Blog # 8: When video games become more than just games . .
Is it possible to become addicted to video games? Consider:
a Shanghai gamer fatally stabbed a friend for selling his “virtual sword” on ebay for 7,200 yuan.
a 17 year old was sentenced to prison for fatally shooting his mother because she took away his copy of Halo 3.
a Korean couple played Prius, a game in which you raise a child, until their real baby daughter died from starvation
In the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) internet gaming disorder refers to the “persistent and recurrent use of the internet to engage in games, often with other players, leading to clinically significant impairment or distress as indicated by five (or more) [criteria] in a 12-month period” (diagnostic criteria: are a preoccupation with gaming, withdrawal symptoms, tolerance, lack of control, loss of other interests, use despite negative consequences, deception, mood modification, and losing a relationship, job and similarly important aspects of life).
The Internet gaming market is huge and booming – in 2014 it was a $66 billion dollar industry. Big companies develop games to make people want to play. and the games are based on
a reward system - they exploit that part of our brain that governs how we feel when we do something: kill monster, get points; complete level, nice music plays. Win game, feel satisfied. It’s a very simple and primitive part of who we are.
people enjoy games because games it helps them escape from = the real world. A study in 2009 found 41% of its participants said they played to escape the real world.
The typical gamer is male, adolescent and white (Kuss 2013) but people with depression and those with social phobias or who have poor social skills are also at risk. Studies in the 2000s(Flanagan 2014) showed gaming addiction varied from 0.2% (Germany) to 50% (Korea) and have led governments and health care providers to institute programs to curb the problem:
“fasting camps” in Japan (individuals are completely cut off from technology)
outpatient clinics for behavioural addiction in Germany and London
inpatient centres in the USA: the RESTART Internet Addiction Recovery Program and the Digital Detoxification and Recovery Centre
To overcoming gaming addiction in both children and adults is to focus on the social problems that make them retreat to the gaming world - improving social skills and becoming socially competent in the real world, managing stress more effectively, addressing real-life issues (depression, anxiety, bullying, loneliness), and setting reasonable time limits around mealtimes, homework times, family or bed time. We, as adults also need to look at our own behaviour, and turn off their screens and smartphones more often.
Technology is here to stay, and we are becoming more and more dependent on it. We need to become more responsible digital citizens in this ever-increasing technological world, and never lose sight of our need to be socially connected, whether that is in the virtual or real world.
References:
Kuss, D 2013, ‘Internet gaming addiction: current perspectives’, Psychology Research and Behaviour Management 6: 125-137.
Flanagan, J 2014, ‘The psychology of video game addiction’, viewed 23 December 2015, <http://theweek.com/articles/451660/psychology-video-game-addiction>.
Vitelli, R 2013, ‘Are video games addictive? Is it possible to become addicted to video games?’, viewed 23 December 2015, https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/media-spotlight/201308/are-video-games-addictive
Images
‘Physical symptoms of game addiction’, viewed 26 Jan 2016, <http://gameaddictionz.blogspot.com.au>.
‘Many names for the thing’, viewed 26 Jan 2016, <http://www.slideshare.net/JocelynBrewer/nerd-nite-internet-addiction-and-digital-nutrition-dec-2014>,
Adair, C 2013, ‘Escaping video addiction: Cam Adair at TEDxBoulder”, viewed 26 Jan 2016, ,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHmC2D0_Hdg>.
Hey Narellemda20009, thanks for sharing this, you’ve raised some fascinating points which, might I say have me questioning my personal digital consumption levels.
Yet again, just a great read!
Some really shocking cases! I found the fasting camps in Japan particularly interesting as it raises questions about whether gaming addiction is a cultural issue, an idea I hadn’t previously entertained.
This was so interesting. The choice of images were also really effective. Gaming and social media has addition in more than the gaming side of communicating online. it shades the progress and benefits of using the internet. We obviously should be moving back to our natural roots. I enjoyed your post. Thanks for sharing.













