“I Can Quit Anytime I Want To” – GameJunkie

I’m not nearly as bad as OTHER people.  Excuses, excuses.  We all make them when we feel cornered if someone tries to put us on the spot – but we all know that when we get put on the spot it should be a sign that we may be endulging a bit to much.  Whether it be alcohol, drugs, sex or in this case video games – addiction is a nasty thing that we all need to keep an eye on.

Chances are if you’ve played video games for any length of time you’ve felt the pull of addiction.  Especially if you are one of the millions who play MMO’s.  The MMO genre by no means has the corner on the video game addiction market but they do have a large share in it.  There are plenty of articles out there warning you about game addiction, but with a AAA MMORPG title like Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning (WAR) just over a week away from release, I thought it prudent to put another out.

You’ve all probably heard about the extreme cases out there.  Kids dying from playing video games 50+ hours or more straight – dying from exhaustion.  Or even more bizarre cases of kids playing for months on end and getting so involved they sleep only occasionally and skip meals, some eventually starving to death.  That’s some pretty serious stuff – but what’s worse is gamers who don’t go that far and think they don’t have a problem because they do sleep and eat when required.  Raids aside.

The problem is mild game addiction can be still detrimental to your life.  It may not kill you but it can steer your life in directions you don’t want it to go.  It may not seem bad now – but it could end up costing you.  Your job, your friends, your marriage, your kids, your education…the list goes on and on.  It doesn’t have to go that far though.  You can play a healthy amount of video games and still have a great social and family life – if you know how to monitor and control your addiction.  The first step is to recognize you have one.

Speaking as someone who has realized my only addiction, I’m going to give you some of the signs that I noticed – that told me I had a problem to fix before it got out of control.  

“You’re always on the computer”, (insert random friend/family here)

Now sometimes this is innocent enough – but I these days this tends to make me think, “Maybe I am on a little to much”.  Especially when it’s my wife saying it.  She always says it in a joking fashion, at first, but I know she isn’t joking.  When I hear those words I tend to start reconsidering my priorities and I try to drop whatever I’m doing and spend some quality time with her and my kids.  It’s not enough just to eat dinner with your wife and feed your kids.  She needs your attention and so do they.  Find a way to spend some time with them that doesn’t include them watching you game.  

On a side note, this didn’t use to clue me in until my wife got the camera out and actually took a picture of me on the computer.  After looking at the picture I started to feel ashamed enough to know I was neglecting my family.

Ever Missed Work To Play Your Favorite Game?

This is a tell tale sign that many gamers tend to not realize is a problem.  How many people out there have taken a sick day to play a video game?  I want to see a show of hands.  This may not be an every day occurence, so you don’t tend to think of it as a problem but it should clue you in that you are a bit to serious about games and bit to to casual about your career.  Taking sick days just to play is bad – but a lot of gamers think it’s normal to take a sick day to play a big MMO the first day or two it’s released – for God’s sake, why do they have to release them during the week?  Or perhaps your favorite game is having a double experience event or something else you just can’t miss – so you call in.  If you’ve done this before – keep an eye on yourself – you could be an addict and not know it.

Dreaming About Playing Video Games

This is a sure sign that you are playing to much.  Dreams by their very nature are usually a repeat in some fashion of your days events.  If you are dreaming about gaming, it means you’ve been gaming all damn day (and now in your sleep) and it’s time to figure out something else to occupy your time when you wake.  Try eating breakfast first – chances are if you gamed all yesterday you probably didn’t eat when you were supposed to.  Go out and see what the un-pixelated world looks like – don’t forget to put on some sunscreen, you are probably as pale as a vampire.

Obsessing About Games When Your Awake

Alright, this is beginning to get into the realm of obvious signs – but have you realized you do it?  I have.  Even while trying to spend quality time with my family, I’d sit down to watch a movie with my wife and kids and half-way into the flick start to realize I’m thinking about the battlefields of WoW or shooting it up in CoD4.  I’ve even gotten up to get a drink or snack during the movie and subconsciously returned to my computer desk instead of the couch only to the sound of “Errrhmmm” from my wife – which tends to snap me out of my gaming trance.

This can be a real distraction for folks at work or in school.  If you are to the point of obsessing about it that much, as I have been there are two options.  Continuing as you are is not one of them.  You can either seek help in the form of counseling or you can try to handle it yourself.  If you try to handle it yourself, the only thing you can do is walk away from the computer – completely (work related aside).  I tend to do it for at least a month until I start to feel like “who cares” when I think of what’s going on in the game world.  Then I casually build myself back up.  For some, it may be better just to retire from gaming completely.

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