Jumping onto IGN this week I discovered a short but very interesting article about obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and how it affects gamers. This term gets thrown around quite a bit these days to generalise almost all quirky behavioural tendencies especially those related to gamers.
This disorder, like all illnesses, affects people in different ways and to different degrees. I have the good fortune of suffering an extremely minor case of OCD when gaming and even less in my personal activities outside of video games. I’m lucky enough to understand my quirks and actual found that gaming has reduced the OCD tendencies in my personal life too as I’ve learnt to live with some of my strange behaviours.
It all started in my childhood when ‘timed’ challenges provided me with anxiety and negative thoughts; completing a beep test worried me not because I was slow but because I ‘needed’ to complete the sections before the next beep sounded. The same happens when completing task on our video games that are on countdowns – Batman Arkham City’s phone tasks caused more than their fair share of issues for me.
Another area that I sometime suffer with is when playing large open-world style epics like Borderlands and Skyrim. I’m a lover of loot and all things fantasy but the though of missing the next good sniper rifle or a shield in Bethesda’s RPG became such an exhausting challenge that I’ve given up playing it on several occasions. The though of missing such treasures wore at my patience quickly. The numerous glitches and bugs that I’ve encountered haven’t helped either as I need to carefully completely ever aspect of each dungeon checking each chest, body and urn.
Some of the symptoms of OCD include the need to check things repeatedly; performing routines or personal rituals. These then cause distress if uncompleted and get in the way of daily life. This can lead to an overwhelming urge of anxiety that something is wrong and the sufferer can start completing specific behaviours called compulsions to combat this.
One of my rituals in gaming is to ensure my character stays following the same alignment path – good or bad this must be followed at all times (I don’t do grey areas). Mass Effect is the prime example for me of the problems this can bring forth as Renegade points being obtained for a Paragon character starts to slowly ruin my experience and overall enjoyment forcing my to replay areas or restart my character from scratch.
Over the years these feelings have fluctuated in intensity from forcing me to restart playthroughs to personal anecdotal stories. Fortunately I have never needed to consult someone on my urges but recommend that if you are experiencing problems controlling yourself that you contact your doctor to seek advice. There are thousands of others out there experiencing exactly the same thing and your video game hobby is a breeding ground for these anxieties.
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