have less time. In fact, that allowed me to switch nearly entirely to Linux - the only thing it doesn't offer is games, and my Arcomage Clone is cross-platform.

[junnexgolem]

i spend an average of 4.5 hours in a free day; 2 hours of either badminton or lawn tennis; 1 hour of reading books.(there are days that i spend 8 hours of pc games though, and i don't play online games anymore..) i think i live a pretty healthy and privileged lifestyle.. ^^

[Lord_Haart]

Those are terrible statistics. I haven't read the full report but those look like they were hand-picked and then cleverly worded. And I say this as a believer that games aren't bad for you... but bad science is.



# The "big gamer" is almost always a boy, and plays online games 4-5 hours every day; ca. 10% of boys aged 12-17 are found in this group.



Looking at this the other way is more useful - what proportion of "big gamers" are boys aged 12-17? If older, at what age did their addiction (and I use the term loosely) begin? And far more importantly, what percentage of *gamers* play that much? 10% of children spending 4-5 hours a day on nothing is a pretty serious issue... Sure, they could be doing worse things, but they could be doing plenty of better things too.



# The "problem gamer" uses computer games in a pathological, destructive or compulsive manner; only ca. 0.9% of youngsters aged 12-17 are found in this group.



Again, what proportion of gamers are "problem gamers"?



# Most "big gamers" see gaming as a positive social interaction.



Yes, that's kind of self-evident... people like to think of their habits in a positive light. A better question would be - how do NON-GAMERS rate the social skills of gamers?



# Most "problem gamers" have other illnesses, something called co-sickliness.



Yes, some people have an illness, and gaming is an escape. No problem there. But does the reverse happen? There's plenty of studies showing that sitting at a desk for long hours increases your chance of heart disease by a huge percentage.



-----



I don't see how any of those statistics support the hypothesis, aside from (arguably) the last one. I would categorize games alongside watching movies... you can do it with friends, and you might exercise your brain, but doing it for 4-5 hours a day is probably a waste of what little time we have in our lives. Gaming is great for stress relief, and can be a good educational tool, but at the same time we should be realistic about how much time we spend on it.

[Kalah]

Well, I didn't bother translating it all, but you can run it through goole translate or something and see what happens ... but I did pick out the most relevant numbers. I did that. Me. So, not bad science, but not a very thorough job on my part presenting it. But let's see if I can adress some of your concerns:

10% of children spending 4-5 hours a day on nothing is a pretty serious issue.

Well, I wouldn't say nothing, there could be educational games too ... but yes, kids nowadays have a lot of free time on their hands and some of them choose to spend it in front of a screen. The conclusion of the report, however, is that the kids who choose this are not really having major academic or social problems.

What proportion of gamers are "problem gamers"?

I see your point. This report was about kids/young people. But since the most active age group in gaming in Norway is 12-17, it really amounts to the same thing. From a demographic stand points, I seriously doubt that the number of "problem gamers" would change radically.

Most "big gamers" see gaming as a positive social interaction. A better question would be - how do NON-GAMERS rate the social skills of gamers?

Good point, well made. My bad, again, for not specifying. The point is that non-gamers do have a tendency to see the "big gamers" as people who have problems, and the research behind this report actually proves them wrong. It isn't just the gamers themselves that don't see their gaming as problematic behaviour; the data gives them right. The overall conclusion of the report is that the kids who are playing 4 hours a day are wasting time that could be used for more productive things, yes ... but they don't have really big problems. Now, as for Facebook usage ...

There's plenty of studies showing that sitting at a desk for long hours increases your chance of heart disease by a huge percentage.

Yes, but not among 12-17 year-olds. I wasn't talking about heart deseases, but psychological pathology.

[Ethric]

10% of children spending 4-5 hours a day on nothing is a pretty serious issue... Sure, they could be doing worse things, but they could be doing plenty of better things too.

I agree, stick'em down the mines from school to bedtime to make sure they don't waste their time on frivolous activities.

[MMXAlamar]

I guess there's no problem if they plan to become game developers or programmers when they grow up...but do some of us really have nothing better to do than sit at our computers all day?

[Ethric]

If you do at all day, not working, at school or out trying your best to land a job, you have a problem. If you do it in your spare time because you think it's fun, as your recreational activity of choice, and is otherwise happy with your life, I don't see how it's anyone elses business.

[ThunderTitan]

It's not a disease?! Then why am i taking all these pills for?!

Oh right, to get high, nevermind...