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Gaming Addiction Come and Read all about it here!!

optimisticBlossom66 September 22nd, 2016

Gamer Addiction

Gaming Addiction is defined as an unhealthy obsession and engagement with video games which often compromises the well-being of the player. Pre-teens and teenagers are most at risk and often become obsessed with video games. Those who are addicted struggle to pull away from the screen and tend to neglect the other vital parts of life including: school/work, socialising, physical activity etc. There is a growing concern for children who are spending excessive amount of time on video games as they are the most impressionable and at risk. There is a large portion of gamers who struggle to balance their playing time. Studies estimate that up to 15 percent of gamers exhibit signs that meet the World Health Organisations criteria for addiction.

The Symptoms in Teens that suggest they have Gamer Addiction:

Preoccupation: When pulled away from the video game, they could seem distracted, irritable or disinterested. They may also constantly talk about the game.

Downplaying computer use: They may make excuses, saying she needs to be online or may outright lie.

Lack of Control: They struggle to control the amount of time spent. They may have the intent to stay online or playing video games for 15 mins and end up staying or playing for hours.

Loss of Time: This is quite common for Gamer addicts who may have the intent to play for a couple of minutes and end up playing for hours and unconsciously realise it until something interrupts them like a family member or the sun rising up or down.

Negative Impact on Other Areas of Life: Because the person spends so much time on the computer or video game console, other areas of life are neglected. He may grow distant from friends and family who had previously been close. Homework may go unfinished, causing grades to slip. In more extreme cases, the teen may even neglect personal hygiene, choosing to play video games rather than taking a shower.

Hiding from Negative or uncomfortable feelings or situations: Teens may use Gaming as therapy to distract them from negative or uncomfortable feelings or use it as a way to hide from situations they feel that they cannot cope.

Defensiveness: When confronted by about the game, they may be defensive. Denial is often an indication that something is wrong, especially if the person seems unconcerned that friends and family feel neglected or left out of his life.

Misuse of Money: If they are using excessive funds to purchase games or new software instead of paying for bills or groceries, this could be a huge concern for the individual's well being.

Mixed Feelings: The teen may feel that it brings excitement and happiness for a short term and then afterwards may feel guilty for what they were doing or the excessive amount of time spent gaming.

The Symptoms in Adults that suggest that they have Gamer Addiction:

Its not a big surprise that adults do feel stressed and overwhelmed from their responsibilities. Its natural to play a game for a few hours. But it comes a great concern when you realise that the individual starts ignoring their responsibilities.

Below are some indicators to let you know if an adult is at risk of Gamer Addiction.

-Lying about how much time you spend playing computer or video games

-Playing computer or video games results in intense feelings of pleasure or guilt that seem uncontrollable

-Spending more and more time playing video or computer games to get the same enjoyment

-Withdrawing from friends, family, or your spouse to the point of disrupting family, social, or work life

-Experiencing feelings of anger, depression, moodiness, anxiety, or restlessness when youre not gaming

-Spending significant sums of money for online services, computer upgrades, or gaming systems

-Thinking obsessively about being on the computer or playing video games even when doing other things

Physical Symptoms in Adults over Games

-Difficulty in getting sleep.

-Migraines

-Back and neck aches

-Dry eyes

-Carpal tunnel syndrome (Painful condition to the wrist and fingers with constant pressure on the wrist.)

-Forgetting to eat, shave, shower. Basic needs are forgotten.


Behavioural Symptoms at work

-Lack of energy at work to be productive and finish assignments on time.

-Sleeping at work is common due to exhaustion. (Could lead to termination)

-May play games during work hours.


Treatment Options for Gamer Addiction

-Take Gaming appliances away so the object of the obsession isnt right in the persons face and could tempt them.

-Supervision from someone trustworthy like a parent could help cut down hours and give control back to the individual.

-Will require assistance from loved ones to guide them to explore more sociable activities such as playing sport with friends.

-Seek a therapist to help with your addiction.

Below there are two links for both age groups for advice for Gaming Addiction for further help.

