Skip to main content

"Computerized Solitaire 'Addiction': Fact Or Fiction?/Can excessive Solitaire playing be addictive?"

A new article in Psychology Today.

Before you read that, please take my survey:

Do you play solitaire on your computer or digital device?
 
pollcode.com free polls

From the article (by Mark D. Griffiths):
[A]ddictions rely on constant rewards (what psychologists refer to as reinforcement) and each game of Solitaire can be played quickly and individuals can be quickly rewarded if they win (positive reinforcement) but when they lose, the feeling of disappointment or cognitive regret can be eliminated by playing again straight away (negative reinforcement – playing as a way to relieve a dysphoric mood state). I also stated that addictions typically result in a coping mechanism to other things in a person’s life. They use such behaviours as a way of escape and the repetitive playing of games can help in such circumstances....
Griffiths says you'd need to meet all of the following criteria to be considered addicted to Solitaire (and I'd be very surprised that even if you play Solitaire a weird amount of the time, you won't even meet the first criterion):

Salience ... Solitaire becomes the single most important activity in the person’s life and dominates their thinking (preoccupations and cognitive distortions), feelings (cravings) and behaviour (deterioration of socialised behaviour). For instance, even if the person is not actually playing Solitaire they will be constantly thinking about the next time that they will be...

Mood modification ... the subjective experiences that people report as a consequence of playing Solitaire... they experience an arousing ‘buzz’ or a ‘high’ or paradoxically a tranquilizing feel of ‘escape’ or ‘numbing’).

Tolerance – ... they gradually build up the amount of the time they spend playing Solitaire every day.

Withdrawal symptoms ... unpleasant feeling states and/or physical effects (e.g., the shakes, moodiness, irritability, etc.)... when the person is unable to play Solitaire....

Conflict ... the conflicts between the person and those around them (interpersonal conflict), conflicts with other activities (social life, hobbies, and interests) or from within the individual themselves (intra-psychic conflict and/or subjective feelings of loss of control) that are concerned with spending too much time playing Solitaire.

Relapse ... repeated reversions to earlier patterns of excessive Solitaire playing to recur and for even the most extreme patterns typical at the height of excessive Solitaire playing to be quickly restored after periods of control.
Do you have a Solitaire addiction?
 
pollcode.com free polls
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"It's just a type of berry from Japan, unfortunately. Very cool though!"

Went to a small fruit farm were they grew strawberries crossed with raspberries. from r/pics Rubus illecebrosus — "a red-fruited species of Rubus that originally came from Japan (where is it called バライチゴ, roseberry), but is also very popular in some European countries like Lithuania. Common names include balloon berry and strawberry raspberry."
Post a Comment
Read more

"Apple has suspended its practice of having human contractors listen to users’ Siri recordings to 'grade' them..."

"The company said it would not restart the programme until it had conducted a thorough review of the practice.... The suspension was prompted by a report in the Guardian last week that revealed the company’s contractors 'regularly' hear confidential and private information while carrying out the grading process, including in-progress drug deals, medical details and people having sex. The bulk of that confidential information was recorded through accidental triggers of the Siri digital assistant, a whistleblower told the Guardian. The Apple Watch was particularly susceptible to such accidental triggers, they said.... Although Apple told users that Siri data may be used 'to help Siri … understand you better and recognise what you say,' the company did not explicitly disclose that this entailed human contractors listening to a random selection of Siri recordings, including those triggered accidentally...." The Guardian reports. What is voluntarily stopped can be ...
Post a Comment
Read more

"She inspired me so much, it helped me to slow down. The way she would notice the little things like the colour of the mushrooms on the ground."

"I was focused on goals, like climbing the mountain, but sometimes it's not all about the epic views, it's about enjoying those little moments too." From "Why this 89-year-old is visiting every US national park with her grandson" (BBC). There's also the question why would a young, strong person would travel to grand and extreme landscapes with a companion who is slower and less stable and vigorous. That's my own photograph of mushrooms, noticed on a walk in 2010 in the Apostle Islands National Seashore. It's good to see the small things within the big.
Post a Comment
Read more