A UK therapist has made a pretty bold statement by saying two hours of gaming equals doing a line of coke. Steve Pope, a senior lecturer in psychology at the University of Central Lancashire, has made the the conclusion that gaming is becoming a drug for youths, and is growing at an alarming rate.
Spending two hours on a game station is equivalent to taking a line of cocaine in the high it produces. It is the fastest growing addiction in the country and this is affecting young people mentally, as well as leading to physical problems such as obesity.
Now don’t get him wrong, video games can become a problem for kids, but is it as bad as hard drugs like cocaine? He is not saying games are the new devil and that they should be gotten rid of — but they need to be moderated, like everything else in today’s world. People need to take breaks, step away from the TV and do some other activities.
That being said, I think he could have compared it to something else besides cocaine — I don’t see video games being anywhere as bad as that. Yes, people have gotten killed over video games, but I think the number of crimes from drugs out weighs games by a large margin.
UK Therapist: Two Hours of Gaming is Equivalent to a Line of Cocaine [1UP]
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If gaming made me high I would do it more often. Instead I do other things…like getting high.
jk
Man i love coke… I mean gaming.
Obesity? -.- I’m over weight but im not obese. The reason im over weight is because when i get board i snack and i eat too much when i make dinner. Not from playing games. Lets face it, most teenagers today dont go and hangout by ‘exercising’ together. They chill, go see movies and play games…
Well, I think more now than ever people are taking Physical Fitness a little more serious than they did about 10-20 years ago.
Although, people love to eat and when food is so easily accessible in the US like it is, we will eat!
People just love to use video games as a scape goat
I can see where he’s going at there but the extent of it I think is a more than it should be.
“videog ames”
oh em gee grammar error
Yeah, because if I play games for 2 hours, I’ll become totally addicted, ruin my life, abandon everyone I know for it and spend every penny of my money on gaming ……… er, wait …….
That could be said about anything, like movies, watching tv, playing sports, reading, even frieking jerking off.
yeah, jacking off can definitely be habit forming
Wow, this in terms, makes me embarrased to be part of his country. Its over eccentric people like him who blow things way out of proportion and bring shame to an already semi-deotiriated country. Shame on you.
Wow, I must be a big coke head then. I spend waaayyyyy more than 2 hours gaming a week.
Then I guess that makes me a coke-head, being that I probably average 2 hours a day on video games…more on the weekends.
The chemical process that occurs when you take cocaine can kill you and has many long term negative effects.
The processes of gaming that cause long term damage are due to the player not stopping to eat or exercise.
The difference is staggering.
ok i looked thru that british article and its a loada bull. Lets see alot of gamers stay with there family and support there family they dont beat there childeren and they dont get in trouble with the cops. While lets look at Sports players cheaters drug addicts child beaters. Screw a football my kid is gonna be picking up a controler and playing mario.
I love this story because it’s ridiculous stuff like this that makes people think that video game opponents are full of s**t.
I think soccer is more deadly in the uk than video games.
Video games will always be the devil. It’s such a good scapegoat to point the finger at whenever someone acts out in violence.
[img]http://www.hotbloodedgaming.com/wp-content/uploads/waterboymother.jpg[/img]
I can see it already, a shady looking guy standing on a street corner and some kids walk by him, “Yo kids you want some video games? I got good stuff, premium quality straight from Rockstar.”
and theres a whole video game cartel backing the operation
First off, Love the picture lol
Now, what is this guy talking about? I don’t think I get a “high” off video games after 2 hours. I play mon-fri on the broadcast and then Im usually done playing after that. I dont see it as an addiction and I certainly do moderate what I buy and play and how long I play for.
I do agree that it can become habit forming, which I guess he’s trying to relate the addiction, but come on, Cocaine? The days of Refer Madness are long gone and people need to stop using drug propaganda to scare people. It’s funny he came out and said this considering RDR just sold a shit load over in the UK.
Video games — when will people just leave them alone