We’ve all had those days, admit it: the ones where, even though we knew we had other things we should have been doing, we chose to play video games instead. Maybe you got home after a long day of work and just didn’t feel like doing anything else. Or perhaps you felt like getting a few hours in on your day off and the day flew by before you knew it. The laundry goes undone, your pets go unfed, and your friends and family members can’t understand why you spend so much time and money on those damn video games. A lot of people joke about being addicted to video games, but the truth is that it may be more serious than anyone knows. In fact, some psychologists believe that gaming addiction could be an impulse control disorder, and several treatment centers have made help available to those suffering from this problem. There have even been reported deaths of gamers who spent too many hours in a row playing, not stopping to eat or sleep after days of nonstop gaming. With more and more releases coming out every week and gamers buying game after game to fulfill their need to keep playing, it’s not hard to imagine that this hobby can sometimes get out of hand. However, even after all the so-called cases of gaming junkies, the American Psychiatric Association recently determined that they did not believe video game addiction to be a mental disorder. So is it really that serious, or is this supposed “addiction” limited to just a few individuals who should have been better supervised before the problem got completely out of control? It’s undeniable that video games can have addictive elements. The need to know what happens next in the story, to get another kill, to finish the fight, to achieve all the gamer points, or even just to simply escape reality can be very strong sometimes. I’ve known people to take several days off from work because of a major video game release, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t skip a class or two in college because I was too busy playing Ocarina of Time for the third time. I even once had a co-worker who requested days off based on his World of Warcraft raids. So where is the line between occupational hobby and hardcore addiction? Even though there’s no medical diagnosis for video game addiction at this time, it’s pretty clear that the possibility is there, and a lot of us probably share some of the same symptoms of this addiction. However, as long as you’re still going to work, going to school, taking care of your cat, and remembering to shower once in awhile, I don’t think you have to worry. When it gets to the point where you haven’t left your house in a week because you’re still trying to get that last achievement in Oblivion, maybe it’s time to put down the controller and find yourself a nice rehab center to check into.