• bouh@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    37
    arrow-down
    4
    ·
    4 months ago

    An addiction is defined by two things : first, it has negative effects on your life. Second, trying to stop it makes you miserable.

    Food for example is not an addiction, it’s a biological need. The need for socialisation is another one.

    Video games can be an addiction. But I’d argue that they’re usually not, they usually a coping mechanism. When they are, the problem is elsewhere, and the video games are helping you to survive through the problem.

    • Surp@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      27
      ·
      4 months ago

      Foods can obviously be an addiction for people that are massively overweight (not in all cases ie thyroid issues).

      • bouh@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        7
        arrow-down
        3
        ·
        4 months ago

        Everything can be. But for the largest majority of people, eating is normal, eventhough it can seem to have some aspects of an addiction.

        And the most important part here is that even if you somehow get addicted to food, you cannot simply stop eating. Because you need to eat for your survival. It’s a biological need.

        That’s the point of the example : showing that something you can’t stop doing is not necessarily a bad thing. The details are very important when it comes to addiction.

        And video games are unfortunately victim of propaganda when it comes to their dangers.

        • lemming934@lemmy.sdf.org
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          edit-2
          4 months ago

          I’m not sure eating is normal for a large majority of people.

          For example, about 3/4 of Americans are overweight

            • lemming934@lemmy.sdf.org
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              1
              ·
              4 months ago

              I have, it’s surprisingly easy to eat only once a week. I lost a lot of weight, but then gained it back after I went back to eating every day.