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Can I assume you've never had the privilege of knowing a hardcore gambling addict? I'm not taking about weekend poker players, here... I mean people who've los

Can I assume you've never had the privilege of knowing a hardcore gambling addict? I'm not taking about weekend poker players, here... I mean people who've lost their wife, kids, house, and job to a gambling habit. They have zero savings, mountains of debt, and if you lend them $20 to get groceries, they'll go hungry after gambling it away? Modern video games are designed by highly paid, PHd-level behavioral scientists to be as habit-forming as possible. If you're vulnerable to it, you're going to have the same kind of struggles getting away from video games as a heroin addict would from junk. The lack of immediately lethal consequences is only part of the problem... Addicts can ruin their lives, and take their families and friends to the point of no return, even without the possibility of something as serious as an overdose.

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s-lambert 5y ago
You are talking about a very specific niche of video games though. Gambling based video games are addictive because of gambling, which you can do without the video game part of it. Video game addiction still exists and can be bad but it's probably nowhere near as detrimental as gambling addiction.
- SkittyDog 5y ago
  The most basic harm of an addiction isn't financial. It's caused by an inability to be present in relationships with family & friends. A parent addicted to anything can't be bothered with anybody else's needs. They may hold down a job, and feed their kids 3 meals a day... But an addict won't be emotionally available to anyone around them. When they're actively getting their fix, they're numb to anything outside that experience. And when they're not, they're too busy struggling with their own unmanaged emotions to have room for their kids or spouse. Video game addiction may not take all your money, but it can definitely devour the person. It'll leave you just as hollowed out and functionlly limited as a drinking problem. It's the core nature of self-medication, regardless of the mechanism of medication.
watwut 5y ago
> I mean people who've lost their wife, kids, house, and job to a gambling habit. The wifes and kids are secondary victims there. The tragedy is not that the addict lost them. Them leaving is them getting chance at better life. The tragedy is that wifes and kids were likely mistreated for years and went through hell too. The wifes earnings were lost to addiction too and she did not even had fun playing. The kids were missing school supplies and had to live in tense environment where one parent was addict and other constantly overstressed and very likely cracking.
- SkittyDog 5y ago
  It sounds like you really know what you're talking about... I agree with you 100%, the damage to innocent kids and family is horrifying. If this is something you have personal experience with, I'm sorry for what you had to endure, and I hope your life has gone in a better direction.

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s-lambert 5y ago

You are talking about a very specific niche of video games though. Gambling based video games are addictive because of gambling, which you can do without the video game part of it. Video game addiction still exists and can be bad but it's probably nowhere near as detrimental as gambling addiction.

SkittyDog 5y ago
The most basic harm of an addiction isn't financial. It's caused by an inability to be present in relationships with family & friends. A parent addicted to anything can't be bothered with anybody else's needs. They may hold down a job, and feed their kids 3 meals a day... But an addict won't be emotionally available to anyone around them. When they're actively getting their fix, they're numb to anything outside that experience. And when they're not, they're too busy struggling with their own unmanaged emotions to have room for their kids or spouse. Video game addiction may not take all your money, but it can definitely devour the person. It'll leave you just as hollowed out and functionlly limited as a drinking problem. It's the core nature of self-medication, regardless of the mechanism of medication.

watwut 5y ago

> I mean people who've lost their wife, kids, house, and job to a gambling habit. The wifes and kids are secondary victims there. The tragedy is not that the addict lost them. Them leaving is them getting chance at better life. The tragedy is that wifes and kids were likely mistreated for years and went through hell too. The wifes earnings were lost to addiction too and she did not even had fun playing. The kids were missing school supplies and had to live in tense environment where one parent was addict and other constantly overstressed and very likely cracking.

SkittyDog 5y ago
It sounds like you really know what you're talking about... I agree with you 100%, the damage to innocent kids and family is horrifying. If this is something you have personal experience with, I'm sorry for what you had to endure, and I hope your life has gone in a better direction.