Addiction has been understood to mean an
uncontrollable habit of using alcohol or other drugs because of the physical
effects of these substances on the body, and particularly the brain. Recently,
we have come to realize that people can also develop addictions to behaviors,
such as videogame addiction. Video game addiction is described as an impulse
control disorder, which does not involve use of an intoxicating drug and is
very similar to pathological gambling (“our mission”). “In a national Poll
survey of 1,178 American youths (ages 8-18), ISU Assistant Professor of
Psychology Douglas Gentile, found nearly one in 10 of the gamers (8.5%) to be
pathological players according to standards established for pathological video
game addiction, causing family, social, school or psychological damage because
of their video game playing habits” ("Nearly 1 In 10 Youth Gamers Addicted
To Video Games"). Video game
addiction has spiraled out of control leading to one of the newest social
epidemics in our nation.
History
Around the 1950’s, a physicist thought of an idea to
liven up his colleagues by creating a game to bring some more interaction
around to his static office“(Video Game Addiction)”. In 1958, Physicist Willy
Higinbotham invents the first video game at the Brookhaven National Laboratory
in Upton, New York known as “Tennis for Two” “(Video Game Timeline)”. His
tennis like game was played on separate controllers that connected to an analog
computer and used an oscilloscope for a screen “(Video Game Timeline)”. Since
then, many games such as Pong and Spacewar create an atmosphere of constant
competition.
This breakthrough innovation led to the new “hobby”
of playing video games. Soon, the hobby became excessive, and the first case of
video game addiction was reported in 1983. During the year 1983, video games
were drastically changed in content, which contributed to the incline of video
game addiction and also to the large industry of video games itself “(Video
Game Timeline)”. Videogames were first started by a group that had a small
analog computer that could display various curves, including the path of a
bouncing ball, on an oscilloscope “(Physicist Invents First Video Games)”.
Having worked on displays for radar systems and many other electronic devices,
the group had no trouble designing the game display “(Physicist Invents First
Video Games)”. Since then, games have increased from text-based games to
extreme graphic simulators by adding graphic accelerators which allowed for a
realistic feel to the game “(Video Game Design Between 1990-2008)”. Video games
appeal to people like it is an art, allowing their body to relax and indulge
into their new realities.
Over time, society began to realize that video games
started becoming a distraction to students. Yet, it didn’t become a social
epidemic until video games became internet based “(Kuss, Daria, J)”. Video
games hit a peak around the 2000s when addictions rose and began to be reported
often:
“In 2007, 97% percent of young respondents play
video games. That's 99% of boys and 94% of girls, with little difference in the
percentages among various racial and ethnic groups and incomes. In fact, 7% of
those surveyed said they didn't have a computer at home, but did have a game
console, such as Sony's PlayStation, Microsoft's Xbox or Nintendo's Wii”
“(Irvine, Martha)”.
Examples
Video
game addiction is defined to be an excessive or compulsive use of computer
games or video games, which interferes with a person's everyday life “(Video
Game Addiction)”. Consequently, games are designed to be just difficult enough
to be truly challenging, while allowing players to achieve small
accomplishments that compel them to keep playing. The design of video games is
similar to the design of casinos, which will allow players to have small
rewards that keep them playing “(Irvine, Martha)”.
It has been proven that games such as Worlds of
Warcraft, The Sims, and Starcraft have led a spike in addiction since it allows
a player to create a virtual reality.
Though, with people focusing more time in a virtual reality, it soon
replaces their real life and can potentially harm them. In several cases, there
have been crimes reported about children killing their parents since they were
not allowed to play their virtual world, suicide cases because the game has
given them a sense of rejection, and even cases where children die from neglect
because the parents spend so much time taking care of their virtual families
“(Lavallee, Jon)”.
Noticeable signs and symptoms of video game
addiction are: skipping school which could increase the chances of becoming
uneducated and violent, depression from not being able to accomplish the
targeted goal, distractions from homework leading to poor grades, lack of sleep
causing more emotional issues, and a stress relief which could potentially
affect your mental health. These characteristics point to three major signs of
why turning to video games led to addiction. The first being laziness, second
is procrastination, and third is fear or reality. Video games have a hook that
reel humans in with virtual relationships, discoveries, role-playing, beating
the game, and receiving a high score. When you’re playing a game, you connect
to the game through friends and strangers allowing for a level of connectivity
that cannot be reached anywhere else. With this level of communication, it has
led into a social epidemic of video game addiction.
Solutions
Treatments for any type of addiction can vary from
therapy to diets and then some. Many different solutions for other types of
addictions are also used for the video game addiction epidemic. Though to fix
the issue, you must know what the main cause is. Just like a drug addiction,
video games also give them a sense of
“high”. It stimulates the brain to produce endorphins, which causes dopamine to
be released and hit the receptors. Dopamine is the main source of the high,
hence why the word “dope” is used (Feature, Sherry Rauh). According to the US National
Library of Medicine, gaming addiction is a behavioral problem that is described
by a preoccupation with gaming, the ability of gaming to modify a person’s
mood, the development of tolerance, the presence of withdrawal symptoms upon
discontinuation of gaming, and the development of interpersonal conflict
because of gaming ("The Truth about Child Video Game Addiction -
TechAddiction."). A few solutions that could potentially cure or
progressively fix video game addiction include multiple types of therapy, parental
control of game use, and detox. Out of the treatments, many do not work;
therapy would be the only considerable option for an absolute difference in the
video game addict.
