The Adobe Flash Player is required to view this multimedia interactive. Get it here.

Gaming addiction can tear families apart

How often do you play video games?

Vote Limit: Once per Week

Gratification short-lived for gaming addicts

Man, 68, drowns at Caesar Creek Lake
Updated 22 min. ago
Water rescues prompt warning from health officials
11:42 p.m.
Beach Waterpark sued for failure to deliver
11:37 p.m.
Raleigh Trammell’s defense opens in felony trial
11:37 p.m.
UD to move satellite campus to Dublin
11:32 p.m.
> More headlines

By Cornelius Frolik, Staff Writer Updated 9:45 PM Saturday, August 14, 2010

A 32-year-old Englewood woman knew her husband had a problem with video games when she had to interrupt him from playing the popular fantasy game, World of Warcraft, to say she was pregnant.

Piqua native Quinn Pitcock, a former All-American defensive tackle from Ohio State now playing with the Seattle Seahawks, said he coped with depression and anxiety through his addiction to video games.

In one extreme case, a 17-year-old from Wellington, Ohio, shot his parents, killing his mother, after they took away his Xbox game, Halo 3.

More than half of adults 18 and older play video games, and about 20 percent play games almost every day, according to a 2008 Pew Research Center study. But while gaming has almost become a national pastime, excessive gaming is a marital and social wedge that can tear families apart.

The American Medical Association does not officially recognize video game-playing as a mental disorder: The group has said it was premature to render a verdict on its addictiveness because of the lack of definitive research.

But the AMA noted the overuse of video games carries physical, behavioral and psychosocial risks. More recent research lends credence that video games can cause pathological behaviors similar to those exhibited by gamblers.

“We’re so used to thinking about substance addictions rather than behavioral addictions,” said Douglas Gentile, a researcher and assistant professor of developmental psychology at Iowa State University who has studied video game use.

“I really think it is an impulse-control disorder, where you are unable to control your impulses to play because it is so rewarding.”

Share this article