Addicted: Breaking Free From Video Game Addiction

By Corey Hardin

Video games are great. They take us to virtual worlds and can help us create virtual and real-life bonds with others who enjoy the same games. This use of video games is life-enhancing. However, when things get out of balance and video games become our life and reality it's time to get help because we are nursing an addiction. If you are ready to break free, "Addicted" is that first step to help you get your life back.

• Language: English
• Publisher: COA Publishing
• Release date: Mar 18, 2018
• ISBN: 9781393415336

Corey Hardin

Corey Hardin is an avid gamer. His favorite game series include Fallout (of course) Halo, Resident Evil and Bioshock. He had a problem with video game addiction, but he realized he needed to overcome his addiction to be a better person. Now that he is no longer addicted, he reads, writes and plays video games without being under compulsion.

Book preview

CHAPTER ONE

The Basics: An Introduction to Video Game Addiction

Video game addiction is a relatively new problem. Video games are a recent invention on the large scale of things and have only gained a lot of popularity in the last 30 years. However, today as these games become more sophisticated and more widespread, they have also become associated with the new mental health problem of video game addiction.

Video game addiction is considered to be a psychological addiction. A psychological addiction is different from a physical one, like one that appears with illicit substances, but it is no less serious. A video game addiction can be defined generally as an individual's compulsion to constantly spend a lot of time playing video games, either alone or with other people. This text can offer you all the information you need about video game addiction and the help you may require if you suffer from this addiction.

So, what is an addiction? Addiction is a chronic condition, because it involves a brain disorder. People who have an addiction find it very hard to control the desire they have for the thing they are addicted to, whether it is alcohol, drugs, tobacco, gambling or anything else. This difficulty to control themselves persists even if they face serious legal, social, personal, or health consequences for the addiction. This is because an addiction leads to actual changes in the brain. However, even though many see it as chronic, it doesn't mean that addiction is not treatable. The same is true for video game addiction.

It is more common to see a video game addiction to massive multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG’s) than single-player video games. It would seem that these games are the most addictive. Anyone can play them online, making access to MMORPG’s easy.

How does a MMORPG work? Each player takes on the identity of a character in a private or public game. Some private game rooms require an invitation and a key to participate. For public spaces, anyone can enter and participate. Examples of MMORPG’s include World of Warcraft and RuneScape, which are also among the most popular video games out there. In recent years, these games have been joined by dozens of free-to-play MMORPG’s. Many people involved with these games are at risk of developing a video game addiction.

As time goes on, the player is drawn more and more to the game. It begins to take more and more of their time, effort and money. The addicted person finds their world growing smaller as they isolate themselves from real connections and avoid real experiences, choosing to spend hours or even all of their free time playing these games.

What are the characteristics or signs of an addiction? Where does the line between a hobby and an addiction lie? Here are some general signs. The person with an addiction to video games might be:

Spending several hours a day playing video games.

Neglecting work or family responsibilities in order to play.

Using sick or vacation days to play games.

Neglecting to sleep, eat or bathe to play the game.

Feeling angry or depressed if unable to play games.

Having no hobbies or activities outside of video games.

Lying about how many hours they spend playing video games or how much money they are spending on them.

Spending money on video games at the expense of rent, food or other necessary things.

Social isolation outside of video games.

These and other signs can point to the presence of a video game addiction. In future chapters, we will look more into the symptoms, the problem, and the solution.

CHAPTER TWO

Identifying Video Game Addiction

The American Medical Association (AMA) states that as a general rule, people who spend more than 6 hours a day on the computer playing video games are addicted and can be considered compulsive gamers. This doesn't apply to single occasions (i.e., you bought a new game and played it all weekend), but it needs to be a repeated pattern. This is, however, not the only symptom of a gaming addiction.

Symptoms of video game addiction are:

* Preoccupation with gaming – the person constantly thinks about gaming, worries about it, talks about it and has little interest in other activities. They think about gaming even when in social situations or doing other things.

* Craving more time to play video games – the person might seek to reduce the time they spend on other activities, such as socializing, studying or working.

* Drop in performance at work or school – the person will have a drop in grades or in performance, they will tend to be absent more often, they will be distracted