This site makes extensive use of JavaScript.
Please enable JavaScript in your browser.
Live
PTR
10.2.7
PTR
10.2.6
Beta
Are you an addict?
Post Reply
Return to board index
Post by
161600
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
xaratherus
I love that this comes up once a month, heh.
WoW is habit-forming, not addictive.
An addiction is a "chronic relapsing condition characterized by compulsive substance-seeking and abuse and by long-lasting chemical changes in the brain".
For a majority of players, WoW is a hobby that may be habit-forming - but it would cause them no true withdrawal were they to quit playing. There are no changes to brain chemistry caused by exposure to Azeroth; for most people I'd confidently bet that they wouldn't lock themselves in a room and suffer through "the shakes" and vomitting trying to go cold turkey from their Mage.
There are exceptions to the rule, of course - but those exceptions, I would speculate, are those people who have a classic "addict" personality, in which case the fault is not with the game but with themselves.
Post by
bwirum
Wow, way to plaster a non-ingenious attempt at bringing up something colder than a really, really dead horse xara! Good job!
Post by
128491
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
225139
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
ShellyBelly
I'm not an addict. I can stop any time I want.
No but really, I WANT to play, and it's more fun for me to play, but I don't feed off the energy delivered through a keyboard, screen, and a can of Red Bull. However, it's fun if I do. If someone deliberately deleted my character and account, I would be furious, but I don't live off it. I happen to have no life.
Post by
Qlix
An addiction is a "chronic relapsing condition characterized by compulsive substance-seeking and abuse and by long-lasting chemical changes in the brain".
way to make something out of nothing and be completely close minded. You do realize that that definition reads that way becuase thats how society sees it. Its subject to change. As all things in life are subject to change. but if you want to get technical:
sub⋅stance /ˈsʌbstəns/ Show Spelled Pronunciation Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun 1. that of which a thing consists; physical matter or material: form and substance.
2. a species of matter of definite chemical composition: a chalky substance.
3. controlled substance.
4. the subject matter of thought, discourse, study, etc.
5. the actual matter of a thing, as opposed to the appearance or shadow; reality.
6. substantial or solid character or quality: claims lacking in substance.
7. consistency; body: soup without much substance.
8. the meaning or gist, as of speech or writing.
9. something that has separate or independent existence.
10. Philosophy. a. something that exists by itself and in which accidents or attributes inhere; that which receives modifications and is not itself a mode; something that is causally active; something that is more than an event.
b. the essential part of a thing; essence.
c. a thing considered as a continuing whole.
11. possessions, means, or wealth: to squander one's substance.
12. Linguistics. the articulatory or acoustic reality or the perceptual manifestation of a word or other construction (distinguished from form ).
13. a standard of weights for paper.
—Idiom14. in substance, a. concerning the essentials; substantially.
b. actually; really: That is in substance how it appeared to me.
I believe the
substance
in your definition of addiction can easily be summed up in a few words:
The World of Warcraft
does it change mind sets? Hell yes it does... if you let it.
anything that alters your mind and changes the way you react to the world around you can be addicting. If you let it.
Its foolish to say that just because its not one of your vices that its not one for someone else.
*edit* typos
Post by
Quicksilver
I'm not an addict but I'm not a casual player either though. I'm maybe a little addicted to my charecter at the moment i don't even want to play another charecter much at all my druid quicksilver hasn't made it past lvl 13
- Astrum shes my lvl 34 night elf disc priest. best character ever fun to play, new shadowmeld is great, and i love the night elf lore and their mounts are the best.
i love the game and my priest but i have more important things to do in life finish school, learn, make freinds, stay healthy, things like that! world of warcraft is nothing obsessive people need to calm down! if it was an addition people would go though withdrawals like xaratherus said!
Post by
225139
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Qlix
I'm not an addict but I'm not a casual player either though. I'm maybe a little addicted to my charecter at the moment i don't even want to play another charecter much at all my druid quicksilver hasn't made it past lvl 13
- Astrum shes my lvl 34 night elf disc priest. best character ever fun to play, new shadowmeld is great, and i love the night elf lore and their mounts are the best.
i love the game and my priest but i have more important things to do in life finish school, learn, make freinds, stay healthy, things like that! world of warcraft is nothing obsessive people need to calm down! if it was an addition people would go though withdrawals like xaratherus said!
apparently youve never seen the MILLIONS of sites like
this
again... saying somethings not addictive because its not addictive to YOU is foolish.
Forget WoW... thats anything in life... So you dont drink every night, and you can stop anytime you want to, youre not an alcoholic, does that mean that alcholism doesnt exist? Please
Heroin, Meth, Coke, Crack... youre not addicted to these either I hope... does that mean the addiction doesnt exist? Please
Post by
225139
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
153673
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
69913
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
95931
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
xaratherus
I believe the substance in your definition of addiction can easily be summed up in a few words: The World of Warcraft
does it change mind sets? Hell yes it does... if you let it.
anything that alters your mind and changes the way you react to the world around you can be addicting. If you let it.
Its foolish to say that just because its not one of your vices that its not one for someone else
Please point out where I said that there's no one addicted to WoW? Point of fact, I actually said the exact opposite in the final paragraph of my post.
