Forget about drugs and alcohol destroying lives, hoards of teenagers and young adult video game players are “clinically” hooked to playing video games – either online video games like WOW or at home with their Xbox, PS3 or Wii.
These addicted gamers become almost possessed with their game and end up engrossed for hours every day, often at the expenseof their homework, relationship and social activities and even their job. In some instances video game junkies will play way into the night, get up early before school or work and play more and then return to their console or TV, and upon their return, play for several hours every afternoon and evening.
This behavior is responsible for crumbled relationships, crashing grades as well as job layoffs. In essence, it has become a destabilizing habit forming compulsion that is adversely affecting millions of people , mostly male teenagers and young men, from living normal productive lives.
Realizing the crisis level of this obsession, video game addiction clinics are sprouting up around the planet to heal these video gamers who have no control and to stop and find a balance. One such clinic, no big surprise here, was established in the Netherlands. Game players come to “detox” from the destabilizing neuro-mind disease and must initially admit they have no authority over their compulsive behavior to play on line video games endlessly.
Video game compulsion, similar to other addictions, falls in the definition of something that a person needs more and more of and when they don’t get it they are miserable. While there is noconclusiveemotional addiction such as escapism to fantasy – not unlike other online addictions such as chat rooms.
The majority of do not necessarily have an addiction to playing – it really comes down to self control and being able to quit when you want and not “have” to play. The symptoms that you or a loved one are a video game addict are:
1. Increasing playing time at the cost of other activities
2. Thinking about playing video games while engaged in some other activity
3. Used as escapism from real world depression
4. Deceitful about the duration of time spent gaming to friends and family
5. Getting agitated when trying to withdrawing from social and physical real world activities, hobbies, and people.
Breaking the habit is difficult as well sincegaming and computers go hand in glove and computers are so woven in normal life that it is hard to control the addiction when you are using its tool daily. One must have the fortitude and desire to get a grip of the yearning to play an find their balance again. Getting help from friends and family and a clinic may be the answer to this relatively new phenomena.
