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Video game addiction shot down as 'disorder'

 

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You know those gamers--they spend hours on end hulled in smelly dark rooms with controllers in hand, ignoring social norms like sitting down for meals and showering once in awhile. Perhaps they're a little too into gaming.

But if a group of prominent doctors has their way, those gamers might end up diagnosed with video game addiction, a psychiatric disorder the American Medical Association will consider for official classification at its annual policy meeting beginning this weekend, according to several press accounts.

Given the overlap between bloggers and gamers, it's no surprise that the blogosphere is up in arms about giving video game addiction an official diagnosis, which bloggers say is going too far and assigning a mental disorder to a societal problem.

Blog community response:

"My first reaction that proving media causation is a high bar that is not always met. (My skepticism may derive from the fact that my last game addiction was a spring break bout with Tetris in the early 90s.) Further, gaming has become such a common activity that discerning its effects is not easy." --Media SITREP

"Great, just what folks like Jack Thompson and Lyndon LaRouche need -- more ammo...it's like I've said before: some violent and/or mentally ill people play video games, but video games don't make people violent and/or mentally ill. If that was the case, there would be a lot more crazy people running around." --GayGamer.net

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