Psychologists talk gaming addiction, online friendships

1UP's Scott Sharkey has written an article titled "Hook It to My Veins: Can Videogaming be an Addiction?" in which he provides anecdotal experiences with excessive gaming and conversations with two experts -- researcher/author Neils Clark and psychology lecturer Dr. Nadine Pelling. The conclusion is made pretty quickly: yes, video games can be an addiction. Big surprise there! But the details can be wishy-washy, it turns out.

Virtual worlds are the subject of in-depth analysis. Clark borrows from a theory by J.R.R. Tolkien by suggesting that gaming addiction is about a conflict between what ought to be a primary world, and a secondary fantasy world. Gamers with a problem have difficulty prioritizing, or even acknowledging that the gaming world is secondary. Immersion is an important part of enjoying a game, right? But if you're thinking about how you need to make sure the primary world gets its due attention, then you're not immersed anymore -- so begins the problem.

This concept is applied to online relationships by Pelling. She notes that most people who used to play MMOs like World of Warcraft don't any longer describe their online gaming relationships as insubstantial, even though when they were playing they considered them to be just as weighty as offline relationships.

Pelling argues that the online relationships are not really as deep and fulfilling as they seem, but that they're easier to strike up for some people. Looking for a quick fix of belonging and relation, players ignore friendships of the primary world in favor of the red herring of online friendships. Does that ring true to you? This might be an opportunity to look closely at your experiences. Pelling could be missing the point, but it can't hurt to explore the possibility that she's right.

Another theme of the article: video games -- especially online ones -- are a new technology, and society hasn't had enough time to fully understand that technology's implication for individuals and relationships. Hmm. We've got some thinking to do!