"Gaming Addiction". Don't Buy Into the Guilt, Let's Be Honest About Addiction. (plus info on social engineering)

Ok I am sick of this garbage. Companies and organizations who are very well-informed about human behavior still try to create guilt and confusion. Let's stop buying into it and be honest with each other so we can heal and enjoy our existence.

Most things that create any sort of good feeling chemical change in your body can either be fun and healthy or used to cover up unhappiness. There is NOTHING specific about being addicted to video games vs opiates vs alcohol vs TV vs exercising vs porn. If we are not feeling good we try and feel better. Its so simple. There is NOTHING diseased or abnormal about that. Instead of categorizing each separately let's be honest about why everyone is so freaking miserable that they don't want to participate in society or community. Or why they feel SO unhappy that they will throw away relationships, jobs etc to feel good. People deserve to feel good. It's OK to feel good, and to seek out feeling good. It is normal. Normal. Normal.

There are some people that have biological reasons they become addicted to certain substances, while other can USE them (not just try once but use and enjoy) and NOT be addicted. No substance effects everyone the same, and not all people enjoy the same substances or activities. This is the personalized aspect of addiction.

But many, and I believe most aspects of addiction have more to do with disorders within our society than individuals (lack of community, knowing as a laborer that your hard work is often wasted or misused, knowing that as a businesses owner you have to follow cancerous business models, plus abuse labor in third world countries to be profitable, stress levels and aggression levels heightened because of a MANUFACTURED sense of competition with everyone all the time.... I can go on). THESE can and do cause addictive behaviors throughout whole populations, these need to be addressed. Why after all of these revolutions and increases in global mobility or wealth, do most people still feel a lack of control over their life? Why do we still feel a sense of isolation when it is now possible to find people all around the world to connect with? The answers are complex, but not a mystery. The decision to start treating gaming disorder as a separate phenomenon just shows me that we are not making progress. This is a one-trick pony, and the trick is to make you feel so terrible about yourself that you lose your power.

This will not solve any of the shootings, aggression, or depression. All this will do is be a reason to sell more drugs. Because, only the ones they have are legal and socially acceptable, other than that you're an addict. 😒🤚

PS: This video going around on Facebook is just an ad for Nintendo. Nice try guys.

https://www.facebook.com/GameSpotTIL/videos/10160179276255436/

Here is a well done short video showing how our current view of addiction misses the point:

Feelings of isolation and lack of control lead to addictions. Even drugs as powerful as morphine can be used recreationally. I know this is painful to hear if you have had loved ones die or go through the destructive patterns of addiction. I have lost a lot of friends and seen many many people I love suffer through addictions, but I have never believed banning any one or two or three substances was the answer. We just rotate through history that way. Look up the worlds history with opiates , for example, this is nothing new. The old ways of dealing with it don't work, and they remove the freedom of choice from our lives. Lets try something new?

Social Engineering: this is an EXTREMELY in-depth and fascinating look at how we are manipulated, and why we buy into it. Grab some popcorn and all of the people you care about ;)

Lastly, a few hard-working news and information sources I love that are here on Steemit :

@leecamp - funnyman and host of Redacted Tonight
@antimedia - alternative news source