Neurotherapist: Gamers think they're in actual combat

Wow, its been a bad week for gaming. First a little girl gets the life beaten out of her by her idiot sister and boyfriend, then the NY DoJ releases a propaganda slideshow about how video games are so "killographic" (with a weblink to that hoax mavav site), and now this piece of garbage hits the airwaves. According to this neurotherapist gamers' brains can't tell the difference between playing violent games and being in real combat, and as a result develop post-traumatic stress disorder. I don't know about you guys but I think he may be onto something. Yesterday while eating at Denny's a waitress dropped a plate and immediately started having flashbacks of the flood level in Halo 1. It took 30 minutes before I could be calmed down. The whole time I was ducking behind a table and desperately trying to hit buttons on a controller that wasn't even there screaming "damnit! they just keep coming! why isn't my gun working! ****, no generic marine #5, don't go in there! Nooooo! You bastards killed Generic Marine #5! Ahhhhh!"

Also, the good doc states that he's seen gamers have withdrawl symptoms from games including the shakes. Now I know this is bs. Why? Because the stereotypical shakes caused by drug withdrawal are due to the brain being used to having a certain neurotransmitter that controls movement supressed. Take away the supression and suddenly your brain's neurons related to movement are hyperactive thus causing the shakes. You don't get that in a game. The only way that games could possibly cause addiction is through increased dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens (the brain's pleasure center), which in terms of withdrawal one would only expect a person to have cravings for the game or perhaps not be able to get as much pleasure out of activities that they used to find fun. The dopamine release isn't going to be anywhere else in the brain so you're not going to find shaking, cold sweating, nausea, or any other drug withdrawal symptoms. Sorry for the long winded explanation there, but all I'm trying to say is the guy is a quack (since all this is covered in undergrad intro neuroscience c.lasses).

Every time I hear a crash I flash back to Company of Heroes

OH NO AN ANTITANK GUN!!!! QUICK TANKS, TURN AROUND AND KILL IT!!!! NOT THAT WAY, THE OTHER WAY!!!!!!!! NOOOOOOOOO!!!! WHY IS THE TANK AI SO DUMB?!?!?!?!?!?

the same thing happens when i play chess for a while. i start to think that i can only move diagnaly or something.Paper_Knife

Odd, because whenever I play chess, I think I can only move in mishapen L's. And when I play checkers, I spend the rest of the day trying to kill people by jumping over them :P.

I work in a mental health facility. In a few weeks we're having a "professional" come in to speak with us about the effects of violence in videogames. I'll reserve judgement until I hear what they have to say, but I plan to be there to represent gamers in a sea of non-gamers. Schwah

Huh, that's interesting. I wonder how much of an extremist that guy's gonna be.

Just yesterday I witnessed a man get run over by a care.

To be fair, I tried to help. He was walking right in front of the car, and he wasn't really paying attention. I hypothesized that by shooting a portal both under him and on a high area of a wall, he would fall into the portal, and momentum would force him out of the wall at exceptional speeds. I would then place another portal where he was going to fall and then the exit portal on a wall next to me, and so when he fell into the third portal and exited from the fourth, he would land straight into another wall, where another portal would be placed, with the exit portal located right next to it. I would place another portal next to the previous exit one, albeit a little higher, and then again another portal on the ground below him. The momentum would force him through his front door, into the breasts of his spicy Latino lover.

Unfortunately, this plan proved to be far to unwieldy, and I decided that loading from my last save was an intelligent move on my part.

oh and a little off topic but today at the metro these people were giving out flyers telling people to ban violent video games because "they're brainwashing our kids"

I thought it was lame, they have a rating system for a reason stop blaming the game and start blaming the parents who buy/let them play the games.

[QUOTE="Schwah"]I work in a mental health facility. In a few weeks we're having a "professional" come in to speak with us about the effects of violence in videogames. I'll reserve judgement until I hear what they have to say, but I plan to be there to represent gamers in a sea of non-gamers. viewtiful26

Huh, that's interesting. I wonder how much of an extremist that guy's gonna be.

