SydLexia.com - The Forums :: View topic - UK Therapist: Two Hours of Gaming = a Line of Cocaine

Posted: May 24 2010 11:39 pm

Quote:

Two hours of video games is equivalent to a line of cocaine, UK conselor and therapist Steve Pope estimates in a breathless report on gaming addiction recently published by the Lancashire Evening Post (via GamePolitics).
"Spending two hours on a game station is equivalent to taking a line of cocaine in the high it produces," Pope says. "It is the fastest growing addiction in the country and this is affecting young people mentally, as well as leading to physical problems such as obesity."

Pope says he deals with teens who skip school and steal to play games, and that some play for as long as 24 hours straight. He also suggested that game addiction can "spiral into violence" when players "turn their fantasy games into reality."

He says ominously after noting that he is working with a grandmother who is reportedly addicted to online poker and a granddaughter who is addicted to Facebook, "The poisioned chalice is being handed down through the generations."

The article also holds up as an example Premier League soccer players who are reportedly banned from games 24 hours before a match because of the "natural high" leading to poor performances on the field, and quotes one mother who says buying her son Call of Duty was like buying him "his first shot of whiskey."

The article concludes by emphasizing the need for balance in one's life. Senior lecturer in psychology at the University of Central Lancashire Gayle Brewer says, "It is important to find a balance. It is easier for parents if they set ground rules from the start about how long their child is allowed to spend on these types of games."

Sound advice indeed. In the meantime, how many "lines of cocaine" did new releases like Red Dead Redemption provide for you over the weekend?

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3179461

wow. im a cokehead and didnt even know it. and i dont get that nasty drip either

Posted: May 25 2010 12:01 am

Until further studies prove that people are sucking dick for change to purchase the latest PS3 game I call bullshit.

Posted: May 25 2010 03:54 am

I am reminded of the Cracked.com quote about artificial butter and plastic. I don't even know how you can quantify the two addictions without some serious neural research, which this guy most likely hasn't done. He might as well say that a foot and a half is equal to 5 BTUs.

Joined: Aug 04 2009 Posts: 2515

This doesn't even make sense...

This chump is actually suggesting that playing a game for two hours = gaming addiction.

Stealing etc. is more believable but just because you enjoy games and play them for a longish period of time doesn't mean your addicted. It's like me saying that i watched a whole season of Fraiser one day so i am addicted to Fraiser. How is that even logical?

Online poker is different though and is not an actual video game. For anyone who has played poker in real life and virtually they are definitely aware that there are differences between how the game is played.

In real life you either play with money or chips (which you know are worth x amount of money). Whereas online you play with pixels on a page which grow virtually by electronic transactions from a bank account. You don't know how much you are actually losing because it doesn't seem real and when you start to win it sort of becomes like a video game especially one like WoW were you are achieving more so you play more.

Even still though there are other factors to take into account than just playing more is addiction as seen above. Real money is an example or in the case of WoW worthless items in real life are given an actual meaning in game so that they become sought after.

Posted: May 25 2010 10:10 am

This is completely incorrect. I've fallen asleep playing video games before. I've never fallen asleep on coke.

Joined: Mar 01 2010 Posts: 126

When I play video games, usually I start getting tired of playing after 2 or 3 hours. That's not to say I never play more than that, but generally, 3 hours is more than enough for one play session.
Clearly this guy has decided what the facts are and is making his study agree with him by misinterpreting results. Of course there are people who become addicted to anything, but it doesn't mean that everyone does.

Posted: May 25 2010 12:08 pm

I enjoy playing video games and have no problem devoting entire afternoons to them, but playing them doesn't leave me in a manic, energetic state the way coke does. I've definitely fallen asleep while grinding in RPGs. Also:

Quote:

Pope says he deals with teens who skip school and steal to play games, and that some play for as long as 24 hours straight. He also suggested that game addiction can "spiral into violence" when players "turn their fantasy games into reality."

He's dealing with already troubled teens who are using violent games to feed into their already violent urges. If you're a violent person, then yeah, maybe you do play GTA for a couple hours to get yourself pumped up to go out and steal real cars and kill real hookers. But that's not the norm. This guy is a therapist. Normal people don't people don't go to therapists. Therefore, his thesis that all people react to all video games in a similar way based on his experience with a very specific set of people playing specific types of games is pure garbage. And he should know better than that.

Say I was a therapist and I noticed that out of 50 patients I saw in a week, the five that were stay-at-home moms were all being beaten by their husbands. Is it reasonable for me to assume all wives are being beaten by their husbands? No. Is it even reasonable for me to assume all housewives are being beaten by their husbands? No. I don't have enough data to work with, and I don't have actual facts. I have stories being told by unreliable narrators who wouldn't be in my office in the first place if something wasn't inherently wrong with them. I would need to collect a lot more data and collaborate with dozens of peers before I could even begin to reach a meaningful conclusion on domestic violence.

Also, this:

Posted: May 25 2010 12:13 pm

UK Therapist?

More like, UK "The Rapist!", Amirite?

Posted: May 25 2010 12:42 pm

I would like to point out the keyword of "Estimates", which is to say "has a baseless opinion". Fucking psychologists couldn't perform science if they tried, but this one didn't even bother.

Joined: Oct 21 2006 Posts: 22

We need a version of Scarface with video games in place of cocaine. Ending with a pile of SNES cartridges on Tony Montana's desk at the end of the film.

Posted: May 25 2010 05:10 pm

All it takes is some twat of a psychologist to make up some bullshit that some twat of a politician believes, and then all hell breaks loose.

Title: Kenka Bancho Joined: May 05 2010 Posts: 227

No wonder I get the shakes when I'm away from my consoles! Thanks again therapy!

Posted: May 25 2010 06:21 pm

Video games are a 2nd rate drug... cocaine is way better. Now cocaine and video games together is a combo i can endorse.

Wizard Joined: Jun 12 2009 Posts: 4209

This is bullshit... Once again, the person conducting 'research' is misconstruing results in order to point the finger at something (sort of) benign just so he can get his moment of fame.

Joined: Feb 22 2010 Posts: 351

I have some background in Pscyh....this guy's claims are unfounded

Posted: May 25 2010 10:50 pm

Since everyone has already said pretty much everything that needs to be said, I'll just add: what. A. Dumbass.

Posted: May 25 2010 11:54 pm

Whenever this is brought up, I love to point out that millions of people play video games every day. So why aren't we seeing millions of murders every day?

Posted: May 25 2010 11:56 pm

Because murder involves putting down the controller. Don't you remember? We're supposed to be lazy, stupid, and unmotivated.

I'm just the first and last ones.

Title: Virtual Mathlete Joined: May 15 2010 Posts: 6

Godofhardcore wrote:

I have some background in Pscyh....this guy's claims are unfounded

If anyone knows about unfounded claims, it's this guy.

Posted: May 26 2010 12:12 am

Knyte wrote:

UK Therapist?

More like, UK "The Rapist!", Amirite?

Posted: May 26 2010 01:15 am

I tried sniffing coke once, but the ice cubes got stuck in my nose.

Title: Robot Soul Brother Joined: Jul 11 2008 Posts: 137

LOL

I saw this on another site.

If it's true, then I've overdosed many times over...

Joined: Apr 09 2008 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 3112

Syd Lexia wrote:

This is completely incorrect. I've fallen asleep playing video games before. I've never fallen asleep on coke.

Yeah, but for some reason, I beat Alan Wake in 2 days and ended up with with a burning sensation in my throat and nose.