Video Game Addiction Signs – Social Symptoms
Do you play video games?
For many (perhaps most) people today, this is a rather silly question. However, not too long ago the audience for video games was almost entirely comprised of kids and teenagers. Video games were dismissed by adults as a complete waste of time or even harmful to players.
How times have changed! Today, you can find people of virtually any age enjoying video games. Toddlers, children, teens, adults, and the elderly make up the market for modern gaming. And although few would recommend video games as a suitable activity for toddlers or preschoolers, when age-appropriate games are played in moderation most people are able to avoid video game addiction.
Unfortunately, some people do become addicted to video games. Although the research is inconsistent because video game addiction has not been classified as an official disorder, many studies are reporting gaming addiction rates of between five and ten percent of all gamers. These
studies also show that certain types of video games are more addictive than others – online role playing games and first person shooters appear to be more addictive than other genres (read more about the most addictive video games).
For many (perhaps most) people today, this is a rather silly question. However, not too long ago the audience for video games was almost entirely comprised of kids and teenagers. Video games were dismissed by adults as a complete waste of time or even harmful to players.
How times have changed! Today, you can find people of virtually any age enjoying video games. Toddlers, children, teens, adults, and the elderly make up the market for modern gaming. And although few would recommend video games as a suitable activity for toddlers or preschoolers, when age-appropriate games are played in moderation most people are able to avoid video game addiction.
Unfortunately, some people do become addicted to video games. Although the research is inconsistent because video game addiction has not been classified as an official disorder, many studies are reporting gaming addiction rates of between five and ten percent of all gamers. These
studies also show that certain types of video games are more addictive than others – online role playing games and first person shooters appear to be more addictive than other genres (read more about the most addictive video games).
When Video Games Become More Important Than Friends and Family
Although there are many symptoms of video game addiction, the social impact is often the most obvious as the gamer slowly (or in some cases, very rapidly) retreats into the gaming world and away from family and friends.
Even though video game addicts may verbally state that family, friends, and relationships are more important than playing video games (logically, it is very difficult to argue otherwise), their actions very often are not consistent with their words.
Rather than play with his friends, a child addicted to video games will choose to play video games alone if they do not want to join him.
Rather than hanging out with friends, a teenager addicted to video games will spend every night and every weekend in front of a computer screen (read more about video game addiction symptoms in teenagers).
Rather than spending time with a girlfriend or boyfriend, a young adult addicted to video games will spend hours every day playing games while the partner is virtually ignored.
Rather than making quality time for his or her children in the evening or on the weekends, a parent who is addicted to video games may retreat to an office or gaming entertainment room while the other parent takes care of the children.
Even though video game addicts may verbally state that family, friends, and relationships are more important than playing video games (logically, it is very difficult to argue otherwise), their actions very often are not consistent with their words.
Rather than play with his friends, a child addicted to video games will choose to play video games alone if they do not want to join him.
Rather than hanging out with friends, a teenager addicted to video games will spend every night and every weekend in front of a computer screen (read more about video game addiction symptoms in teenagers).
Rather than spending time with a girlfriend or boyfriend, a young adult addicted to video games will spend hours every day playing games while the partner is virtually ignored.
Rather than making quality time for his or her children in the evening or on the weekends, a parent who is addicted to video games may retreat to an office or gaming entertainment room while the other parent takes care of the children.
Video Game Addiction - Obsession with a Virtual World
For a while, friends, partners, and family members may tolerate a video game addict’s excessive play. They may assume that it is“just a phase” and that the person will soon become bored of playing. Although this does occasionally happen often the person will simply move on to another game when he / she becomes bored with whatever happens to be the current game of choice.
Video game addiction does not only damage relationships due to reduced contact with others. Additionally, as the addict loses interest in other activities, people, and the world around him in general, he may find it more difficult to connect with people socially. He may struggle to carry on a conversation about “real world” topics and may really only feel comfortable talking to online gaming friends. The addicted gamer may feel left out of conversations and may start to feel isolated from others. And as those around him eventually become frustrated with being less of a priority than video games, they too stop making an effort to spend time with him.
At this point it is easy to see how a reduction in social interactions plus the person’s belief that he has little in common with those in the real world would lead to even more time in the familiar and comforting world of video games.
Video game addiction does not only damage relationships due to reduced contact with others. Additionally, as the addict loses interest in other activities, people, and the world around him in general, he may find it more difficult to connect with people socially. He may struggle to carry on a conversation about “real world” topics and may really only feel comfortable talking to online gaming friends. The addicted gamer may feel left out of conversations and may start to feel isolated from others. And as those around him eventually become frustrated with being less of a priority than video games, they too stop making an effort to spend time with him.
At this point it is easy to see how a reduction in social interactions plus the person’s belief that he has little in common with those in the real world would lead to even more time in the familiar and comforting world of video games.
Getting Help For Video Game Addiction
In moderation, video games can be a great temporary escape from the stress of everyday life (which could also be said about watching television, going to the movies, reading, etc.). However, when someone becomes so obsessed with video games that he / she no longer wants to spend time with others, the person may want to look at options for getting help for video game addiction to restore a healthy balance between enjoying video games and life in the real world.