Video Game Addiction: We Don’t Care

As avid followers of medical technology news, we spend a lot of time scanning through headlines and press releases. Chances are the wonderful coverage and commentary you find here at Medgadget.com might not be your only source of medical-related news. If that’s the case, you might have noticed there’s been quite the fuss made over whether or not the AMA should classify video game addiction as a real psychological addiction.
Here’s the deal: We don’t really care.
In fact, we’re furiously ambivalent. Why? Because it’s pretty clear there are those who spend way more time interacting with screens and virtual worlds than is healthy, and apparently have a hard time doing otherwise. However, getting on board with the addiction classification opens up a scary scenario where parents of loner overweight kids can sue Capcom for the results of their bad parenting.
This debate is loaded with the sensationalism that our Short Attention Span Theater news environment thrives on. There’s fodder for those who swear video games’ influence on our kids will bring Hell on Earth. There are others who really want someone to blame for their complete absence as a parent. There are great quotes from really dorky kids about how they have no friends and spend X hours a day ‘gaming’. It’s like pure energon for lazy journalists.
There are more important things to worry about.
No Links, as we don’t want to promote the issue further.