Addictive Personalities

My husband and I have become addicted, of late, to this game. This game has become the topic of most of our conversations. This game has led to in-house rivalry. This game has us to the point where we are having to make rules about when we are allowed to play this game, because we really ought to pay attention to our children once in a while. This game has led me to look up the signs of addiction, and I found this on a web site:

• The early signs of addiction include using a drug or process to relieve stress, becoming preoccupied with a substance or process, increasing intake of a drug or use of a process, and experiencing negative consequences because of use of a drug or participation in an addictive process (http://www.lscc.edu/healthsafety/addiction.asp).

Relieve stress, aye. Preoccupied, aye. Increasing use, aye.

Negative consequences? Not yet. Well, the kids are still alive. But when is enough enough? But the other morning when I momentarily considered staying home from work, because I was so tired from staying up until 11:30pm playing - Well, I got a little worried. I thought, if I stay home, it would be an excuse to play more, you see, and I don't really have a good reason to stay home in the first place. So after mentally rebuking myself for even considering sleeping in, I dragged my sorry self out of bed.

When is enough enough? Is it negative to all of a sudden decide to buy a new computer, because it will run this game faster and better? Of course, I'm justifying it by saying that I did have my birthday money there, and I can also write it off on taxes because I'll be using it primarily for work. But would we have spent the money otherwise? Well, I really was due for a new computer, wasn't I?