Video game addicts not addicts after all

Do you love playing video games to bits, often spending four hours per day just playing your favorite video game? Most people would “diagnose” you as a video game addict. But for Keith Bakker, the founder of the Smith and Jones Centre in Amsterdam, only 10% of all so-called video game addicts have a psychological problem.


For Bakker, compulsive gaming is a societal problem rather than a psychological one. The traditional counseling treatment that he employs for video game addicts only works for those with real addiction problems, such as kids having cross addiction with alcohol and drugs. But for most gamers who seek consultation, what they need is a little communication with their parents and teachers. According to Bakker, this can hardly be called a psychological problem. In other words, what these kids need is some good old lovin’ from their parents and teachers. A person’s support system is very important, whether one is an addict or not.