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Finding balance can help video gamers avoid addictions
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Treatment varies for addictions
Gambling and video game playing aren't just mental activities — they can also be physical.
Activities like gambling and video gaming can cause the release of endorphins and serotonin, two powerful drugs produced naturally by the body, said Ron Davis, president of the American Medical Association.
Most addictions have physical and mental components — even when they might not appear to, Davis said.
"You're not talking about inhaling or taking a drug, but there are some behaviors that people engage in that cause chemical releases in the body," Davis said.
But as physical and emotional dependencies vary, so must the treatment for each of them — even gaming, if it is deemed an addiction, Davis said.
"There are varying treatments — in some cases, there's medication to help with addiction, like nicotine patches for smokers," Davis said. "There are anti-depressants, counseling, support groups and residential treatments. There are some commonalities, but I don't think there's a cookbook approach that's easily translated from one addiction to another."
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Landing a good job at a computer consulting firm should have been the start of Jason Montoya's serious career.
But he couldn't stop thinking about Hwoarang.
Improving his skills with Hwoarang, a character in the video game "Tekken 3," had so invaded his thoughts that he couldn't think about anything else — not his girlfriend, not his family and certainly not work, he said.
"I would find myself at work surfing the Web for strategies," said Montoya, 33. "I'd go out saying I was getting a burger, and really I'd go to the arcade to test out a strategy. I was obsessed."
Can video games become a true addiction like drugs or alcohol? Recent headlines about a couple in Nevada who were so hooked on online gaming that they may have severely neglected their two small children suggest that video gaming can become a significant problem.
The American Medical Association debated whether video gaming is an addiction over the past month and decided more research was needed, said association President Ron Davis.
For Montoya, it's clear that video games can ruin your perspective and take over your life.
"For me, gaming is not an addiction like drug addiction — not that I've taken drugs — but I do feel a physical yearning to play sometimes," Montoya said. "Winning is kind of like a hit. When you win, it's a rush."
Video game addictions share similarities with other addictive behaviors, Davis said.
"The issue is how game playing controls the behavior of people who play," Davis said. "A hallmark of addiction is that it affects or controls behavior — by affecting personal relationships, performance in school, performance on the job."
Back in the late 1990s, Montoya said, he sure fit that description.
He was fired from his first job and second job because of his game playing, he said.
"But I was one of the best players in the state — in the nation — and I still am," Montoya said.
Eventually, though, he realized that his national status and the thrill of winning left him feeling empty, soulless.
"Games had become more important than people," Montoya said. "What got me out of it was getting sick of seeing my real life decay around me. My game life was golden, but my real life was crusty, brown and broken."
Officially calling compulsive video game playing an addiction could perhaps help players like Montoya get specialized treatment — and use medical insurance to cover the cost.
But defining compulsive video game playing that way will require more studies on how people use and react to games, Davis said.
For Montoya, admitting he had a problem and getting his life back took some time. His wife was critical in the process, he said.
"It was a long battle, I struggled, but I was able to do it," Montoya said. "Listening to my wife — she told me when gaming was acceptable and when it wasn't."
Today, Montoya doesn't have to play constantly. Sometimes he won't play a game for weeks, he said.
"I don't feel that pressure anymore," he said.
But he does stay in touch with the video gaming scene, and he's trying to help other gamers ----- especially children and teenagers — find balance and still enjoy gaming through a group he founded called the National Video Game Association.
"We want them to play, have fun, but realize other things are important, like school, their families," Montoya said.
The group only runs tournaments a few times a year so gamers don't get too obsessed, he said. And it puts children with mentors who show that video gaming can lead to a career — if it is paired with an interest in education, Montoya said.
Keeping a focus on balance is a critical message — even at the top levels of the video game tournament scene, said Daniel Serna, an Albuquerque resident who plays the game "Guitar Hero" professionally.
"Typically, what I do is I have goals I'm trying to accomplish, and I go at it for a few days until I get there," he said of his practice routine. "Once it's done, though, I take a few days off and recoup."
Walking away from the game, especially to focus on his girlfriend, has kept him healthy so he can enjoy his career, Serna said.
"I play when she's at work and I play around her schedule," Serna said. "Otherwise it wouldn't be fair. I've seen people who can't stop once they get started, though, and I want to ask them `Why? Why is a game so much more relevant than your real life?'"
And even if it's not an official "addiction," video gamers can still get counseling and ask others for help, both Montoya and Serna said.
"Once you're in to a certain point it can be really hard to stop," Serna said. "But you can back away. get back to the real world. Take a shower, go eat some food. There's a lot of other things out there."
