If you didn’t hear it by now, the WHO recently classified ‘Gaming Addiction’ as a mental health disorder in the early days of this year or the late days of 2017. From there, texts started rolling in forwarding articles, and I brushed them off as absolute nonsense. If you don’t know by now, I have an equal part respect for the virtues of mankind as I do an uncut hatred for its failings as a whole. In my last post about gaming, I detailed my history with the medium and planned to follow up with (and still intend to) where I see the industry as a whole based on my steep investment with the art form.

But in between now and then, or at least at some point, I wanted to address these articles and this diagnosis as complete bullshit. I envisioned some doughy, lazy turd sitting at home barely moving away from his console or PC, who can now use this classification to justify not getting up from his/her couch to become a productive member of society. That’s not me, I work, I’m a parent, I have an active social life and who the hell is going to judge me for wanting to put my feet up at the end of the day and swing my fully upgraded Malady Fist hammer at a Rathalos in Monster Hunter World to farm those damned talons and medullas so I can craft a decent fire-type weapon? Who? Well, the problem is, the only person with any right to judge me is me, and god damn it, I’ve got a long-winded confession to make….

When I decided to tackle this subject a little over a month ago, the plan was to shit all over it for the reasons mentioned above. I wanted to rake this topic over the coals and vomit fire and snakes over anyone who stood by it. I mean, they’re coming after my number one hobby, and it seems these days they take anything anyone enjoys and turn it into a disorder to justify the people who ignore real life and give them an excuse to keep wasting away their finite time upon this earth… for nothing tangible. And this will be true of some people – imagine it – “But moooommmm, I know I’m 35 and haven’t moved out or found a job, but you can’t shame me for my conditiooonnnn!!!” Right? Followed by, “Now hurry up and make with the pizza pockets!”

I was being self-righteous, and my original post was going to be about the virtues of moderation and how gaming is no different than binging tv or social media addiction. And while this is correct, I decided to delve a little deeper than the thumbnails people were brushing over before sending them to yours truly. There were three main symptoms, and reading them forced one of those looks in the mirror, you know the kind, where you realize you MIGHT have a problem and that (gasp!) you are not perfect. Reaped from the articles I’ve read and browsed, I can honestly relate to all of them.

‘Thrive, just become your disease’ – this line from Nine Inch Nails’ song ‘In Two’ was the basis of my reflection. Last week, the aforementioned Monster Hunter World was released and I’ve been waiting for this game for years since playing the last installment on my 3DS. It’s gorgeous and a, no pun intended, monster time-sink. I decided that for the first week I was going to take the self-imposed inhibitors off my gaming time and play literally, as long as I wanted, just to see how bad it was. Well, unabated, I logged over 120 hoursin the measly ten days since the game’s release. It’s fun, I love it, it’s a phenomena with lots to do and an online component that’ll keep the game alive for years to come. It’s exactly what I want. So why is that bad?

The answer is, it’s not. What is bad, however, is the fact that I put in almost three full work weeks in less than half the time… and while I have a fully-kitted out character who can tangle with the best of them… I didn’t see the time go by. When I made my social rounds, there was literally nothing new to report beyond, ‘playing a new game, and it’s awesome’. I have things I want to do with my life. Real things with tangible rewards that have a chance to make me memorable beyond having a killer loadout with maxed out gear. What could I have done with those hundred hours? To be honest, I don’t have a clue. I felt lost when I took a break, even though I know full well I’d like to write more, exercise (for maintenance purposes, I am by no means a fitness buff) and in general just take in some fresh air.

So I guess the first step is admitting I have a problem and while quitting is nowhere on the table, I have to take measure of my time and prioritize it. Yes, I could game all day and all night and be placated by cool new skins and higher stats, but that hundred hours should have been spread out over two weeks, or a month even. Maybe longer. There’s more to do and see, for me, anyway, and I’m very much glad I indulged in this little experiment to learn about my potentially crippling vice and that I did it not too late to lose sight of the virtues in diversifying my activities. Besides, the couch & controller combo is much more satisfying to come back to after a long walk or a good roar with your pals!

• Signed, A Gaming Fiend