Most people would say that Naomi Alderman, contributor for the British newspaper The Guardian, had a serious problem — an addiction.For several months Naomi spent upwards of 30 hours per week behind a computer screen clicking her mouse on tiny Orcs and Goblins. Naomi loved playing Diablo II and now considers her love an addiction. But she doesn’t see her addiction as a problem. In fact she thinks of it as a great benefit to her life. Alderman was in New York in the days leading up to and following the Sept. 11 bombings. She was emotionally distraught after the attacks and solaced herself at home playing her game. When things got better and New York began to come back, she left lost interest in Diablo II and returned to her normal life.Alderman displayed many signs of addiction. Her hobby consumed her life and was used as an extreme example of escapism — yet she still sees its outcome as a positive experience.When I think of video game addiction I think about pasty, unwashed adolescents hiding in their basements and defecating into trash cans because they don’t want to miss any of the game — exactly like the  South Park episode featuring World of Warcraft.Even worse, I think of the Reno, Nev. couple that left their baby unattended and starving while they played games for hours on end.That’s a fairly common perception — most people think addiction is a personal problem.That sentiment, often grounded in the belief that addiction represents one persons failure to overcome their own individual demons, is not completely true.Addicts do not become addicts in a vacuum and addiction is often predicated on social factors that influence and shape people’s addictions in subtle ways.  One of the most prevalent is our cultural perception of addiction.  Post World War II addicts were treated as outcasts and failures. They were members of society who failed to uphold the standards and norms, and were an embarrassment. An addicted family member would be dealt with quietly and kept from public sight.Addiction was usually limited to some sort of substance — namely alcohol — and not other activities.  Few people would openly discuss the idea of sex or food addiction in the 1950s.Those ideas were a product of their times, and the public perception of addiction has loosened up in recent years.Addiction is still seen in a negative light overall but being an addict, specifically one seeking treatment, is much more accepted.You can see something like this almost everytime you turn on the TV. Cable networks feature shows focusing specifically on people who are addicted to any number of things.Maybe these shows exist because we love watching someone with a problem change their life. Maybe it’s that state-fair mentality of looking for someone who’s life is worse than ours.  It doesn’t really matter why we watch them. The take-home point is that addicts are more visible now than ever before.The types of things one can be addicted to is another key change in the social perception of addiction. We now perceive a different set of addictions outside of recreational substances. Whether it’s sex, video games or food, the breadth of our perception of addiction has changed, but the values we place on addiction are confusing.Some addictions are less troubling to us, and some are not considered troubling at all.Americans are in love with caffeine. Richard Lovett of New Scientist magazine reports that caffeine is the most widely used psychoactive substance in the world, and 90 percent of Americans consume some form of caffeine each day.Millions of people literally depend on caffeine to get them up in the morning and to keep them alert during the day.Caffeine addiction has serious side effects and poses some serious health risks — the most obvious being kidney damage.Alderman’s video game addiction and America’s caffeine addiction are strong contrasts. But they both have important lessons. Both cases demonstrate the complexity of addiction the social component of the addiction.Addiction is more than just an individual issue. It is shaped by social perceptions. There are certainly individual factors in addiction — everyone handles things a little differently — but those individual traits are influenced by the social climate.Our more positive perceptions of overall addiction are a good sign. Hopefully people will become more willing to ask for help in the future.—-Contact Skylar Gremillion at [email protected]