Addictive or not, I think this statement is a sign that the authors didn't do much of an investigation:
>It is normal behavior that, while perhaps in many cases a waste of time, is not damaging or disruptive of lives in the way drug or alcohol use can be.
I've seen many people who ended up with serious relationship issues due to spending as much time as they did playing video games. Perhaps that was a sign of a deeper problem in the relationship, but in the cases I saw it didn't seem to be. When they were away from the games the relationship seemed great.
Likewise I've seen people calling in sick, coming in late after a late night of playing video games, etc. and ending up with work and longer-term career issues as a result of spending many of their waking hours playing games.
It can get well beyond "unwinding after work" and really start to affect your life. The same can be said for other activities, but to dismiss the idea that people who play games or do those other activities obsessively aren't harming their lives and couldn't use some kind of help seems disingenuous.
>It is normal behavior that, while perhaps in many cases a waste of time, is not damaging or disruptive of lives in the way drug or alcohol use can be.
I've seen many people who ended up with serious relationship issues due to spending as much time as they did playing video games. Perhaps that was a sign of a deeper problem in the relationship, but in the cases I saw it didn't seem to be. When they were away from the games the relationship seemed great.
Likewise I've seen people calling in sick, coming in late after a late night of playing video games, etc. and ending up with work and longer-term career issues as a result of spending many of their waking hours playing games.
It can get well beyond "unwinding after work" and really start to affect your life. The same can be said for other activities, but to dismiss the idea that people who play games or do those other activities obsessively aren't harming their lives and couldn't use some kind of help seems disingenuous.