There are three main types of therapy for video game
addiction: group therapy, cognitive
behavioral therapy, and physiological therapy. All the therapies will not necessarily
dig into your past (childhood experiences), but will focus on what is causing
and maintaining your addiction in the here and now. In the treatment of game
addiction, it must meticulously be investigated why the individual is addicted.
Does the individual play because of boredom, or because they don’t have any other
thing to do, or in order to get rid of depression, anxiety, or other personal-psychological
problems? After the individual’s story of coming to the treatment is taken,
personal treatment program should be produced, because there is not illness but
patient and the purpose is to treat the patient.
Cognitive behavioral therapy is a form of psychotherapy
that works to solve current problems and change unhelpful thinking and
behavior. This technique acknowledges that there may be behaviors that cannot
be controlled through rational thought, but rather emerge based on prior
conditioning from the environment and other external and internal memories (Smith,
Joanna). Cognitive behavioral therapy is "problem-focused" and
"action-oriented" or direct. In the number of empiric studies made cognitive
behavioral therapy used for pathological addiction for gambling, and
alternative treatments are used in the treatment of internet and game addiction
(Smith, Joanna).
Short
strategical family therapy is a short therapy method which is used for treating
the adolescent drug use observed with other behavioral disorders, which
interferes in a problem oriented way, which changes the behavior of family
members. In an observation
analyzed a 12 year old video game addict boy. He plays games 4-5 hours a day,
he goes to game arcades to play and spend some 30-50 dollars a day there,
steals when he has no money, skips school and makes friend with other boys
playing video games. In the treatment it was determined that the boy had
problems with his father, the father physically abused the boy as was the
mother and he pathologically played video games to escape from these problems,
and he was enabled to get rid of the pathology through family therapy ("The
Truth about Child Video Game Addiction - TechAddiction.").
Finally, unlike with substance abuse, the biological
aspect of video game addiction is uncertain. Research suggests gambling
elevates dopamine, and gaming is in the same category (Smith, Joanna). But
there's more to addiction than brain chemistry. Even with alcohol, it's not
just physical, the person is trying to change the way they feel by taking something
outside of themselves. The lure of a fantasy world is appealing to online
role-playing games. These are games in which a player assumes the role of a
fictional character and interacts with other players in a virtual world. An
intelligent child who is unpopular at school can become dominant in the game.
The virtual life becomes more appealing than real life (Feature, Sherry Rauh).
Any video game time should be seen as a privilege
that comes only if the child properly attends to other responsibilities.
Parental control over video games could possibly prevent a lifetime of
addiction. With consistent enforcement of homework before video games, before
long your child will understand that learning must be a priority over video
games, and that gaming time is earned, not an entitlement. With regard to child
video game addiction, it is extremely important that parents present as a
united front regardless of whether they live together or are separated and
share custody. That is, parents must discuss the problem before setting new
rules and expectations for the child ("The Truth about Child Video Game
Addiction - TechAddiction."). Parents who do these things have good
intentions and are simply trying to protect their children from further harm.
Lastly, with many addictions, detox processes
treatment for video game addiction is similar to detox for other addictions,
with one important difference. Computers have become an important part of
everyday life, so compulsive gamers can't just look the other way when they see
a computer. Because video game addicts can't avoid computers, they have to
learn to use them responsibly. The toughest part of treating video game addicts
is that "it's a little bit more difficult to show somebody they're in
trouble. Nobody's ever been put in jail for being under the influence of a game."
("The Truth about Child Video Game Addiction - TechAddiction.").
An addiction to video games or computer games should
be treated in much the same way as any other addiction. Like other addicts,
gamers often are trying to escape problems in their lives. Video and computer
games offer a particularly appealing escape to socially maladjusted teenagers,
most often boys, who find it intoxicating to become immersed in a world completely
under their control. Kids who are addicted to virtual reality have lost, or may
never have had, the ability to comfortably communicate with people face to face
(Smith, Joanna). They’ve spent all of their time interacting in a virtual world
and are extremely uncomfortable when dealing with real people in real time. In
an online world, there is time to edit what you say. There’s also very little
risk when the person you are talking with is in a different time zone, let
alone a different country.
Given that child and teenage computer game addiction
is a fairly new psychological problem, there are relatively few therapists who
have training or experience offering treatment. Yes, more psychologists are
starting to recognize the problem of video game addiction, but traveling across
the country to meet with a specialist is not a realistic option for most
people.
Camus and Absurdity
“Basically, at the very bottom of life, which
seduces us all, there is only absurdity, and more absurdity. And maybe that's
what gives us our joy for living, because the only thing that can defeat
absurdity is lucidity.” – Albert Camus ("Albert Camus Quote.")
During his early years, Camus wrote about the
absurdity of materialism. Videogame addiction is connected to materialism which
cause new plagues every day. It’s absurd to think that somebody is addicted to
a videogame to escape reality. Camus never believed in rationalism, so the fact
of escaping reality to a virtual world could be normal behavior. Also, many
other hobbies could tie into this concept such as drawing and reading which natural
human behaviors are as well.
Conclusion
With our world continuing to advance, video games
will continue to multiply. It has come to be a major social epidemic which
affects more and more people every day. Although the majority of our nation
plays some sort of videogame, those who are addicted are the ones who
contribute. Cures to videogame addiction are hard to prove that they are
effective due to the lack of experts in the field and also there are many ways
to attain a game. It’s absurd that a form of entertainment can cause social
issues within a person allowing them to escape reality to enter a virtual
world. Videogame addiction is a rising social epidemic within the world, though
if we continue to take responsibility the number of cases could eventually
decrease. Videogames were created to relieve stress, and gather groups of
people. Just like other pleasures, if you taking initiative and responsibility
to your actions, this addiction can be avoided.
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