Again, this research isn’t surprising; it should be obvious. But if you don’t know the pressures and the temptations, it’s easy to misunderstand.
“This gaming problem is a result of the society we live in today,” Mr Bakker told BBC News. “Eighty per cent of the young people we see have been bullied at school and feel isolated. Many of the symptoms they have can be solved by going back to good old fashioned communication.”
…
“I liked gaming because people couldn’t see me, they accepted me as my online character – I could be good at something and feel part of a group.” [Emphasis mine]
Those are terrible things to say, terrible things to feel – not wanting to be seen, grasping at the chance to be good at something, anything.
The word that sums up the article for me is the first word of the headline: Compulsive. It means you feel you have to, you need to, you must.
People gotta eat. If there’s no good food around, people will eat the bad stuff. And you don’t need any further explanation for it than, “People gotta eat.”
What’s interesting is that he doesn’t think the gaming is an addiction in the same way as say, drugs, but an attempt to as you say fill a social need…
I think if he was a scientist, he’d be pushing harder to discover what chemical blend backs the basic psychological needs of acceptance, significance and security.
It’s true; computer gaming is not physically addictive. But can it form a mental or social bondage? You betcha. Just talk to any one who *has* to level their character to 80, or who *can’t* let their guild down by missing a raid.
It’s also tricky to assess, because wholesome and strengthening social interaction can exist in an online gaming medium. Who’s to say out of hand that it’s an unacceptable means of play and fellowship?