Blind Spots: Computer Games and Confessions of a Clinician
I am a child psychiatrist who spends a lot of time talking with teenagers, but I am remarkably clueless when it comes to understanding how they may spend six hours a day glued to the computer screen. I may be able to ask questions casually ("Do you like girls, boys, or both?") and feel relatively hip, but when it comes to exploring their interest in video and computer games I become remarkably self-conscious about my ignorance (and, more honestly, my lack of interest).
This changed for me after attending a workshop with social worker Mike Langlois (gamertherapist.com), who has made it his mission to help rehabilitate those of us who may mask our anxiety by thing we have moral superiority over those who waste time on video games and who don't appreciate how to assess when computer gaming is a problem.
He provided a primer on basic terms in video games, explaining demographics, trends of gamers, and suggesting how to assess gaming use, abuse, or addiction. I left this workshop feeling less intimidated; now I am ready when a parent tells me his teenager is addicted to computer games, and I am ready to ask more questions when a teenager brightens when sharing his latest strategic maneuver in World of Warcraft.
The video game that I am most familiar with is Pac Man; I love the colorful icon as it races around gobbling up dots. Thirty years ago I made my way through Mexico, the summer after I graduated from college, playing Pac Man while sipping Corona beer. It is probably my coolest outdated pathetic video game moment. So learning the lingo or basic vocabulary (in this case, that of the popular game World of Warcraft) is useful as a window into the world that many of my patients and my own children find fascinating.
I learned that you can customize your character, and this can help to identify you with your character. Often, the character you choose can reflect your personality; your "avatar" is the physical representation of the character. Nonplayer characters (or NPC) are not operated by other players but by the computer. For those readers who are familiar with Pac Man, these are the ghosts in Pac Man. Boss is the big bad character you fight to get to the next level. Sometimes the whole point of the game is to "down the boss" so you will get rewards. (For more terms, see the list below.)
This new vocabulary shows me that I have overlooked a powerful way teenagers make meaning of some of their need to defend, gain power, or negotiate. It has also given me the opportunity to explore (if they play World of Warcraft) and ask how they feel about the boss or what spells they may need, which shows me what they are motivated to learn on their own.
It isn't surprising that 97 percent of teenagers between 12 to 17 play computer, web, portable or console games. Or that 99 percent of boys and 94 percent of girls play video games. But over 50 percent of white, black and Hispanic (English speaking) adults play video games and over half of these playing adults graduated some college and make more than $75,000 per year. So games, I discovered, are played by many.
So maybe players are motivated for achievement, status, or the challenge of the game. Or they may enjoy the social teamwork, the group achievement, or making friends. Or they may be gratified by the escape, the story line, or discovering hidden treasures.
Just knowing the different positive aspects of gaming softens my approach. Now how do I better assess when gaming is too much? I used to ask teenagers, and their parents, how much time they spent playing games and stopped there. Although there is no current diagnostic criteria for Internet or gaming addiction, two researchers (Kim and Haridakis) identified three dimensions of Internet addiction: escaping reality, intrusion in function, and impacting relationships. This is more helpful to assess then simply how much time someone is spending playing video games.
If a teenager is captivated by World of Warcraft and researches how to strategically help his guild and is able to maintain his grades and get to school, we may want to understand what the game means to him but not feel it necessary to curtail his involvement because he is addicted. But if he is escaping reality and his responsibilities, this may be cause for concern.
I confess I am not a convert, I have not signed up for World Warcraft nor paid its monthly fee. Although my instructor sees the opportunity to gain confidence by playing video games, I still have a certain aversion. But I know the next time one of my kids starts to talk about a video game or a patient talks about his virtual character, I am going to remain more curious and try to appreciate the knowledge and skill that he may be gaining while also paying attention to when his gaming may be overboard.
Gaming vocabulary:
DPS: Damage per second; this is when you might recoil, concerned that videos are encouraging aggression.
Aggro: Aggression from the boss.
Healer: In World of Warcraft the most important character is the healer, the one who heals.
Buffs: Certain spells that can buff you up. The higher the level you go, the more privileges you get.
Loot: What you get when the boss is eliminated. The loot can be gear that your character puts on for battle, or it may be gold.