Heroin, meth, Vicodin, long-term alcohol use - all these things actually physically change your brain chemistry. They alter the chemical balances of your brain so that when you
don't
partake of those substances, your brain feels that its chemistry is out of balance, and that results in negative biological feedback. Heck, even nicotine does this. This is a chemical addiction; it results in semi-permanent (or possibly permanent) alteration of biology.
WoW does not have a mechanism to alter your brain chemistry - unless you're sitting really close to your monitor, and it's one of the old CRT ones that's pumping out low-level radiation. ;)
Note, however, that as I stated in my original post, there
are
people out there who are addicted to World of Warcraft. However, the problem therein lies not with the game, but with the person. They suffer from an addiction personality disorder - in other words, they are predisposed to addiction, whether that be to gambling, snorting glue, sex, or video games.
To add in my personal experiences: Up until about 3 months ago, I spent a majority of my free time playing WoW. I work 8-5pm Mon-Fri, and sleep about 6 hours a night; the rest of the time I would likely have been in WoW. That's anywhere from 4-6 hours a night, and most of the day on weekends.
However, when I had several personal issues that came up, I was forced to cut back on my play time. I suffered no withdrawal, I didn't have racing thoughts about how I should be playing WoW, I wasn't sneaking out to Internet cafes to try and get my fix - I simply cut back on my time spent in-game.
I guess to my mind when people talk about addiction I envision the scene from Trainspotting with Ewan Macgregor locked in his room, shaking himself to pieces and hallucinating dead babies on the ceiling as he tries to come clean. In other words, to me it's the withdrawal symptoms that define something as addictive (or, in a few instances, the permanent effects the addiction has on one's body or life).
Post by
thensley2k7
@Xaratherus: I may not have taken physiology yet (still in gross anat) but shouldn't anything a person does on a habitual basis (that he/she enjoys) create a euphoric response similar to the traditional view of substance abuse? I think you could argue that any action that creates this hormone secretion could be habit-forming, to the point of "addiction." Just curious... your thoughts?
Post by
xaratherus
@Xaratherus: I may not have taken physiology yet (still in gross anat) but shouldn't anything a person doe on a habitual basis (that he/she enjoys) create a euphoric response similar to the traditional view of substance abuse? I think you could argue that any action that creates this hormone secretion could be habit-forming, to the point of "addiction." Just curious... your thoughts?
Good point, thensley2k7. The enjoyment of an activity can/does result in the release of endorphines and other chemicals. You'd wind up with a sort of self-enforced Pavlovian response to WoW - log in and get a rush of calming happiness.
Although I don't have specific info to back it up, however, I think that in those people who would fall into that category of addiction would probably still be grouped as "addictive personalities"; I know that the idea of an "addictive person" is under scrutiny but there's enough evidence that certain people are predisposed to becoming addicted that I think it bears merit.
Post by
Qlix
Xan... Vinpano said it best and as Thensly said... WoW definitely creates the chemical changes in your brain. Doesnt affect all no... but thats the people that can control themselves. You cant say its addicting to some and point it out as a personal flaw on the individuals part... of course this is my opinion... Is wow directly to blame, as tobacco companies are by adding chemicals to make it more addicting? of course not... but simple fact that some are addicted (addictive personality or not) puts WoW in the long list of highly addictive things.
So im agreeing and disagreeing at the same time if that makes sense >.<
Post by
95931
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
thensley2k7
Lol they should do some controlled studies on neurological changes associated with WoW :p
The adrenaline factor from the PvP rush or from downing a big PvE boss or such probably plays in as well.
But anyhow, on topic -- I experienced a little of the WoW addiction feeling this summer, when I had way too much free time on my hands. I found myself rushing though things I had to get done so I could log in. I blew off a couple of pickup games of basketball to play, too. Fortunately for me, I realized what was happening before it could begin to seriously impact my life. That, and I moved back to school and now my life consists of Anatomy, O-Chem, and Global/Historical Studies :( I play about an hour-ish most weeknights, and I usually do a late-night pug raid either during the week or on the weekend when nothing else is happening on campus. I don't consider myself an addict, but for those of you who are experiencing the same things I did over the summer, take a step back and see the big picture. Sure WoW is fun, and you can even talk to some great people in there if you look hard enough, but prioritizing is key: Life first, Game second.
@Kyrross: Yeah, that's basically what I paraphrased in my earlier post... any pleasurable act which is repeated with any frequency will cause dependence/addiction-like symptoms because of the neurotransmitters/hormones which are released during pleasure. (*Medical jargon warning*( Interesting to note that drugs like cocaine block the release of chemicals that counteract and remove the "pleasure" chemicals from the system - thus they work differently than the "natural" overdose of endorphins produced by, say, "WoW addiction" but they achieve the same goal of keeping a high dose of the chemicals around. )*/MJ*) :) :)
Oh and the Pavlovian response that Xa brought up is very likely to be in play here too. (Google "Pavlov's Dog" for anyone who hasn't heard of this response)
Post Reply
You are not logged in. Please
log in
to post a reply or
register
if you don't already have an account.