We can die just because we breathe air at a certain location for a number of years near a certain factory, so, yes, people can die doing just about anything. A good point.

Maybe I should have curtailed my reaction a bit or explained what enraged me and caused the post, and I could have saved a lot of typing today. I am glad I was able to get some understanding about the motivation out there. Thank you, Gazelle.

I like that Definition, we can work that in to the theory here. Gambling and video gaming might be negative for loss of money, missing work and losing a job, failing in school, and yet the spiral continues as an escape for the problems that the addiction is causing to begin with. It fits quite well as an expanded…

I have seen some pretty serious mood swings and anger issues in others and felt a bit of it myself back when WoW was new and getting in on that raid at that certain set time was in jeopardy. So no, not physiological, but some very unusual psychological reactions for something that is just zeros and ones when we think…

I'll give you the point that video game addiction might not cause the shock, but I seem to remember articles from this site talking about people dying while gaming for days at a time. It might be rare but it happens.

I tried but it's snowing. I then tried to catch a snowflake on my tongue but it tasted like chemicals, so I brushed off the walk and went inside. ;)

I know the device was a joke, Ai mean it looks ridiculous and people would smell so bad they'd pass out anyway. ewwww. I suppose it was the fact that there an inference to gaming being a disability that set me off. Maybe I need to drink a second cup of coffee before reading Kotaku in the morning? Probably. But those I…

All true. Maybe my attempt to express my point is skewed as in the safety world, we look at the results of addictions on personal health and safety and he it impacts everyone, and differentiation only comes from how the addictions are treated, but that they exist and the reasons to have people offered treatment all…

My clarification was to state that they are all addictions and all should be perceived as serious things, though some have more serious physical consequences than others. But all lead to issues. Addiction is a broad category, and some were trying to state that it wasn't quite like that. The definition stands, but I do…

I have since apologised for not clarifying that I did not mean severity, just the nature of it being an addiction. Introducing foreign chemicals is certainly far more dangerous. But yet I have seen gamers I've known have the same angry and grumpy reactions when they couldn't make a set raid time or had not played a…

Most of us do! But not everyone does. Was I approaching the level of WoW addict at one point. I would say yes. I think this might become a serious concern in the future of we don't try and understand it now.

It seems I started some controversy, so here goes. I asked the safety specialists in the OH&S group, of which I am a part, and per definition, addiction is a brain dependency on external sources, which can be, but is not limited to, ingestion or inhalation of chemicals. Traditionally, gaming refers to gambling, but…

And there we go. Our world is a strange place, and the media has gone from everyone must be informed to everyone must only be informed by us and no other agency so how do we sell papers. Not sure how I feel about Leveson entirely yet but we'll see...

Yep. It is not the same as far as severity, I will admit that I should have clarified that, BUT as I have replied to others, any external stimulus that creates an endorphin rich condition in the brain can lead to reliance on that particular stimulus, and thus is an addiction. Can we agree that people can be addicted…

At the core, video game addiction is the brain becoming used to an external stimulus and not wanting to be without it. Do apologise for incorrectly implying that the severity might be the same, which we know it is not, but the basic function of the brain enjoying the endorphins and chemicals activated by the rewards…

Ah, thank you for clarifying how I should have stated it and thus avoided the slew of detractors. Those kids who vanish all weekend to play CoD and attain top spots on leader boards are prime examples. It's not the same as the chemical dependencies but hey, when you have something you can "win" there can be an…

I don't know, I've seen articles here about people dying in gaming and Internet cafes. We have the stereotype of the gamer who is forever in the dark basement, atrophied and unhealthy, unwilling to give up the top spot on the game. Addiction is about the Brian's reliance on stimuli from external sources. Yes, the…

People with any reliance on external stimuli, chemical or other, should seek help in some form to get better. My suggestion about balance is to say that a gaming addict could learn to find a play versus life balance. Other addictions are more serious, such as alcoholism, and I have seen that in people I know, and I…

Finally, some sense. People think addictions have to be chemical based. The brain is a complex machine that enjoys certain means of stimuli, and when we get to deep into them, the brain continues to crave them.

People think addictions have to be chemical based. The brain is a complex machine that enjoys certain means of stimuli, and when we get to deep into them, the brain continues to crave them. It's not just the things we consume through ingestion or inhalation or add to our blood streams, but the very chemicals our brain…