Well, I've actually found most people in the mental health profession to be pretty grounded individuals, so there's hope. But every time I hear "video game violence" my head fills with images of non-gamers trying to wrap their minds around a complex community that they're not a part and passing judgement on the same.

The video game industry has it's problems, but those problems seem largely misunderstood.

[QUOTE="viewtiful26"]

[QUOTE="Schwah"]I work in a mental health facility. In a few weeks we're having a "professional" come in to speak with us about the effects of violence in videogames. I'll reserve judgement until I hear what they have to say, but I plan to be there to represent gamers in a sea of non-gamers. Schwah

Huh, that's interesting. I wonder how much of an extremist that guy's gonna be.

Well, I've actually found most people in the mental health profession to be pretty grounded individuals, so there's hope. But every time I hear "video game violence" my head fills with images of non-gamers trying to wrap their minds around a complex community that they're not a part and passing judgement on the same.

The video game industry has it's problems, but those problems seem largely misunderstood.

The media likes to misinterpret the studies on the effects of video game violence I've noticed. I've seen the studies and while there is strong evidence that violent games do cause an increase in aggressive behavior, its nowhere near as extreme as the media tries to make it seem. Games won't cause your teens to beat their little sisters to death, though they may increase the likelihood that your son will have road rage when he starts driving. Most people in the field will say this, its just the minority that have a self-interest (such as the guy this topic is about who's entire practice is based on treating gamers) that try to make it seem like letting your 13 year old play GTA will cause him to steal your car and go on a hooker killing spree. And of course its those quacks who make it onto Fox News and CNN, not the level-headed respected researcher who did the research in the first place.

Yeah...I go into the tool section of Home Depot, and I hallucinate.

I see a million little girls, and they all simultaneously yell "Just kill him, Mr. Bubbles!"

And the drills....oh god, the drills....pain, pain, pain.

I work in a mental health facility. In a few weeks we're having a "professional" come in to speak with us about the effects of violence in videogames. I'll reserve judgement until I hear what they have to say, but I plan to be there to represent gamers in a sea of non-gamers. Schwah

you should make a thread about what happens

That must explain why people bunny hop in Counter-Strike Source, because it's an advanced tactic used by militaries all around the world. What a genius that neurotherapist is.GettingTired

Yeah, I didn't know that soldiers instantly drop grenades upon death.

hmm. they may be onto something. we were talking about the battle of bunker hill when I had a flashback of PRM for BF2

"Commander, have charlie squad defend the construction site, my squad will do a flanking maneuver to the north and attack the train. WATCH OUT, SNIPER!!!!! NO MYBROTHERISADICK (that's his user name). man down!!"

hmm. they may be onto something. we were talking about the battle of bunker hill when I had a flashback of PRM for BF2

"Commander, have charlie squad defend the construction site, my squad will do a flanking maneuver to the north and attack the train. WATCH OUT, SNIPER!!!!! NO MYBROTHERISADICK (that's his user name). man down!!"

notconspiracy

:lol:

I have to eat snakes ,man... I HAVE TO EAT THEM AND I CAN'T ****ING STOP!!!!

*explodes*

This thread is now about placing video game experiencs into real life and vice versa.

One time my friend jumped on the Hydra's back, so I threw a green bottle in his face, pulled out my car keys, and started sweeping everything around me.

i dont think im in combat...SorasGhost009

I'm certain this doc has only observed people playing games and has never jumped into it himself.

Whoever said the thing about the tools section in Home Depot gets a ZMSOA.

Wear it proudly. Wear it well.

If I play a Total War for too long I feel the urge to conquer large portions of Europe. :(deshields538

I get that feeling all the time...

This would explain why I always strafe around corners . . .Elraptor

:lol: :lol: I was doing the same thing once, and my gf was like WTF???