Guilds: Initiated by real people and come from the term of a group of artisans, but the guilds set about to participate in World of Warcraft.
Epic win: When a player has done the most incredible job.
Epic fail: When a player loses in a most colossal way.
This changed for me after attending a workshop with social worker Mike Langlois (gamertherapist.com), who has made it his mission to help rehabilitate those of us who may mask our anxiety by thing we have moral superiority over those who waste time on video games and who don't appreciate how to assess when computer gaming is a problem.
He provided a primer on basic terms in video games, explaining demographics, trends of gamers, and suggesting how to assess gaming use, abuse, or addiction. I left this workshop feeling less intimidated; now I am ready when a parent tells me his teenager is addicted to computer games, and I am ready to ask more questions when a teenager brightens when sharing his latest strategic maneuver in World of Warcraft.
The video game that I am most familiar with is Pac Man; I love the colorful icon as it races around gobbling up dots. Thirty years ago I made my way through Mexico, the summer after I graduated from college, playing Pac Man while sipping Corona beer. It is probably my coolest outdated pathetic video game moment. So learning the lingo or basic vocabulary (in this case, that of the popular game World of Warcraft) is useful as a window into the world that many of my patients and my own children find fascinating.
I learned that you can customize your character, and this can help to identify you with your character. Often, the character you choose can reflect your personality; your "avatar" is the physical representation of the character. Nonplayer characters (or NPC) are not operated by other players but by the computer. For those readers who are familiar with Pac Man, these are the ghosts in Pac Man. Boss is the big bad character you fight to get to the next level. Sometimes the whole point of the game is to "down the boss" so you will get rewards. (For more terms, see the list below.)
This new vocabulary shows me that I have overlooked a powerful way teenagers make meaning of some of their need to defend, gain power, or negotiate. It has also given me the opportunity to explore (if they play World of Warcraft) and ask how they feel about the boss or what spells they may need, which shows me what they are motivated to learn on their own.
It isn't surprising that 97 percent of teenagers between 12 to 17 play computer, web, portable or console games. Or that 99 percent of boys and 94 percent of girls play video games. But over 50 percent of white, black and Hispanic (English speaking) adults play video games and over half of these playing adults graduated some college and make more than $75,000 per year. So games, I discovered, are played by many.
So maybe players are motivated for achievement, status, or the challenge of the game. Or they may enjoy the social teamwork, the group achievement, or making friends. Or they may be gratified by the escape, the story line, or discovering hidden treasures.
Just knowing the different positive aspects of gaming softens my approach. Now how do I better assess when gaming is too much? I used to ask teenagers, and their parents, how much time they spent playing games and stopped there. Although there is no current diagnostic criteria for Internet or gaming addiction, two researchers (Kim and Haridakis) identified three dimensions of Internet addiction: escaping reality, intrusion in function, and impacting relationships. This is more helpful to assess then simply how much time someone is spending playing video games.
If a teenager is captivated by World of Warcraft and researches how to strategically help his guild and is able to maintain his grades and get to school, we may want to understand what the game means to him but not feel it necessary to curtail his involvement because he is addicted. But if he is escaping reality and his responsibilities, this may be cause for concern.
I confess I am not a convert, I have not signed up for World Warcraft nor paid its monthly fee. Although my instructor sees the opportunity to gain confidence by playing video games, I still have a certain aversion. But I know the next time one of my kids starts to talk about a video game or a patient talks about his virtual character, I am going to remain more curious and try to appreciate the knowledge and skill that he may be gaining while also paying attention to when his gaming may be overboard.
Gaming vocabulary:
DPS: Damage per second; this is when you might recoil, concerned that videos are encouraging aggression.
Aggro: Aggression from the boss.
Healer: In World of Warcraft the most important character is the healer, the one who heals.
Buffs: Certain spells that can buff you up. The higher the level you go, the more privileges you get.
Loot: What you get when the boss is eliminated. The loot can be gear that your character puts on for battle, or it may be gold.
Guilds: Initiated by real people and come from the term of a group of artisans, but the guilds set about to participate in World of Warcraft.
Epic win: When a player has done the most incredible job.
Epic fail: When a player loses in a most colossal way.
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