Video Game Addiction Symptoms and Treatment

Video game addiction is one of those illnesses that everyone hears about but few take seriously. After all, video games are fun, and those of us in the right age group are not immune to their draw. It’s easy to sink a whole afternoon or even an entire weekend into a particularly immersive game.

But if you’re familiar with the appeal of video games, imagine if those hours you’ve spent playing a game were to stretch into days, weeks, months, even years. Imagine if the habit were to completely take over your life, interfering with your ability to work, to take care of yourself and to enjoy a healthy social life. Imagine if your compulsion was so strong that you simply could not resist playing video games even when you knew you should be doing other things.

This is what it’s like for a video game addict. He or she becomes obsessed, getting so obsessed with gaming that all other aspects of life fall by the wayside. The condition may not seem serious to those who’ve never been in the throes of a video game, but a gaming addiction can have serious consequences, particularly among young people who should be studying and socializing.

How Video Game Addiction Works

Addiction is usually associated with substances such as alcohol and drugs, but there is such thing as addictive behaviors that have nothing to do with chemicals. You’ve probably heard of addictions to gambling, sex, food and the Internet. These are all known as “behavioral addictions,” or compulsions that are not related to substances.

The DSM, the official manual psychiatrists use to diagnose mental disorders, first recognized behavioral addictions in the most recent edition. Gambling addiction is currently the only officially recognized addiction, but psychiatrists and treatment professionals know addictive behaviors when they see them, and there’s no doubt that extreme cases of video game addiction fit the bill.

Video game addiction can also be thought of as an “impulse control disorder,” an officially recognized class of conditions falling within the obsessive-compulsive disorder spectrum and including kleptomania, problem gambling, pyromania and intermittent explosive disorder (better known as anger management issues). Individuals with these disorders simply can’t control themselves, obsessing over the behavior until they get another chance to engage in it in much the same way that drug addicts become obsessed with the drug until they obtain a fix.

Although there is some disagreement about the biological bases for behavioral addictions and impulse control disorders, most experts agree that brain chemistry is a large factor. Research has shown that gambling elevates dopamine levels in the brain, giving the individual a natural high, and it’s thought that gaming works in much the same way, giving gamers steady doses of dopamine until they come to rely on their habit to supply most of their pleasure.

It’s likely that there’s also a psychological component. Video games give people a way to flee real life and escape into a fantasy world where all the real-world problems can be forgotten. This could explain why immersive fantasy worlds offered by massive multiplayer online role-playing games are so addictive. Children who are unpopular at school can become anything they want in these worlds.

The Dangers of Video Game Addiction

Many parents accept their children’s video game habits to a certain point. Even if we don’t understand the appeal ourselves, the activity seems like a healthier alternative to drug use or other rebellious teen behaviors. In comparison to these, a video game habit seems relatively harmless.

But when the habit becomes severe, problems can arise. Kids who play three, four or more hours of video games per day aren’t left with much time for doing homework, studying, socializing or being active. A video game addiction can cause grades to decline; the physical inertia can create health problems; and the social isolation can lead to stunted emotional growth. 

In adults, for whom video game addiction is an increasing concern, similar problems can arise. Adults who play video games for several hours per day may fail to get exercise, may allow relationships to falter, and may fail to fulfill their personal, family and work responsibilities.

Is Your Teen Addicted to Video Games?

If your teen loves video games, you don’t necessarily have anything to worry about. The vast majority of the gaming population can limit their habit before it causes serious problems. But when things get out of control, the warning signs may include:

• Obsession with gaming even when one is not playing
• Detachment from the non-gaming world
• Gaming in response to real life problems such as stress, anxiety or depression
• Continuing to play video games obsessively even when it harms other aspects of life
• Playing for ever-increasing stretches of time
• Losing sleep, failing to eat or allowing personal hygiene to suffer because of gaming
• Lying to family and friends to cover up one’s gaming addiction
• Feelings of irritability when away from games for too long
• Social isolation
• Giving up other hobbies and withdrawing from activities

Keep in mind that when a casual gaming fan is immersed in a new and exciting video game, some of these symptoms may flare up for a short time. This may be classified as a gaming binge, but it’s not necessarily an addiction. Serious gaming addictions last for weeks or more.

The overwhelming majority of video game addicts are young males, particularly preteens and teens with social difficulties and low self-esteem. They tend to be intelligent and highly tech savvy but may not have very many friends.

Video Game Addiction Treatment

If a video game addiction is still in its early stages and has not become severe, self-treatment or parental rule-making can stop the habit before it gets worse. For example, you could limit your child’s gaming to a certain amount of time per day or per week, or you could challenge your child to take two or three weeks off from gaming just to reconnect with the real world and show himself and his parents that he is not addicted to video games. 

Treatment for video game addiction is surprisingly similar to treatment for other types of addictions. There is a detox stage, during which the addict has no access to computers and gaming consoles and is encouraged to find other ways to spend his or her time. Once the detox stage is over, the addict must learn how to incorporate computers and technology into his or her life without descending into the video game world all over again.

If you think you need a video game addiction treatment program for your teen, talk to a mental health professional about the best plan of action.