Is being addicted to Football Manager a medical condition?

Maybe you guys may have read it before. It's an extract from Iain Macintosh’s article from Issue Six of the Blizzard, published in September 2012.

Sometimes, I worry about the effect that Football Manager has had on my life. I’ve had girlfriends I haven’t loved as much as my Uefa Cup-winning Southend United side (CM97-98). So I went to see a doctor

http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2015/may/05/is-being-addicted-football-manager-medical-condition

Addiction to anything can be a medical condition if it's bad enough.

A more appropriate question would be, can a person become addicted to Football Manager or any game? The simple answer is yes, the extended answer would delve into whether such an addiction can be as destructive as any other addiction & imo the only possible conclusion will also be yes.

I don't think you can become addicted in the medical sense of the term. I don't think your body would have a negative reaction if you stopped playing football manager for a week, unlike with alcoholics and drug addicts. I think the game is magical, and you can form emotional attachments with your team which means it's intensely pleasurable to play, however i wouldn't class it as an addiction.

I don't think you can become addicted in the medical sense of the term. I don't think your body would have a negative reaction if you stopped playing football manager for a week, unlike with alcoholics and drug addicts. I think the game is magical, and you can form emotional attachments with your team which means it's intensely pleasurable to play, however i wouldn't class it as an addiction.

You can become addicted to anything. If something gives you a release of feel good chemicals in the brain, then it's very easy to become addicted to that and miss it when it isn't there. Much like the addiction to drugs and alcohol. Look at the Starcraft players in Korea who played so long that their kid died of neglect. I wouldn't say they were free from addiction.

You can become addicted to anything. If something gives you a release of feel good chemicals in the brain, then it's very easy to become addicted to that and miss it when it isn't there. Much like the addiction to drugs and alcohol. Look at the Starcraft players in Korea who played so long that their kid died of neglect. I wouldn't say they were free from addiction.

Exactly.

I would add that if doing something prevents you completing tasks you really should do, i would call it addiction.

A lot of people would probably scoff at it - "You're addicted to a video game?! Oh how silly!" when it's no more or less silly than being addicted to anything else.

At my interview for my current job, we were talking about interests and other things. Got talking about gaming, and when I mentioned Football Manager as one I enjoyed, one of the interviewers shifted uncomfortably. He had to physically destroy the disk at one point when his kids arrived. I'd say that's addiction. Don't worry guys, he's perfectly fine now