Ctrl Alt Defeat: What's The Obsession With "Game Addiction"?

It seems that with every discussion of video games comes the topic of video game addiction. Cue the images of overweight teenage boys with bad posture, huddled over dim computer screens at all hours of the night. But is it time to clutch our collective pearls? After all, addiction to anything is never a good thing, and an addiction to video games seems to be a particularly bad thing, as it has previously been associated with various negative outcomes including reduced sleep (and consequently, increased risk for obesity), declines in school performance, and poorer mental health. 

However, some of the top research experts on video game effects, and media addiction are questioning the way we look at video game play as a potentially addictive activity. In an editorial published in The American Journal of Psychiatry, video game addiction was reframed as being far more moral panic than a true addiction. One of the authors of this editorial, Prof. Dr. Christopher Ferguson, takes these claims one step further in his recent for U.S. News, where he argues that there is not enough evidence to indicate video game addiction is a separate, distinct phenomenon from any other behavioral addiction - such as food, sex, or work addiction. This has been taken one step further by more recent research from the Oxford Internet Institute that not only also further disputes the idea of games as being inherently addicting but also found that gaming does not appear harmful to mental health at all and is actually good for our psychological well-being.

What does this all mean? Do people misuse games? They certainly can. Do people engage in video game play in a way that may be problematic? Absolutely. If someone is playing games to the detriment of their physical or mental health, not meeting obligations, and/or seems to be using them as a space to avoid, rather than a space to engage, then there may be something unhealthy happening. But this does not mean the games themselves are the problem or somehow “addicting”, which is an important distinction to make as we try our best to understand the role that video games play in our lives, and the lives of our children, in the 21st century.

If you do think that you, or someone you care about, is using games in a problematic way, you may want to seek professional help. There are a range of resources available at www.takethis.org/resources to help get you started down that path.