Research has shown that video game addiction is real, and many gamers are affected by the condition. Though the addiction may seem less popular among many people, it is a serious mental health disorder. After several debates and research, the World Health Organization classified video game addiction as a disease in May 2019. WHO noted that addiction is a rare disorder and affects those people who engage in video games.
According to WHO, video game addiction can be described as a recurrent behavior where an individual can’t control gaming and prioritizes gaming over their daily life activities despite the negative consequences. The addiction does not only affect a person’s quality of life but their sleep, family, relationships, work, and school. Gamers who play video games for more than 20 hours a day are considered to be addicted to video games.
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Causes of Video Game Addiction
So, video game addiction, is it real? Yes, it is real, and the causes include;
Need for gratification
Many people will play for hours and hours so that they can win the games and feel proud. When one is seeking gratification from games, they will not notice that time is moving, and they spend much of their day playing video games.
Manipulative features
Nowadays, unreal engine developer such as Flipkart will create high quality and modern video games that have various designs and features. These features are attractive and manipulate gamers to play games for long hours.
Challenging games
Video game designers such as Nintendo create challenging games to keep the players hooked up the whole day. With these challenging games, you will keep on coming back, which causes exposure. In the end, your brain will be over-stimulated and cause addiction.
The Symptoms of Video Game Addiction
WHO among other health associated, have reported some warnings to help identify video game addiction. You should not diagnose yourself but seek professional help. If you are a gamer, and you are experiencing the below symptoms, you should start getting concerned.
Preoccupation with video games
If an individual is always occupied with video games, they might be addicted. Most of them will outsource game development and discuss previous games and have high anticipation for the next games. They become predominant with video gaming activities.
Lack of control on gaming
People who are addicted to video games will not have control over their games. They will want to play games all the time even if it is affected their daily activities.
Withdrawal symptoms
The withdrawal symptoms are the most common signs of video game addictions. When an individual is not able to play or when video gaming is taken away from them, they start experiencing irritability, anger, anxiety, and stress. Most of them will experience withdrawal symptoms until they start playing again.
Finding relief in games
People with video game addiction will use video to find relief from low feelings of stress and restlessness. The video games become their resting place.
Lack of interest in other hobbies
These people will not have an interest in their previous hobbies. Their only interest will be towards video games, and unity developer outsource. Everything about them is drawn towards playing games.
Sleep deprivation
Spending too much time playing games will cause sleep deprivation. When you do not get enough sleep, your moods and productivity decrease, and this affects work, school, and family relations.
Weight gain and weight loss
When you spend too much time on videos, you will gain weight due to lack of physical activities. Some will lose weight as they will skip their meals to play games.
Effects of Video Game Addiction
In the long term, people with addiction will face some negative effects in their lives. One of the effects is health deterioration due to poor diets. In severe cases, the individual will fear to leave the house and withdraw from their social life. Others include financial constraints as game dev is expensive. Others include academic consequences, and functional impairment.
Diagnosis for Video Game Addiction
One of the ways to get a diagnosis is through a self-assessment test that you can do online. Several websites offer these tests and provide you with the results. Secondly, you can visit a doctor if you have any of the above symptoms.
Treatment
Several treatment options are available for video game addiction disorder depending on the extent of the condition. The first treatment is cognitive behavioral therapy. The treatment helps one to draw their thoughts away from the games. The second treatment is medications. These medications help one to get relief from the symptoms. Make sure that you get prescribed drugs from a physician to avoid self-diagnosis. Lastly, you should seek therapy and counseling from sites such as Game Quitters
If you love playing video games, make sure you select quality videos from renowned companies such as game-factory.com which offers 3d game outsourcing. If you love playing games, make sure that you avoid spending much time on the games as it can lead to addiction. However, if you are addicted to video games, seek help, and get the right treatment.
