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Can we do a study on a link between video games and ADHD or dopamine deficiency? https://www.webmd.com/add-adhd/childhood-adhd/adhd-and-video-games-is-there-a-

Can we do a study on a link between video games and ADHD or dopamine deficiency? https://www.webmd.com/add-adhd/childhood-adhd/adhd-and-video-games-is-there-a-link https://www.webmd.com/add-adhd/childhood-adhd/adhd-and-video...

emteycz 6y ago
People with ADHD are very likely to find themselves abusing drugs, or videogames. Not even dopaminergic drugs are causing ADHD, so why would games? Or what do you want to study? Yes, people with ADHD are likely to abuse games, that's well established.
- chillwaves 6y ago
  Why is the prevalence of kids addicted to video games on the rise? People are too quick to say "causation/correlation" but often times there is overlap. One can encourage the other.
  - oblio 6y ago
    > Why is the prevalence of kids addicted to video games on the rise? Because we have tons of companies peddling and researching how to create addictive games, without much regulation. Several of them even hide gambling (lootboxes) within games. I played Hearthstone quite a bit in the past. The loading screen is literally the screen of a slot machine!
    - chillwaves 6y ago
      Yes, this speaks to why I am rejecting the idea that the kids addicted to gaming just happen to be broken in a neurochemical way. Something else is going on. There is a positive feedback loop of some kind, and it seems apparent if you follow the money.
  - emteycz 6y ago
    Videogames definitely do not encourage ADHD. But yes, it is well established that people with ADHD are likely to abuse drugs or videogames.
  - vsareto 6y ago
    Hot take, but: 1. more games being produced because the industry is larger and the barrier of entry was reduced 2. more and easier ways to access them: free-to-play models, relatively stable $60 top-end price even after 2 decades of inflation 3. more socially acceptable and includes more than the nerdy kids from ~20 years ago. You could get bullied for playing EverQuest when I was a kid. 4. streaming platforms complements it and probably encourages playing games more often 5. more "addiction innovation" through game mechanics 6. maybe a long shot, but both parents often working now means less time spent with kids
    - emteycz 6y ago
      Also, way more kids got devices for playing games today than before, and them carrying it at all times is new. Being connected to the internet 24/7 is new too.
    - tartoran 6y ago
      I'm absolutely terrified at the moment when my 3 year old son will get his hands on video games. So far we encourage outdoor play, playing with physical toys and very little screen time, etc. At some point some clash emerge (my son has a stubborn facet), a parent can guide only so much, kids do have to gain little autonomy at some point or at least prove it to themselves they do take some decisions. The problem is that lots of new games enforce really bad habits and any child can become a causality to dynamic. I will try to postpone that moment as much as possible and curate the content as to mitigate the problem. I remember when I got my first computer I was so fascinated by it that nothing my parents would say would stick but I got lucky, I got bored of games rather quickly and became interested in making them myself and that opened the gate to programming. The computer community seemed to be a lot more benevolent back then, now..
  - wongarsu 6y ago
    People were unwilling to pay for mobile games, which lead to the rise of the free-to-play model. Zygna with their Facebook games found an incredibly profitable variant of this: make a game that's addicting and has to be played in short intervals on a regular schedule. These games are reliable and easy to make and very profitable, so they exploded. Now lots of elements of that leak into console and PC games.
- Ensorceled 6y ago
  The WebMD link and, thus the commenters intent, was the ADHD leads to videogame addiction and NOT as you have presumed, video games lead to ADHD.
  - emteycz 6y ago
    Yes, but that is well researched, so I assume it's not what they want to research.
gww 6y ago
This is entirely my own experience but the friends I had in high school/university always clocked in way more hours in WoW than I could doing repetitive tasks such as reputation grinding, crafting, dailies, raiding etc. I always wondered if it was something to do with ADHD or possibly the medications they took. The latter seems less likely as they played even more when they were off their meds.
- thatguy0900 6y ago
  I took add meds in high school, they made me obsessed with yugioh. It was very strange, I didn't really like the game much when I wasn't on them, but as soon as I started back up I would spend all day theory crafting new decks
- djeiasbsbo 6y ago
  I can tell you, as someone with quite severe ADHD, it affects gaming as well. What I mean is, I can focus just as little when I am playing games and just get distracted by my smartphone. It's been like this as a kid too, the game isn't really that enjoyable when you can't focus and pretty much miss the story. Medication could have that effect but I experience quite the opposite. It almost makes me feel "bad" that I am playing a game and doing something more productive. That's generally how these meds work, they "stress" you into doing tour work, so you don't do it the day before you have to turn it in. But I guess it's different for a professional gamer. It maybe doesn't feel unproductive when it's your main source of income. Another thing is, the H in ADHD stands for hyperactivity. To play a game however, you have to sit still. I do still play some games, but only those that are non competitive and casual. For example, I really like playing Stardew Valley, it's very calming and because it is open ended, there is no FOMO.
- 0xffff2 6y ago
  Funny. As someone who is borderline ADHD, I've always attributed my inability to play MMOs to the ADHD. I can be pretty focused for a few days, but over the long term I get bored and have to move on to something else. When I was younger I rarely even finished single player games before getting bored.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
pelasaco 6y ago
This is something that I'm seeing a lot as elementary school teacher in Germany. Kids exposed to excessive video game - Normally, parents that work full-time and sit the kid in front of the video game/tablet/etc to be able to get things done, - got specially worse after the first lockdown - are being diagnosed with ADHD and are starting to get Ritalin. My kids play video-game, I play video-game, and I have nothing against it. However an excessive exposition is a pattern that i can relate to ADHD.
hugey010 6y ago
I'd love to see more specific studies around video game use. There's just so many variables to account for. How does duration, solo/team play, or player skill (win/loss rate) affect the findings? In my experience, there's definitely negative and positive correlations to my mood, curiosity, patience, and productivity.

