• 💊 OTHER DRUGS 💊 Welcome Guest
    Posting Rules Bluelight Rules
    Notable Threads 1 Notable Threads 2
    Dangerous Combos Addiction Support
    Emergency Services Benzo Guide v.1
    Addiction Stories Scary Case Studies
    Biology, Pharmacology & Drugs 101
  • Select Your Topic Then Scroll Down
    Alcohol Bupe Benzos
    Cocaine Heroin Opioids
    RCs Stimulants Misc
    Harm Reduction All Topics Gabapentinoids
    Tired of your habit? Struggling to cope?
    Want to regain control or get sober?
    Visit our Recovery Support Forums

Misc What makes video games so addicting?

CantseemtofindMary

CantseemtofindMary

Bluelighter
Joined
Aug 4, 2014
Messages
62
I've been playing Animal crossing for about 45 minutes straight. What makes video games so addicting?


ps: Animal crossing is so cute
 
I've never found them to be particularly addicting or even fun, for some reason...I have a console and everything, but I almost never play it. I wish I could find enjoyment out of video games, as it seems like a good solitary activity, but they just bore me for some reason...
 
Playing a video game hits those same pleasure reward centers in the brain that drugs hit(dopamine) but to a lesser extent!. I've always wondered if they've ever did a study on if there is strong links between video game addicts and drug addicts. I'm more referring to the compulsion that leads someone to get addicted to either of them like compulsive gaming could be a sign for predisposition to drugs or alcohol.
Anyway!!!
 
It has to do with dopamine and feel good chemicals. Its also a escape from reality so why not be addictive?
 
I used to play video games all day every day. I don't find them enjoyable in the slightest anymore though, I actually feel like i have to go out of my way to play a game and that it's too much work now. All depends on your state of mind I guess.
 
I think it's just like how people get addicted to watching a certain show. You get sucked into the world, whatever it may be, and just end up spending a lot of your time immersed in it. (~40 hours spent in Earthbound, in my case. XD)
 
namnoc16 said:
Playing a video game hits those same pleasure reward centers in the brain that drugs hit(dopamine) but to a lesser extent!. I've always wondered if they've ever did a study on if there is strong links between video game addicts and drug addicts. I'm more referring to the compulsion that leads someone to get addicted to either of them like compulsive gaming could be a sign for predisposition to drugs or alcohol.
Anyway!!!
Click to expand...

Exactly.
Same would apply for food, sex, gambling - even exercises.
When it starts to release endorphin in larger amounts, you lose track of time and start not to care about other things.
 
Last edited:
As others have said, video games provide the same chemical rewards in our brain that drugs do, just like a lot of other things in life. Obviously not to the extent of railing a line of something, but it is similar. That is why you will notice before most people become drug addicts they already had addictive tendencies while growing up. I've always pushed something i found enjoyable to the extreme. Video games since i was a kid (to the extreme, 6+ hours a day), and when i first found bmx biking i got addicted to it for a few years and would spend all day everyday at the skatepark.

When i look back, i notice these were the first signs that i was using things as escapes and that i really should have stayed away from drugs lol. Both my parents are kind of crazy i have to admit, my mom has explosive anger, my dad drinks all day. I really should go get some therapy done lol.

But ya, videogames are addictive because they are pleasurable and rewarding, and if you aren't really happy in your current life, they offer an escape.
 
Last edited:
The thing with video game is that most of really young people are doing it nonstop.
And they'd switch that for internet where there's no limit.
In the era of technology and innovation we are living in, internet, gaming etc has gaining more and more space.

So many people are now giving iPad for their 5-year-old kids so they would 'behave'.
And these kids are getting nervous quite easily in school. They are getting stressed to soon IMO.
 
Last edited:
Mostly because people don't know what to do and it becomes an escape.

I've been good at COD/Runescape that's it. Runescape was addicted because I had no life and it would just be a way to spend my time.

Ever since I quit Runescape I swore to never touch a video game in my life. Around 4 years without it now :)
 
alfredosauce said:
Mostly because people don't know what to do and it becomes an escape.

I've been good at COD/Runescape that's it. Runescape was addicted because I had no life and it would just be a way to spend my time.

Ever since I quit Runescape I swore to never touch a video game in my life. Around 4 years without it now :)
Click to expand...

Haha i am very similar to you! I was super addicted to runescape in my younger years, i had a near maxed account. I also played the oldschool runescape when it first came out and maxed combat, for nostalgia purposes and i got addicted again. Then i lost my bank staking (lol another addiction based around gambling) and have quit for another 2 years. I also have around 100 days played on all of the COD games combined, about 45 of those on COD modern warfare 2. Ya i definetely used games to escape. XD Then I moved on to drugs.
 
Last edited:
Escapism, same thing that makes anything addicting. If it can distract you from the mundane reality of life then it's possible to become addicted to it, I think.
 
Escapism from the parents as well who sometimes are to busy to deal with childhood issues.
Games and internet are acting as babysitters. I wonder if that creates a predisposition for addiction.
I don't know. Possibly.

On the other hand I see a positive scenario where we are counting with skilled and talented generation of young teenagers / adults that like all of us will have to learn how to address their own emotional issues.
 
People with ADHD classically can play video games for hours because it's stimulating for them in the same sense that adderall or Ritalin is stimulating. Also I used to be addicted to runescape as well hahaha, this thread was a good read
 
So strange, I was also really into runescape. I'm sensing a trend here...does runescape leads to drug use?
 
It might, shadow. :eek:

anyways, I just looked on my DS and i have just under 124 hours logged for Animal Crossing: New Leaf. That's depressing.
 
The same exact mechanisms that cause drug addiction (genetic changes like DeltaFosB and regular signaling changes like long term potentiation) could most definitely happen with any behavior, including video gaming :3 Any stimulation of reward pathways leads to sensitization of those pathways, meaning they are more receptive to future rewards. This is basically how addiction is thought to work.

Although I bet the commonality between gamers and drug addicts is we both use those tools to escape... From something... A shitty life?

Mary, 124 hours is heroic, you ever play other games on the PC lol?
 
scientifically.. dopamine..

mentally.. escapism and distraction, games make you feel rewarded when you complete a level and such.
 
shadowstryker said:
So strange, I was also really into runescape. I'm sensing a trend here...does runescape leads to drug use?
Click to expand...

Lmfao I think it does. It gave me like OCD and definitely fucked me up. I played HARD though. Merchant/staking/pking maxed player. I had 8bil at one point no joke pm for pics. Got sick of the game because they ruined pking. They brought it back called 07 oldschool rs. Fuck making another account though. If anyone here got a good account you should let me use it sometimes lol :p.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top