Note to Teens:

http://www.video-game-addiction.org/note-to-teens.html

Note to Adults:

http://www.video-game-addiction.org/internet-addictions-adults.html


References:

http://www.video-game-addiction.org/

https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/carpal-tunnel-syndrome

http://www.video-game-addiction.org/video-game-addiction-treatment.html

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Fyn September 22nd, 2016

@optimisticBlossom66

This is a very interesting topic as i myself would say may be guilty of being addicted to gaming in my life. I think gaming can be a very positive thing for your life however it definately is hard to tell when it gets to a point where its a negative part of your life. This is why i would say im guilty of doing this in my past as ive for sure taken time away from doing simple things like keeping fit and healthy just to play games instead. In current days i like to keep a focused list on what exactly i need to do each day to keep productive, healthy and happy before i look into the free time i have to play video games.

I know in modern day society gaming is sometimes seen as a very negative thing for people to do which is why people make fun of you for being a "nerd" or whatever else. However you need to focus your mind and show people that gaming is a good experience that gives us great hand to eye coordination and problem solving skills as well as making us all want to be a hero. Make sure gaming is a positive part on your life and show everyone that its something really worth getting involved with!

1 reply
optimisticBlossom66 OP September 22nd, 2016

@Fyn Hi Fyn

Thank you for your kind comment. It is an interesting topic. Yes I do agree it can be both a positive and negative. But im very glad that you have been able to take control of your gaming addiction. It is never easy to do at first but im glad that you can inspire others that its possible to take control of your Life. :) Take care.

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MidniteAngel September 22nd, 2016

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2 replies
Experiment630 September 22nd, 2016

@MidniteAngel

*cries* I'm sorry I know I said that I'd write something sorta like that and I didn't. School day is 13 hours plus homework and sleeping and I'm already super stressed out. Sorry (I think I'm addicted but the problem is I can only play for a few hours on Sunday morning because of school and homework lol)

1 reply
MidniteAngel September 22nd, 2016

@Experiment630

Its important that you always set aside enough time to do homework and enough time to destress, sometimes this can be difficult to juggle and an imbalance may occur - that's why its important to communicate with parents, teachers and peers so you can get the help you need.

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LittleLotte September 22nd, 2016

I think I'm addicted to an online world/game called Neopets. The problem is it's my biggest form of escapism from the real world, and I have great friends there - if I left then I don't know what I'd do.

2 replies
SheyIsHere October 10th, 2016

@LittleLotte

@LittleLotte Ikr. Sometimes it is difficult to leave the friends that we have made in gaming communities because of the bondings, conversations and cohesiveness that we have established. We share interest with them and enjoy it. Sometimes, people who are physically closest to us have different interests and can't relate to our hobbies. That won't be fun though.

1 reply
LittleLotte October 10th, 2016

@SheyIsHere I have tried to get some of the people close to me interested in Neopets too but it's just not for them. I'd love to be able to talk about it (in the real world) with more people without seeming like a loser.

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Nada September 22nd, 2016

Wow, I really love this post! Well done there! I think it's so helpful and informative.

Manta September 22nd, 2016

Didn't know I had to be a moderator to lead a discussion. I'll work on becoming a moderator. I'd rather lead my own discussions than ask someone to take their own time to help me out. Also I don't know any mods. :)

2 replies
MidniteAngel September 23rd, 2016

@Manta

You can always send a message to @ItsJoel if you would like to be paired up with a moderator co-host, or wait until you become a moderator yourself to begin doing discussions

ItsJoel September 23rd, 2016

@Manta

We have Moderators that are more than willing to co-host with you!! If you want to wait that is perfectly fine. But feel free to message me if you are wanting a cohost

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MidniteAngel September 23rd, 2016

A great video talking about Addiction

LapOfNature3 September 25th, 2016

@optimisticBlossom66

My way to avoid addiction: I am not sure if it would be of any use but this really works for me. Often when after playing hours of game I find the amount of time I wasted in playing them and then I am filled with this guilt. But I channel this guilt to a right direction! I use it to delete the games. But be careful to take action then and there cause it's kind of a moment thing. You lose the moment you won't be able to delete them. I know one can reinstall the games grom the DVDs but one thing that could be done is to lend them to friends or someone so that they are not directly accessible to re-install later on. I hope you find this useful. smiley

1 reply
optimisticBlossom66 OP September 25th, 2016

@LapOfNature3

Thank you for that wonderful advice, it sounds like it works well for you. :)

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SheyIsHere October 10th, 2016

@optimisticblossom66

Thanks for this post. Perfectly right for me.