emteycz 6y ago

People with ADHD are very likely to find themselves abusing drugs, or videogames. Not even dopaminergic drugs are causing ADHD, so why would games? Or what do you want to study? Yes, people with ADHD are likely to abuse games, that's well established.

chillwaves 6y ago
Why is the prevalence of kids addicted to video games on the rise? People are too quick to say "causation/correlation" but often times there is overlap. One can encourage the other.
- oblio 6y ago
  > Why is the prevalence of kids addicted to video games on the rise? Because we have tons of companies peddling and researching how to create addictive games, without much regulation. Several of them even hide gambling (lootboxes) within games. I played Hearthstone quite a bit in the past. The loading screen is literally the screen of a slot machine!
  - chillwaves 6y ago
    Yes, this speaks to why I am rejecting the idea that the kids addicted to gaming just happen to be broken in a neurochemical way. Something else is going on. There is a positive feedback loop of some kind, and it seems apparent if you follow the money.
- emteycz 6y ago
  Videogames definitely do not encourage ADHD. But yes, it is well established that people with ADHD are likely to abuse drugs or videogames.
- vsareto 6y ago
  Hot take, but: 1. more games being produced because the industry is larger and the barrier of entry was reduced 2. more and easier ways to access them: free-to-play models, relatively stable $60 top-end price even after 2 decades of inflation 3. more socially acceptable and includes more than the nerdy kids from ~20 years ago. You could get bullied for playing EverQuest when I was a kid. 4. streaming platforms complements it and probably encourages playing games more often 5. more "addiction innovation" through game mechanics 6. maybe a long shot, but both parents often working now means less time spent with kids
  - emteycz 6y ago
    Also, way more kids got devices for playing games today than before, and them carrying it at all times is new. Being connected to the internet 24/7 is new too.
  - tartoran 6y ago
    I'm absolutely terrified at the moment when my 3 year old son will get his hands on video games. So far we encourage outdoor play, playing with physical toys and very little screen time, etc. At some point some clash emerge (my son has a stubborn facet), a parent can guide only so much, kids do have to gain little autonomy at some point or at least prove it to themselves they do take some decisions. The problem is that lots of new games enforce really bad habits and any child can become a causality to dynamic. I will try to postpone that moment as much as possible and curate the content as to mitigate the problem. I remember when I got my first computer I was so fascinated by it that nothing my parents would say would stick but I got lucky, I got bored of games rather quickly and became interested in making them myself and that opened the gate to programming. The computer community seemed to be a lot more benevolent back then, now..
- wongarsu 6y ago
  People were unwilling to pay for mobile games, which lead to the rise of the free-to-play model. Zygna with their Facebook games found an incredibly profitable variant of this: make a game that's addicting and has to be played in short intervals on a regular schedule. These games are reliable and easy to make and very profitable, so they exploded. Now lots of elements of that leak into console and PC games.
Ensorceled 6y ago
The WebMD link and, thus the commenters intent, was the ADHD leads to videogame addiction and NOT as you have presumed, video games lead to ADHD.
- emteycz 6y ago
  Yes, but that is well researched, so I assume it's not what they want to research.

gww 6y ago

This is entirely my own experience but the friends I had in high school/university always clocked in way more hours in WoW than I could doing repetitive tasks such as reputation grinding, crafting, dailies, raiding etc. I always wondered if it was something to do with ADHD or possibly the medications they took. The latter seems less likely as they played even more when they were off their meds.

thatguy0900 6y ago
I took add meds in high school, they made me obsessed with yugioh. It was very strange, I didn't really like the game much when I wasn't on them, but as soon as I started back up I would spend all day theory crafting new decks
djeiasbsbo 6y ago
I can tell you, as someone with quite severe ADHD, it affects gaming as well. What I mean is, I can focus just as little when I am playing games and just get distracted by my smartphone. It's been like this as a kid too, the game isn't really that enjoyable when you can't focus and pretty much miss the story. Medication could have that effect but I experience quite the opposite. It almost makes me feel "bad" that I am playing a game and doing something more productive. That's generally how these meds work, they "stress" you into doing tour work, so you don't do it the day before you have to turn it in. But I guess it's different for a professional gamer. It maybe doesn't feel unproductive when it's your main source of income. Another thing is, the H in ADHD stands for hyperactivity. To play a game however, you have to sit still. I do still play some games, but only those that are non competitive and casual. For example, I really like playing Stardew Valley, it's very calming and because it is open ended, there is no FOMO.
0xffff2 6y ago
Funny. As someone who is borderline ADHD, I've always attributed my inability to play MMOs to the ADHD. I can be pretty focused for a few days, but over the long term I get bored and have to move on to something else. When I was younger I rarely even finished single player games before getting bored.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

pelasaco 6y ago

This is something that I'm seeing a lot as elementary school teacher in Germany. Kids exposed to excessive video game - Normally, parents that work full-time and sit the kid in front of the video game/tablet/etc to be able to get things done, - got specially worse after the first lockdown - are being diagnosed with ADHD and are starting to get Ritalin. My kids play video-game, I play video-game, and I have nothing against it. However an excessive exposition is a pattern that i can relate to ADHD.

hugey010 6y ago

I'd love to see more specific studies around video game use. There's just so many variables to account for. How does duration, solo/team play, or player skill (win/loss rate) affect the findings? In my experience, there's definitely negative and positive correlations to my mood, curiosity, patience, and productivity.