I Knew It! Playing Video Games is a Mental Illness!

I Knew It! Playing Video Games is a Mental Illness!

by | Jun 27, 2007 | Culture

Well, almost. The AMA still needs to do more research, but they sound close to making excessive video gaming “a formal psychiatric addiction.” I almost cannot contain the laughter. But it is not funny. Listen to this poor child: Jacob Schulist, 14, of Hales Corners, Wis., says he’s certain he was addicted to video games and that the AMA’s vote was misguided. Until about two months ago, when he discovered a support group called On-Line Gamers Anonymous, Jacob said he played online fantasy video games for 10 hours straight some days. He said his habit got so severe that he quit spending time with family and friends. “My grades were horrible, I failed the entire first semester” this past school year because of excessive video-game playing, he said. “It’s like they’re your life.” Poor guy! If he had only known the dangers of Play Station, perhaps he would be a happy little guy who liked to read instead. Maybe excessive compliance on the part of parents should be included as a psychiatric illness too. We’re almost there – we have almost made laziness a nationally recognized illness. Ha! I knew I was not responsible for being irresponsible. What will be even more interesting is if we do with a Play Station what we have to do with a package of cigarettes: Warning Labels. “The Surgeon General states that using this device for more than thirty minutes at a time may be addictive and hazardous to your mental health.” Huh, I’ve been saying that for years. Why didn’t they ask me? Really, it isn’t funny. Consider this statistic from the...

No Longer a Downward Spiral

by | Jun 26, 2007 | Culture

I’m no longer convinced that you can call our trajectory toward a “Sodom” society a downward spiral. It seems more like a greased, strait-lined slide. The opening news story in my RSS reader this morning was entitled, “Court Upholds Prisoners’ Right to Porn.” According to the report: “The Supreme Administrative Court in Stockholm last week ruled that the Swedish Prison and Probation Service had no right to deny a rape convict access to his porn magazines.” -begin rant- You have to be kidding me. The top court made a ruling, that cannot be appealed that a convicted rapist cannot be denied pornography? How is it possible that anyone could come to this sort of asinine conclusion? How could it be that any clear-headed human being would think a violent sex offender should have every right to stuff his lust with the kind of material that would serve only to fuel his passion to recommit his crime? Judges. The educated elites of Swedish culture made such a decision. On the other side are the prison officials. No doubt they lack the intellectual prowess of the judicial branch of Swedish government to determine what is best for the moral rehabilitation of violent criminals. According to the report, “Prison officials had argued that reading porn would interfere with the man’s rehabilitation program. They also said the magazines posed a security problem for staff and other inmates because they could increase the risk of the man relapsing into criminal behavior.” Duh. However, the Supreme Court said, the prison officials could not make the case. They could not prove that pornography would increase a...