u mean the flower of America’s masculinity can’t think of anything more important to do with twenty hours a week than sit in front of a video screen? Folks, this ain’t normal. Can’t we unplug already?” ~ Joel Salatin

Yes, over 88% of young people in the United States regularly play video games, and video gaming is a serious problem facing our youth. A 2010 study found that the average American child (both 8-to-12 year olds, as well as 13-to-18 year olds) plays well over 13 hours of video games every week. That equates to two months of uninterrupted video game playing every year!

In times past, it was assumed that the gaming population was primarily composed of children under the age of 18, and yet new research chows that video gaming is surprisingly pervasive. Almost 70% of all American households regularly play video games, and in fact, there are more people today over the age of 50 who play video games regularly than there are young people who do so. The average age of a video gamer in the United States is actually 32, and he/she spends on average of over 8 hours a week playing video games.

Those of you who play video games are already at least vaguely aware of the toll gaming is taking on your life. And yet the question for gamers & non-gamers alike is the same: WHY? Why do so many people sacrificing so much of their money and their energy and their time and even their health to video games?

The answer is actually pretty simple.

As it turns out, playing video games is extremely addictive …

HOW THE VIDEO GAME ADDICTION TAKES HOLD

Forty-four percent of the youth polled in a recent study reported that at least one of their friends is addicted to video games. Indeed, others studies consistently estimate that 10 percent to 15 percent of all gamers exhibit signs that meet the World Health Organization’s criteria for addiction. Just like gambling and other compulsive behaviors, players often become so enthralled in the fantasy world of gaming that they neglect their family, their friends, their jobs or school, and their own personal health.

So what is it about these games that proves to be so difficult to resist?

*VIDEO GAMES are PHYSICALLY ADDICTIVE … Because video games are another form of screen media (either played on a television screen or watched on a screen very similar to a television screen), they have a very similar “left-brain to right-brain crossover” effect on the brains of those children and adults who play them. As was mentioned in the previous post on television addiction, such a crossover (where the right brain is up to twice as active as the left brain) releases large amounts of endorphins into gamers’ bodies; endorphins that are chemically very similar to pure opium and its derivatives – and as such, endorphins that are highly addictive.

Researchers at Hammersmith Hospital in London conducted a study in 2005, which found that the levels of dopamine — a mood-regulating hormone associated with feelings of pleasure — in game players’ brains doubled while they were playing. These findings also clearly support the almost overwhelming evidence that video gaming can easily become chemically addictive.

To make matters even more challenging, those who play video games – especially the very realistic (and incredibly popular) real-time “kill games”, are also subject to large surges in adrenaline while they play. Like endorphins and dopamine, adrenaline (the body’s “fight or flight” hormone) is also highly addictive, making video games especially difficult to resist for young and old alike.

*VIDEO GAMES are EMOTIONALLY ADDICTIVE … In a world where children and adults alike are bombarded everyday with news media that tells them their world is unsafe and commercials that tell them they are inadequate as they are, video games provide those with lower self-esteem &/or a more negative outlook on life with an illusory (and yet seemingly valid) boost to their sense of self-worth.

Do you worry about terrorism and the fact that we have been in “orange alert” for the past 11 years? Just grab a video game that allows you to kill terrorists.

Do you feel like a failure at work or in life? Just insert a video game that allows you to become a valiant knight or a noble king or a war hero for an hour or two.

In a society where a sincere and caring validation of our existence is severely lacking, it makes sense that more & more people are simply “checking out” of the real world that doesn’t meet their emotional needs and “checking in” to an on-line “reality” that does.

“In the hypothetical world created by such games, players become confident and gain a satisfaction which they cannot get in their real world.” ~ anonymous head of a prominent Chinese software-development company

*VIDEO GAMES are SOCIALLY ADDICTIVE … The lack of social interaction that results from obsessive gaming always has long-term social consequences. It is not possible for a young adult addicted to video games to develop effective social skills – and this deficiency will automatically hinder his or her ability to develop and maintain healthy relationships. A thirty-one year old with the social skills of a 15-year-old will not be able to maintain his or her friendships &/or collaborate effectively with his or her co-workers. And this social awkwardness (created by the isolationism of his or her gaming addiction) actually feeds the video game addiction even further, with the discomfort the addict feels effectively chasing him or her back to an online world where relationships are low-risk and “success” is available on-demand.

THE CONSEQUENCES OF PLAYING VIDEO GAMES

Despite the fact that sixty-three percent of parents believe video games to be a positive part of their children’s lives (what?!?), the painful consequences of regularly playing video games are severe indeed.

