Re: Gamers show Asperger's traits

[Guest guest]

>

> http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2008/04/23/2225382.htm

>

> Gamers show Asperger's traits

I know I definitely have gotten caught up in games, trying to reach the

next level or what not. It's more like a compulsion to win or ace the

game than shutting out the outside world. I have limited myself and my

kids to playing Wii games only for a prescribed amount of time because

my sons also will go for hours on end if I would let them.

Kim

[Guest guest]

This line is distinctly offensive:

" The more time a person spent playing video games, the researchers

found, the more likely they were to show three specific traits

usually associated with Asperger's: *1. neuroticism* and a lack of

*3. extraversion* and *2. agreeableness*. "

(Asterisks and numbers added to emphasize the most disagreeable part)

ly, if anyone gets obsessed with anything, they're all a bit

neurotic in behavior, regardless of anything else, and tend to be a

bit more self-centered and try to warp time and space to support

their obsession. I find myself asking this question: where

does " Agreeableness " come in, and why is it considered so

important? The world is all screwed up: on one hand, you

read " Everyone needs to just get along and agree with others " and

the other hand says, " If you agree to everything, you agree to

nothing " because the nature of reality is that you simply can't make

everyone happy all the time, and you're not even likely to make

someone happy all the time, but if you try to agree with everyone

all the time, and they figure that out, they'll hate your guts for

being a hypocrite and a liar. Clearly, not everyone has agreement

over what should/shouldn't be: if that were so, war would be a

purely fictional concept.

>

> http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2008/04/23/2225382.htm

>

> Gamers show Asperger's traits

>

> Bland

> Discovery News

> <SNIP>

[Guest guest]

Being a kid of the 80's, I had a Commodore C64 and Nintendo. My

parents set strict guidelines on how long I could be playing games.

They didn't have to worry. Though I enjoyed games like Super

Brothers and Tetris, I became very nervous after about 10 minutes of

playing. I got very fidgety and hyper. No more than 30 min. later and

I HAD to shut it off. I played outside until I dropped of fatigue. I

just had so much energy growing up and I had to keep moving all the

time. Even during the cold Midwest winters I fought my parents to let

me play out in sub-zero weather so I could sled. I agree to disagree.

Who is going to agree all of the time to everything? Being a pacifist

won't get a person far. Example, if I'd agreed to everything my

doctors and therapists of the past said, I'd agree to being a spoiled,

manipulative fake destined for jail. I set limits for myself now. I

spend no more than 2hrs. a day on-line. I'll only extend this if I'm

doing research. For example, I had to do a ton of it to learn about

light therapy & where to find the right product. Sometimes I need a day

off from the PC. I make a schedule for the day in a planner I keep on

my desk-right in view as I am a very visual person. I hope once I can

get help for my auditory sensitivity and phobias that I can form

real-time, face-to-face acquaintanceships. I view the computer as a

sanctuary for now, but hope to move into real-time and use it as a

partial in my life.-

>

> http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2008/04/23/2225382.htm

>

> Gamers show Asperger's traits

>

> Bland

> Discovery News

>

> People who spend hours and hours playing video games exhibit the same

> personality traits as people with Asperger's syndrome, a form of

> autism, researchers say.

>

> The new UK research fuels concerns that video games could further

> alienate an already isolated group of people and increase mental

> health problems like depression.

>

> In the study, Dr Charlton of the University of Bolton and

> colleagues examined nearly 400 gamers, most of whom were male, and

> asked them about how much they played video games.

>

> The researchers, who presented their findings at the recent British

> Psychological Society's annual conference in Dublin, didn't

> specifically study people with Asperger's.

>

> The more time a person spent playing video games, the researchers

> found, the more likely they were to show three specific traits

> usually associated with Asperger's: neuroticism and a lack of

> extraversion and agreeableness.

>

> Charlton suggests that people with Asperger's may be more vulnerable

> to becoming addicted to playing video games because it allows them to

> escape into a world where they can avoid face-to-face interactions.

>

> " Our suggestion is that people with Asperger's might be prone to

> addiction to MMORPGs [massive multi-player online role playing

> games], " says Charlton.

>

> " It is definitely not true to say that playing games can cause

> Asperger's syndrome. "

>

> Social situations stressful

>

> People with Asperger's typically find social situations stressful.

> They often can't make eye contact and fail to pick up social cues,

> like boredom, in other people.

>

> The condition tends to isolate children and can trigger depression,

> which according to researchers, video games may encourage.

>

> The exact cause of Asperger's is unknown, although researchers

> suspect there is a genetic component.

>

> Treatment for Asperger's usually consists of improving social skills

> and breaking repetitive behaviour, the very things video games

> discourage.

>

> Concern

>

> Dr Eileen Costello, a US paediatrician and author of the book Quirky

> Kids about children with disorders like autism and Asperger's, is

> concerned.

>

> " I worry about the mental health of these kids, " she says about

> children who spend many hours playing video games.

>

> " Video games don't prepare them for interacting with real people, "

> she says. " You can't walk into a college interview and say that you

> are really good at playing Xbox. "

>

[Guest guest]

" Though I enjoyed games like Super Brothers and Tetris, I became

very nervous after about 10 minutes of playing. I got very fidgety and

hyper. No more than 30 min. later and I HAD to shut it off. "

I can't play most games anymore. Pinball and Solitaire on the PC get on

my nerves. Pinball because the flippers respond erratically to

keystrokes, and Solitaire because I tend to win a lot to the point

where it bores me.

Administrator

[Guest guest]

" Curious about the pinball game, I don't remember on the few pinball

games I've played having a flipper real-time response problem. But

then... "

The pinball game I am talking about is the one that comes in the

Games folder on any Microsoft system. Once you get up into the higher

scores, the flippers tend to be not as inclined to flip as hard, or

if it is one of those cases where the pinball is near the end of the

flipper it will go through the gap instead of getting flipped. Also

when you attain higher scores, it is not as easy to " aim " the ball,

so that when you need " fuel " it is not as easy to acquire. Finally,

some of the angles the ball bounces at are not possible according to

the laws of physics.

I had thought that maybe my fingers were tired, or that the keyboard

was tired. So sometimes I froze the game and came back later. No

dice. It performed the same. When the game ended, I used the same

force and pressure on the new game and everything worked without a

hitch until I got up into higher numbers again.

I have a good sense of time and of pressure, so when it's time to

launch the ball up that ramp that gives you extra balls, I can just

sit there and do it over and over and over again and accumulate all

kinds of balls and points and what not - until you get to the higher

scores and then I cannot do it as easily. It seems like there is a

sort of half-baked gravity well going on where the ball just will not

go where it is supposed to go.

Administrator