A Comment on “Problems with the Concept of Video Game ‘Addiction’: Some Case Study Examples”

Excerpt

In “Problems with the concept of video game addiction,” Richard Wood provides a great deal of insight into the nature of excessive video game play and has selected case studies that highlight the importance of caution in assuming that video game play is an addiction. Wood characterises the excessive media focus on video game as an addiction as a moral panic (Cohen 2002). He gives case study examples of how the judgement of parents, teachers and other people have been impaired by their focus on the video games rather than on what caused the person to seek out the video games. I particularly agree with him when he discusses the issue of moral panic in the media about video games and how this can lead to an overreaction with parents and teachers regarding video game play. Overall the paper is an important contribution to the literature on the issue of video game related problems. …