Reply #24: No Equivalence

[SoDesuKa]

This is the first I've heard of anyone being "addicted" to DU. I suspect you are trying to accommodate your partner by giving up something you enjoy in the hope he'll seek help for his video game playing behavior. However, assuming your partner is a true addict, you are only enabling him by agreeing to give up your "addiction" to DU.

While you are in Seattle, make contact with people who know something more about addiction than you do. Don't be surprised if they question your generosity in establishing an equivalence between the Democratic Underground website and endless video game playing. Addicts can be helped, but they have to acknowledge being addicts. Sounds to me like your partner is extorting an agreement from you to let him continue to be addicted.

Treatment for video game addiction is similar to detox for other addictions, with one important difference. Computers have become an important part of everyday life, as well as many jobs, so compulsive gamers can't just look the other way when they see a PC.

"It's like a food addiction," Young explains. "You have to learn to live with food."

Because video game addicts can't avoid computers, they have to learn to use them responsibly. Bakker says that means no gaming. As for limiting game time to an hour a day, he compares that to "an alcoholic saying he's only going to drink beer."

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/07/03/health/webmd/main1773956.shtml



Addiction is No Joke