How Do You Get Addicted To Video Games?

Dr. K’s Guide to Mental Health explores Anxiety, Depression, ADHD, and Meditation with 150+ video chapters in a Final Fantasy-inspired skilltree.

#shorts #drk #mentalhealth

[eebbaa]

i think i’ve understood this to be true on an intuitive level after thinking more critically about my relationship with video games over the past few years.

at my lowest points, i played exorbitant amounts of competitive multiplayer video games, and even though i sucked at them (i still do), there was an illusion of progress and mastery. the path was mostly clear, with defined steps that i could take to improve myself as a player, whereas in my real life i was met by failure after failure with no feedback or any idea of how i could fix my problems. in real life, i hated every part of myself and my existence, but improving my life wasn’t as simple as just watching youtube videos and playing more games.

i still suck at video games now, and my life is still relatively in shambles, but at the very least, i’ve at least started to become aware of why i do what i do.

[ratt]

I get addicted way more to single player games that end because I know there's an end goal in trying to get to. Whereas multiplayer gets boring because it feels like an endless task so there's not that drive unless game is just super fun to play mechanically but that can only be for so long.

[dinardirham]

Not only video games, even the motivational videos, self-improvement videos all are designed to make your urge more & more like craving for such videos, if you not take any necessary & immediate actions after watching such videos, it will merely a entertainment, giving you a illusion of achievement and success, that is not a accomplishment actually!

[mossington]

I’d argue dark souls is not designed to make you win. It’s designed to force you to figure out how to win.

[goodfortunetoyou]

Weirdly, this is also how corporate progression works. You're designed to converge towards a middle management position, but are always told you need to be climbing the corporate ladder and improving your skill in vague terms.

[jamalgs]

This makes so much sense, and I've known this. I just really crave it outside of games, but dam the world is hard, and things are so uncertain

[DaDuckfr_____]

The games with an ending are better than the ones without an ending

[calippo]

Recently I feel like this is also a positive thing about video games. I am usually very active, aspirational and social, but recently, I got sick and it is taking months to move past it. I had to cut back on all my previous activities and video games have become such a big source of joy recently. In them I can feel like I am still growing towards something, mastering something.

[travisknight]

"You're still designed to win"

Yeah, tell that to EA.

[ResurrectedSoul]

I play first person tactical shooters competitively. I don’t play for the sake of fun but for my competitive nature. If im climbing ranks that can be fun but playing each ranked game is not fun at all, its like a chore.when you try to get better in a game its not fun anymore but extremely rewarding once you start getting better in it and your hard work pays off.

[whoaitstiger]

I'd like to hear his opinion on competitive esports games, that like their offline counterparts are often highly stressful and require a large investment in enduring pain to improve at.

[MrReese]

But is there actually a difference on a basic level between being a top eSports athlete and a top physical athlete who gets a medal at the Olympics? Both are competitive genres made up by mankind and recognized by different people to find the best in task X. Whether that is a physical task or a mental task or a mix of both doesn't really matter. You could compare it to chess or billiard, for example.

I think the comparison itself is a bad one by our guru this time in light of his teachings about not seeking outside validation and letting go of your ego. "Being the best at task X" is purely about recognition and your ego. And being an Olympic gold medalist is recognized by a certain big group of people, but winning the TI in Dota or Worlds in LoL is recognized by a different big group of people. And the felt reward of achieving it is huge, not comparable to just winning a single game in a pvp multiplayer game.

[angryherbalgerbil]

I got my degree in Video Games Art. Tbe lecturers even pretty much gave a talk about game addiction and why it's built in as a device, and the problem of false accomplishment... It then started to register that they were essentially drug dealers saying "don't get high off your own supply"... And now they're raking in lecturers salaries teaching addicts how to get more people addicted.

TV, Films, video games, social media, all of it detrimental to society. Wrong roads were taken in the last 100 years.

[jamesogorman]

I haven't been able to find the same sense of drive accomplishment in real life. I work hard but it gets me nowhere and I know I'll never be a home owner which was important to me once. So why work hard when it won't get me what I want? I have nothing else to work towards that's meaningful enough to me to justify the hardship and sacrifice.
I can win at a game but I can't win at real life because it feels like it's rigged against me.
Playing a game you know you're going to lose only ends badly or with you brainwashing yourself into pretending it didn't and accepting less than you deserve for your hard work.

[casey]

He obviously has not played Lion King on Sega Gensis. It was made for pain

[menos]

Dr. K: "No game is designed for you to lose"

Meanwhile FromSoft:

[seekingfinding]

They make it so everyone can win at the lowest level, but then they make it so you can set the game to higher and higher levels so there's always a higher challenge. Everybody is happy, and the game makes money.

[LastNameOptional-sk]

Wait, a moment. Why exactly is getting an achievement not like getting an Olympic medal? I mean, obviously the scale is a little different, but what separates unlocking a rare achievement from beating a personal record in sports? Of course, doing sports is good for your health, but in order to be in top shape you REALLY don't need to do much nor do you need to constantly beat PRs. And on the other hand, you could argue that playing video games is good for ones mental fitness.

[eganrabiee]

Why can't real life be designed to be winnable too? Instead I keep getting rejected from jobs for lack of experience, when I need the job for experience in the 1st place. So games are designed to be winnable, but real life is designed to keep me at level 1 forever.

[-PHAZED]

This can literally be applied to the Olympics and most of life..