GAMING DISORDER

It is, but defining addictive behavior narrowly delegitimizes addictions (like gaming) when they haven't been formalized and demonizes behavior (like gaming) for when they have.

Crissa Kentavr

It wasn't that long ago when a UK therapist talking head was engaged in self- promotion with a "gaming is like *COCAAAAAAIINNNNNEEEE!" throughline. I very much get why people would reflexively lash out at something like the WHO diagnosis; we need more people like that exploiting the torches-and-pitchforks crowd like we need inter-nasal drain cleaner. I am perfectly willing to believe that there *are* people who have a serious problem with habitual gaming, especially when studios find ways to make monster game-gambling hybrid children, trying to tweak as many endorphin and serotonin receptors as possible. But it isn't the rarity of such a disorder that tends to make the headlines; it's the hanging opportunity to be the "we need to talk about your *problem*" or "won't someone think about the *children*" person, despite what were probably perfectly reasonable and noble intentions on the part of the WHO.

Kraken

Trained as a counselor, specifically for addictions, and yes.... gaming addiction is VERY real, and people need to get their heads out of their arses. It's not common, but it IS crippling for those afflicted.

Trevor Bond

I hope using Mysterio in the thumbnail helped offset some of the cost of the gag

Dion Turner

$100 a month really? Vem and complaining about spending $1000’s of dollars on pc’s?! hahah I have a coworker who has a gaming pc guess what product he spends most of his income on not his gaming pc no it’s his new Subaru crosstek which he just bought and because icbc my Canadian provincial car insurance being 1billion dollars in the hole he has to spend $300 every month equalling $3600 per year not because he’s a car enthusiast no because icbc screws everyone over being complete idiots and we have to pay for it can the who also define government disorder as a national disease affecting billions around the world

simon22

Interesting episode, I was wondering when you were going to talk about the WHO thing in more detail. I remember back when TotalBiscuit did a discussion on WoW addiction way back in 2006, pretty interesting stuff and a lot of what he said is still very true today. BTW heard Podquisition did not happen last week because one-third of the cast forgot to record, did you have another guest on last week? If so who was that guest and are they going to return this week? It really sucks when you forget to record, that happened to Linkara as well as he forgot to turn the mic on while doing a PO Unboxing one day so it was basically three hours of video footage that was completely unusable due to lack of audio.

RedBedroomRecords

Hello Jim! You maybe want to have a look at narcissistic disorder. I thought i had gaming disorder (up to 10 hours a day) and had a therapy. What came out is that working in our family business with my parents having narcissistic disorder was causing the problem. People having that disorder "suck" out your positive emotions leaving only frustration and anxiety. I subconsciously tried to compensate that with gaming. having a healthier environment today, i barely start my pc at all. narcissistic disorder interplays with a bunch of addictions and can not only be found in families but also friendships and workplaces and it is "spreading".

Never trust some guy tryin' to push a Habit onto you.

Naterkix

Everything you have said is a load of crock. If the spending of money is your core reason for saying that gaming addiction is bad then how about you tell me why its any better than the guy who buys a million dollar super car he never drives, or lets talk about those who buy overpriced tickets for sporting events an spend thousands on the gear tht represents their team. As for your comment on schools, high schools and colleges are glorified daycare centers and colleges are just as expensive as your claim abut gaming PCs. people leave college with 50k debt to their name, and you think gaming is bad. See, every point your present here had been defunct in the past, and all you are doing is trying to stir a shit pot of anger from the masses.

Ravin

I fail to see any issue with a lot of your points VEM. $100 a month is not outside any bounds of norms when it comes to hobbies. Trading in games you've finished for money off of new ones is also a completely sensible thing to do, saves money and cuts back on hording. Hygiene issues have nothing to do with gaming, those are issues with whoever is not doing their own maintenance. Go to any convention not focused on gaming and you will see the same thing.

Sure Mr. Sterling. Gamers nowadays are completely normal because: (sarcasm) 1. They spend $100+ on games each month and forget to pay some of their bills. 2. Trade games in just to buy new one's or to acquire DLC. 3. Continue to get ripped off by Gamestop through their trade in deals. 4. Literally spend $1,000's of dollars on gaming PC's and their accessories. 5. Are willing to fall for the hype of AAA games and not wait for a bloody sale. 6. Will buy all the DLC, microtransactions and lootboxes but still want the madness to stop. 7. Praise remakes and reboots of AAA games over actual good Indie games. 8. Can't form an opinion on their own when it comes to gaming reviews 9. Will attack rational people over opinions of not liking a game or giving it a perfect score. (Remember your Breath of the Wild video?) 10. Some will even drop out of school or college just to play video games all day. 11. Forget to eat or exercise on a daily basis 12. Attend esports tournaments and forget to bathe or brush their teeth 13. The fighting game community (Enough said) 14. Are willing to harass poor game designers over certain missing features Yup. Gamers nowadays are normal people. (I do understand that not everyone acts like this, but you will be amazed at how many gamers do act like this.) Now is gaming a disease? No! Is it a addiction that needs to be treated somewhat? That is debatable.