*Playing video games leads to POOR HEALTH … The physical consequences of gaming addiction are many, and include carpal tunnel syndrome, migraine headaches, sleep disturbances (sleep walking, nightmares, teeth-grinding & night-sweats), back pain, poor nutrition, and poor personal hygiene.

*Playing video games leads to CHRONIC BOREDOM … What person, after the intense, over-stimulated excitement of 8+ hours of video games each week, doesn’t get bored when faced with “spending time with grandma”, working in the garden, walking the dog, or even hanging out with their friends? This dis-ease is more than mere “boredom”. The chronic boredom that results from a video game addiction is actually a mental illness – the loss of one’s ability to perceive life as amazing; an inability to witness the ever-present wondrous; the blindness to seeing the real world as special or exciting.

“Technology: the knack of rearranging our world so that we don’t have to actually interact with it.” ~ inspired by Max Frisch

*Playing video games leads to an increased INCIDENCES OF INJURY … According to a report published online in the journal Psychological Bulletin, video games that laud risk-taking behaviors increase the likelihood that gamers will take dangerous risks in their real lives. Video games commonly glorify activities that are patently detrimental to one’s health and sense of well-being – including substance abuse, reckless driving, gambling, and promiscuous sexual behavior; activities that many gamers then go forth and recklessly emulate in their own lives, often with catastrophic results.

*Playing video games leads to increased AGGRESSION & VIOLENCE … Japanese researchers found that playing computer games stunted the development of the frontal lobe of the brain in teenagers, the part of the brain that is crucial for developing impulse control. As such, they found that the tendency to lose control both during and after playing video games is not due to children and adults absorbing the aggression involved in the games themselves, but rather is due to those games literally causing brain damage to those users.

Another primary concern with violence in video games is that gaming involves an active form of aggression. In order to play and win, the player must be the aggressor. Rather than watching violence, as he might do on television, the gamer is – at least in his own mind — actually committing his or her violent acts. Most researchers acknowledge that this kind of active participation affects a person’s thought patterns, leading to the formation of aggressive beliefs and attitudes, and simultaneously desensitizing gamers to the violent behaviors of themselves & others. Studies have consistently shown that even those gamers who aren’t predisposed to aggression respond to real world stressors with increased hostility after playing a violent video game.

“We are no longer worried that children are missing school because of video games … We are worried that they are murdering their classmates because of video games.” ~ Tom Bissell

*Playing video games leads to SOCIAL ISOLATION … Social consequences are a very real part of gaming addiction. Addicted gamers spend so much time playing games that their personal relationships get neglected and sometimes disappear altogether. Indeed, even among addicted gamers who are married, up to 50 percent report a strain in their marriage as a result of their addiction, and addicted children were more likely to become depressed, anxious or have many other social phobias.

“Reality is broken. Game designers can fix it.” ~ Jane McGonigal

RECOGNIZING YOUR OWN GAMING ADDICTION

If you own a video game console, the chances are high that you to are addicted to playing video games. The following questions, if answered sincerely, can help you see just how far “down the rabbit hole” you’ve gone …

*Do you own more than one video game console?

*Do you lose track of time whenever you play video games?

*Do you feel guilty if you are not able to join your virtual friends for a pre-planned video game play session?

*Do you defend the time you spend playing video games?

*Do you become moody, irritable, depressed or even angry if you cannot play your favorite game when you want to?

*Do you ever feel guilty or regretful when you play video games for longer than you originally intended?

*Has your job performance or your grades at school suffered since you started playing video games?

*When you are not playing games, do you find yourself thinking about the next time you might be able to get online?

*Do feel extra peaceful or otherwise euphoric (“high”) while playing your favorite game?

*Have you ever sacrificed sleep or missed a meal in order to keep playing a video game?

*Do you leave your console in plain sight next to your television?

*Do you play video games more than 30 minutes a day?

*When someone speaks to you while you are playing a video game, do you attempt to keep playing while you talk with them?

*When someone asks you to do something while you are playing a video game, do you finish your current game before doing so?

*Do you keep playing games that you have already “won” or “maxed out”?

*Have video games taken the place of other hobbies you used to enjoy?

*Do you justify your playing time (“Other play more than I do”) or downplay the impact of video games in your life (“It’s not as bad as drinking alcohol”)?

*Do you have more virtual world friends than real world friends?

*Can you stop playing video games for one week without feeling antsy, nervous or depressed?

If you answered “yes” to more than two of these questions, then you too are suffering (possibly unwittingly) from a video game addiction.

Maybe it’s time to decide just who is running your life after all.

Maybe it’s time to realize that your biggest opponent is not the person playing video games against you … maybe it’s time to realize that your most dangerous opponent is the video games themselves.

“It’s time to kick ass and chew gum … and I’m all out of gum.” ~ Duke Nukem, famous video game character