Addiction and NFL Fantasy Football

NEW YORK CITY - MARCH 1: In this handout image provided by Disney Parks, Erin Andrews is joined by Mickey Mouse aboard the newest ship of Disney Cruise Line, the Disney Fantasy, at a star-studded christening gala held March 1, 2012 in New York City. The 4,000-passenger Disney Fantasy will sail to her home port of Port Canaveral, Fla. this week. With a maiden voyage on March 31, Disney Fantasy will sail seven-night cruises to the Caribbean and Disney's private island, Castaway Cay. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)

Ok, now we all know that with the draft, football is already here. The season may not have officially begun, but football as an entity is here. You need to ask yourself, “Do I have a Fantasy Football Addiction?”
A fixation is one thing. A hobby is still another. A habit can be good. But so many times, these will lead to addiction, and we don’t even know it. Fantasy Football addiction is like prostate cancer. We don’t want to think about it, we don’t want to protect ourselves from it, but it is reality, and as adults, we need to face it.
Ok, now that your attention is on more pleasant things. Let’s look at fantasy football addiction. (Doesn’t sound so bad, in the light of prostate cancer, does it!) So you like the game, and sure, you may get a little caught up in it. But does it monopolize your time. Let’s prepare for success in life, before the season has a complete jugular hold on you, and you are sucked in with no control over yourself or your behavior during the season.
If you have already established that you have problems controlling a gambling habit, you are a prime suspect for addiction to fantasy football. A gambling habit predisposes you to be taken in by everything that fantasy football offers. All of the same factors that excite you in gambling are present in fantasy football. The statistics and probability factors, the risk and chance placing the fate of your success in things beyond your control are all there in fantasy football.
Realize that addiction is defined as: a physical or mental dependence on a behavior or substance that a person feels powerless to stop. The problem with relating addiction to fantasy football is that once you are committed to the season and other players, you can begin to feel unable to stop playing. This could be because you are merely committed to the success of your team, and the enjoyment of others. That’s why addiction of this kind can be so hard to identify.
Addicts aren’t typically the first people to notice that there is a problem. You are in the middle of all the action. How can you be expected to understand the complete dynamics of the affects when you are truly a player in the middle of the game?
This is where you need to listen to those around you. If they are starting to express concern regarding your attention and focus on the game, listen to them. If they refuse to play in your league this year because of your actions last year, listen to them! You may have a problem, but it doesn’t have to control you. You may need to take a step back, and reevaluate your focus toward the game.
As much as we all realize that it takes a real adult to subject himself to prostate cancer screening, it takes a real adult to face up to other warning signs as well.
Prostate cancer doesn’t have to be deadly and can be treated. There are great life-expectancy numbers for survivors of prostate cancer, but only if they get early treatment. The same is true for the fantasy football addict. There are great things waiting in your life. If you’ll take a new look at everything and reprioritize everything, there is greatness on your horizon, if you’re “man enough” to accept the responsibilities for your decisions!