this post was submitted on 19 Oct 2025
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Something becomes an addiction when it is unreasonably difficult to stop doing it in order to address something you would consciously rate as more important. That could mean biological needs like food or sleep, social needs like work or seeing friends and family, or self-improvement like exercise or pursuing hobbies other than video games. It is not determined primarily by hours spent.
Of course if you have no other hobbies, never exercise, don't have friends, and actively minimize other time commitments to maximize the time you can spend gaming, most people would consider your lifestyle imbalanced. That doesn't make it an addiction though, and if you're an adult, what kind of lifestyle you want is ultimately up to you.
"That could mean biological needs like food or sleep, social needs like work or seeing friends and family, or self-improvement like exercise or pursuing hobbies......"
Work has done all of this to me on repeated occasions, but I wouldn't say I'm addicted to work.
Though..... I suppose I am addicted to the resulting paycheck.
For work, the compulsion comes from outside, not from you. It's not an addiction, it's company profit intruding on your life.
Ok, well I definitely exercise (sometimes), have a lot of friends who I text though I never go out anywhere, and I try to do other things as well, so I would say I'm not addicted. TYSM :)
I suppose I would add that if you consciously want to do something less and can't bring yourself to do so, that's also addictive behavior. It doesn't sound like that's the case here though; you just like gaming. It's OK to like gaming.