1 reply
optimisticBlossom66 OP October 10th, 2016

@SheyIsHere

Anytime. :) It was my pleasure. Also thank @MidniteAngel for making it happen. :)

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dreamingSunshine October 10th, 2016

optimisticBlossom66 hi, whoops a long post below of my views, feel free to read in your own time.

So there I go blah blah.....................There is always good and bad to everything in the world and the manner of usage of it defines whether its good or bad, and you can see it for yourself too, classic example being money. Before jumping into conclusions looking at all the positives and the negatives is essential. Having an open mind for both the directions is an asset. And thats what made Newton great, cause he asked himself after seeing the apple fall, "Why couldn't the apple go up?". Todays life is really stressfull for people of all ages and they do need some form of recreation to be back in their spirits. Thats why we have a lot of options in our hands like social media, movies, games, etc to cater to different personalities. Whatever you said about games can also be said about TV, but there are vastly different positives of gaming and TV.

I also play games in my free time, and you may not believe this but playing games improved my visualizing skills and made me better in maths and science, also games can teach you a lot of things which you maynot know very well from other sources. As said by @TheGreatLumos44 gaming can bring together a lot of like minded individuals where all can benefit from each other and share knowledge which you may not find in your country. A little more than a decade back people used to talk about TV addiction, some more years back it was the cinema, now its gaming, so in future the focus will move on to something else, even one of my friend was addicted to superheros comics. The point is anything that is recreational/entertaning can become an addiction. People who are addicted to books are ofc missing out a lot more in life, but they always refuse to agree. Kind of open to one direction only and ignoring the other.

Also every century had its own addiction problems. The important thing is to identify the line that represents the border, and this may differ from person to person. Proper parental guidance with proper understanding of the child's psychology can eliminate almost all the problems stated above. Afterall whats not achievable with love, understanding and compassion as you have said. If a substitute to gaming were available, then addiction wouldnot have appeared at all. You see when a new thing arrives to take place of the old, the people addicted to the old loose interest in it. The percentage of people addicted to TV has reduced a lot cause we have a lot of other options available. Nowdays people are addicted to smartphones, and will move on to something else in future. If children are made aware of the recreational substitutes to gaming the question of addiction to gaming wont arise. Also those who are addicted often want to escape the world for some reason. So parents need to understand whats happening in a child's mind, exactly what you said assistance from loved ones. Playing sports with friends may not be a luxury available to everyone depending on the neighbourhood. But a nice walk with the neighbours or a little schedule for exercises everyday will ofc do wonders for our body. Also merely removing away the object of addiction might give rise to new problems in future cause it may come as a shock to the child. I feel the post is incomplete without including the positive aspects of gaming, hence not right to jump to conclusions about gaming.

Wish you all a wonderfull day heartheartheartheartheartheart

1 reply
MidniteAngel October 10th, 2016

@dreamingSunshine

This post isn't to discourage gaming. We are Gamer Outreach after all! We love everything to do with gaming, however a lot of us have experienced Gaming Addiction in our lives and its important to open a space to talk about it, and inform others about it. We want people to game, but to never allow it to consume you. Gaming can be a passion, a hobby, even a job - but it shouldn't ever take away from your life.

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dreamingSunshine October 11th, 2016

@MidniteAngel hi,

I was just trying to say what was missing in the post, in the article I do not find proper coping mechanisms of addiction, a few are listed above which may not apply to all, just only the problems highlighted in detail which ofc does not paint a very good picture. A problem and its solution go together, otherwise the problem remains as a problem, hence its also equally important to speak about its solutions in equal detail too, in my last para I stated that those suffering from addiction are looking to escape the reality for some reason, which is why understanding and compassion from loved ones is essential. People can incorporate exercising cause its benefits are miraculous.

Also addiction can happen with anything else too, not just gaming. These days lot of people are addicted to smartphones and social media. All of these come under addiction to computers. Its the manner of usage that tells whether its good ar bad. But thats an entirely different topic to talk about here. So stopping here. Im not against the post or the purpose of the thread, I just wanted to say that adding all those I said will make it a lot more beneficial and useful.

1 reply
MidniteAngel October 11th, 2016

@dreamingSunshine

If you have any suggestions for how to manage Gaming Addiction it would be super awesome if you could create an informative post about it. We're always looking for new forum writers! It would be a really helpful thread for sure

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