Life, Love and MMOGs

[Krug]

http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2005/11/3/115030/460

 

[Blue_Kryptonite]

Just a little more proof that mental illnesses should be tested for in grade school. The sane get to do things, the addictive don't get TVs and computers. They get shipped to a nice open place in the country with lots of books and a pretty lake to do something productive.

 

[John Crichton]

Interesting blog. I'm glad someone had the stones to post it.

 

[silvermane]

Just a little more proof that mental illnesses should be tested for in grade school. The sane get to do things, the addictive don't get TVs and computers.

And pray how do you determine who is sane and who is not? Brainwaves reading or feeling for bumps on the head? Especially when testing an immature person?

They get shipped to a nice open place in the country with lots of books and a pretty lake to do something productive.

You don't know what you are saying, are you?

An addiction - no matter what the stimulus, be it alcohol, drugs or computers - is NOT a mental illness. In fact, it is downright abusive to call an addicted person mentally ill. Mental illnesses (eg. paranoia) MAY develop in alcoholism, but only as a secondary effect.

Besides, the article is not even about an addicted person! Just someone whose marriage suffered a crisis because he romanced with a girl playing a MMO. He could have met her over at work, and the result would have been the same. To be sure, people do get addicted to online gaming, and even occassionally suffer health problems as a result, but any activity carried to excess poses similar risks.

 

[LightPhoenix]

An addiction - no matter what the stimulus, be it alcohol, drugs or computers - is NOT a mental illness. In fact, it is downright abusive to call an addicted person mentally ill. Mental illnesses (eg. paranoia) MAY develop in alcoholism, but only as a secondary effect.

The initial personal attack aside, it is simply fallible to say that there is no mental aspect to addiction. Hell, if there weren't a mental component, articles like the one posted would never, ever happen. Addiction of MMORPGs, or the internet, is almost completely mental.

One of the major things they teach you when you're dealing with alcohol addiction, be it with the twelve-step program or general rehab or individual therapy, is that it IS an illness. Not just a physical illness, but a mental one as well. If it was simply physical, one you quit it'd be easy to stay off it... but it's not, because it's in your head too. Nor would there be a significant component to psychotherapy devoted to the treatment of addiction.

Now, I think there are two problems here.

The first is the connotation of the term "mentally ill." While the term traditionally applies to people who have severe mental illness, such as schizophrenia, by no means are those the only mental illnesses. That is like saying someone with a cold isn't sick, because they don't have cystic fibrosis. Like physical illness, mental illness spans a range of degrees, from very minor to extremely severe. Addiction can fall anywhere on that spectrum, since the severity of the disease is highly dependant on what it is you are addicted to.

Second is that there is a significant social stigma when dealing with mental illness. How many times have you heard someone make a joke about Prozac (or another anti-depressant) in the last week? Mental illness, of any degree, is highly derided. Going to see a therapist is something that people just don't talk about, yet seeing a doctor might be mentioned out of hand with no regards for something thinking poorly of you. Perhaps the only real acceptance of it is marriage counseling, which I attribute more to the influence of Christianity on society than anything to do with psychotherapy.

 

[John Crichton]

The initial personal attack aside, it is simply fallible to say that there is no mental aspect to addiction. Hell, if there weren't a mental component, articles like the one posted would never, ever happen. Addiction of MMORPGs, or the internet, is almost completely mental.

One of the major things they teach you when you're dealing with alcohol addiction, be it with the twelve-step program or general rehab or individual therapy, is that it IS an illness. Not just a physical illness, but a mental one as well. If it was simply physical, one you quit it'd be easy to stay off it... but it's not, because it's in your head too. Nor would there be a significant component to psychotherapy devoted to the treatment of addiction.

Now, I think there are two problems here.

The first is the connotation of the term "mentally ill." While the term traditionally applies to people who have severe mental illness, such as schizophrenia, by no means are those the only mental illnesses. That is like saying someone with a cold isn't sick, because they don't have cystic fibrosis. Like physical illness, mental illness spans a range of degrees, from very minor to extremely severe. Addiction can fall anywhere on that spectrum, since the severity of the disease is highly dependant on what it is you are addicted to.

Second is that there is a significant social stigma when dealing with mental illness. How many times have you heard someone make a joke about Prozac (or another anti-depressant) in the last week? Mental illness, of any degree, is highly derided. Going to see a therapist is something that people just don't talk about, yet seeing a doctor might be mentioned out of hand with no regards for something thinking poorly of you. Perhaps the only real acceptance of it is marriage counseling, which I attribute more to the influence of Christianity on society than anything to do with psychotherapy.

You are *such* a phrenologist.

*sheesh*

 

[Blue_Kryptonite]

Not a mental illness? I'll be sure to tell my dad, who's on military disability for his government-classified mental Illness of Alcohol Addiction. He isn't treated for PTSD after Viet Nam, he's treated for alcoholism. Under the Mental Illness category.

I also refer you here, which has references to the sections in the DSM IV listing addictions as psychological disorders.

I've been mentally ill... Brain Chemistry imbalance. I'm marginalizing myself. Along with a lot of friends I have in the community who also find it a good way to cope.

How do we test? I'll ask my nephew. He was recently diagnosed with an addictive personality that was causing him to become neo-autistic when in the presence of video games or TV or hyperstimulated media. I should make sure to tell the school district that you can't test for that kind of thing. They'll be happy to save the money on pre-printed special materials that are available for something you can't test for.

Sarcasm aside, the following remains my opinion: You should watch children for autistic signs during immersive solo activities. This was done when I was in the lower grades in the 1970s. I was referred to a psychologist then. If a person proves to have obsessive anti-social triggers associated with any of the following or more: Video Games, Soap Operas, Violent Movies, Petting Ferrets, Romance Novels, Building and Running Model Trains, et cetera... They should at that point either no longer be permitted access to that stimulus, or be made aware that they will never have a normal relationship until and unless they avoid same.

I hope this has clarified matters for the humor-deprived, self-absorbed, overly sensitive, and terminally politically correct individuals who may or may not have understood my viewpoint and tone.