Here's another article in the realms of mental health and new media. Psych studies also suggest that you can become mentally addicted to fantasy football. It shares the common thread of other kinds of internet addiction where there is an "illusion of control." Or the player has to control the outcome. This is actually a blog entry I think from the New York Times website, so you can think of it as a blog within a blog.
*Again clinical psychology is still developing, so addiction diagnosis will not be perfect.
http://fifthdown.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/27/when-fantasy-football-becomes-an-addiction/
(article sent to me through Tissyana Camacho).
As someone who plays fantasy football, I never thought about it in terms of control and the illusion of holding power over a team.
ReplyDeleteI will say that when I bought the new Madden game, I, and from what I read many others, was incredibly disappointed in the fact that they took away the Franchise Mode which offers you a chance to completely control a team.
It was one of the most popular features on the game, and now that it is gone, Madden 13 has had some serious critiques and a resulting price plunge.
Maybe it isn't new media and addiction, but football fans and their ever-longing quest for control.