Video game addictions



Today's Focus on the Family broadcast is on the subject of video game addiction among kids and adults. They indicate that between 1 in 7 (14%) and 1 in 5 (20 %) of gamers display signs of addiction, meaning that it's the first thing they think of, and it's their goal during the day, even in families where gaming time is limited to an hour a day or less.

Other resources on this issue are at: http://www.theparentreport.com/resources/ages/preteen/kids_culture/130.html "Studies show that the excitement of video games makes playing them addictive. Parents of preteens hardly find this surprising."
http://www.wired.com/news/holidays/0,1882,48479,00.html (A Christmas article: "Instead of slurping hot cocoa with loved ones, the gamers will be off by themselves in darkened rooms, slaying monsters, conquering new worlds and otherwise stroking their heroic alter egos.")

http://parents.berkeley.edu/advice/teens/gameaddiction.html (march 2002) Bulletin board. "My son is a Senior at AHS [Albany High school] and has the same addiction. We tried monitoring, reducing, limiting the hours he spent playing his favorite game (Diablo). These were all just band-aids put on a serious injury and ultimately not successful. We recently took the game and threw it in the garbage. He was, surprisingly, not angry, and seemed almost relieved. "

http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/neuro/neuro02/web2/mschlimme.html is a term paper written by a college student in 2002 (?).

Ironically, another web site http://www.egameaddiction.com/ sells games.

http://www.computeraddiction.com/ gives other examples:
Someone connects to the Internet at 9:00 PM and suddenly discovers it is dawn and he has not left the computer.
Psychological symptoms include:

Having a sense of well-being or euphoria while at the computer

Inability to stop the activity

Craving more and more time at the computer

Neglect of family and friends

Feeling empty, depressed, irritable when not at the computer

Lying to employers and family about activities

Problems with school or job

Physical symptoms include:

carpal tunnel syndrome

Dry eyes

Migraine headaches

Back aches

Eating irregularities, such as skipping meals

Failure to attend to personal hygiene

Sleep disturbances, change in sleep pattern

Posted: Tue - June 21, 2005 at 12:44 PM           | |

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