@williamherschel
I, also want to reply to this before I need to head out to work.
I think it's an important discussion to have given the media coverage and concern around the topic.
When I read about the WHO classification I was also dismayed for several reasons. One being that games and gaming seems to be an easy target for both those who don't enjoy playing games and those who would like to benefit for whatever reason, from 'treating' such an 'addiction'.
If we look at the definition in it's simplest form -
'Addiction is defined as not having control over doing, taking or using something to the point where it could be harmful to you.'
It's fairly easy to see that we often use the term outside this definition in a more general way to describe behaviours we might not approve of in others, to pass judgement on them and the things they take pleasure in.
The most obvious one for me is social media, and mobile technology in general.
There is no doubt in my mind that certain games, apps, are built with the intention to keep people playing for as long as possible and for myself, my weakness would be mobile games - the psychology behind their construction is to keep you playing, small rewards, goals, items that cost real money to circumvent the amount of time you need to spend playing, simple repetitive but necessary actions that you just think 'one more minute, i'll just do this and that before I log off'. Behavioural psychology at it's finest.
However, I have always managed to drag myself away before I do myself any harm. Am I addicted? No. Could I become addicted? Possibly yes, but I am self aware enough to recognise that this could happen and I have control over that and exercise that control.
So with gaming addiction we have a lot of other things going on. It's not just a clear case of 'omg games are baaad!' Games can be very beneficial as well. I work with vulnerable young students, many of whom tend to use gaming as a refuge from problems they cannot manage in the real world. It provides them with a feeling of success and accomplishment when they're in a place that they often feel isolated, unloved and a failure. It often provides them with enough confidence that step by step they can be helped little by little to tackle those real world issues and overcome them.
There have been times in my own life, when I've been going through difficult periods and games have also provided me that refuge, they allowed me a respite where I could collect my thoughts and work through how to cope.
Are they addicted? No I don't think so.
Games have also been shown to foster certain cognitive skills and have been used successfully as tools for cognitive behaviour therapy as well as them being a force for positive social interaction, keeping in touch with far flung families, finding like minded groups for support etc
What struck me about the article was the question 'what was the real reason he turned to world of warcraft, was it in fact the game or was it more connected with the challenges he faced in his career choice and the uncertainty of his future?'
With Sea of Thieves, I agree with @Genuine-Heather - it's a beautiful, wonderful world to adventure in. It's a wonderful way to escape and relax but it doesn't really contain those features which I would consider addictive - yes you can spend a lot of time in there, but time spent isn't a good indicator of addiction in my view. Yes, if you're doing harm to yourself by staying there overlong then it is an issue for concern, but this is also finite in that eventually you will reach Legend status and that's that.
I also think that a lot of the responsibility lies with us as gamers and parents even. We need to become more cognizant of the reasons why that game, book, movie binging, eating, drinking, social media attention is taking priority over the things we must do in life - like work, paying bills, our relationships with others. There are tools available to restrict internet time for minors, there are things we can do for ourselves to cut down on the amount of attention we give to those little notifications on our phones or the call of the wild mountains in a game. We need to learn to recognise when it's becoming a problem and either act on it or seek help.
It's time to stop running from gaming addiction
Addiction: what is it?
B.F. Skinner: The Man Who Taught Pigeons to Play Ping-Pong and Rats to Pull Levers
Fortnite: What happens to your brain when you play
