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Video Game Addiction
Whether your best friends live in Atlanta, Cairo, Yerevan or just a few kilometers away,
get ready for a less expensive face-to-face chat, from the comfort of your living room. With few
clicks, you and tour international friends might choose to converse, about the English premier
league, a blockbuster movie, or a favorite TV show. Nonetheless, this online chat is happening in
video games right now. Friends not only play online games, but also share information. Instead
of the usual leisure, gamers and their best friends are busy slaying dragons, playing FIFA online,
and battling aliens. According to Clark and Scott (2009), hundreds of thousands of people are
playing video game inside the digital living rooms every second. With a click of a remote, friend
or strangers can play and connect with friends globally, in ways that seem like science fiction to
the general public.
Since 1970s and 1980s, video games have transformed from the arcades to family living
rooms. This has led the video game industry to stand on its own, just like banking industry.
University of Pittsburg 2002 report concluded that the video game industry generates over 10.3
million U.S. dollars annually, surpassing the revenues earned by the film industry. As a result,
both young and adult alike have been caught up in what appears to be the next certified global
catastrophic diagnosis: Video game addiction. Currently, ongoing technological advancements

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have made televisions, desktops, iPads, iPhones, and mobile phones video-playing centers
whenever one feels like playing. Whereas adults have fallen into the bottomless pit of video
gaming, children and teenagers are naturally gravitating towards the same endemic. Video games
have developed in an alarming rate over the last decade whereas video game addiction statistics
appear to be gradually increasing yearly. Video game developers continue to make games that are
complex, less direct, and participative for everyone. Video games are for everyone; new gadgets
developed are not for people with the unfathomable knowledge of technological mysticism
(Clark and Scott 7).
Is Video Game an Addiction?
Addiction applies to behaviors beyond drugs and alcohol; for example, sex, buying,
gambling, eating, and the Internet. Currently, there is no single, universally accepted definition of
addiction, a comprehensive theory of addiction is yet to be developed. It is inaccurate to define
addiction as a habit, since it limits the scope. However, Colonna (2000) reached an acceptable
conclusion and defined addition as a chronic disorder, continuous conditions where an individual
has no complete control to obsessive thinking and manifests itself via compulsive behavior
towards any activity and/or mood-changing substance. This definition encompasses all forms of
addiction, substance and activity related, and presents a clear indication in the field of addiction
process.
Video game overuse commonly referred to as video game addiction, represents a
proposed type of psychological addition made up of a compulsive overuse of computers and
video games. Mcllwraith (1998) developed four theoretical models to explain addition to video
games: First, video game addiction is a result of video games impacts on imagination and

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fantasy life, where individuals participate in playing these games greatly having poor degree of
imagination. Secondly, video games addiction affects the arousal level, in that people playing
these games tend play in order to arouse or calm themselves. Thirdly, video game addiction
represents a manifestation of verbal, reliant, or addictive personality of an individual. As a result,
excessive playing is caused by inner personality factors and not the external stimulation derived
from this games. Lastly, video game addiction is a connection to different pattern of applying
gratifications related to video games, where people enjoy the physical act of playing to alleviate
boredom (Gunter 54-55).
In his 2008 publication, Internet and Video-Game Addiction, Mark Griffiths came up with
six criterions, employed to describe video games as an addiction: salience, mood modification,
tolerance, withdrawal symptoms, conflicts, and relapse. Salience occurs when video-game play
becomes a crucial activity in a persons life, hence dominating his thinking, feelings, and
behavior. Mood modification represents the subjective experiences that players report because of
engaging in video-game play. Tolerance is the process of increasing the use of video game play
to achieve the previous mood-modifying effects. This implies that players gradually develop the
amount of the time spent playing video games. Withdrawal symptoms refer to the unpleasant
feeling states or physical effects that springs when video gaming is disconnected or reduced.
Conflict occurs between players and the outside community, those around them, when they are
disconnected from playing video games. Conflict takes different forms, it includes conflicts with
other activities-schoolwork and hobbies-, or from within the players themselves, loss of control,
since they spend too much time video gaming. Lastly, relapse refers to the tendency for
continuous reversions to previous patterns of video-game play, and sometimes the most severe
patterns, excessive video game play, to be promptly restored after periods of self-denial or

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control. Having defined addiction and trying to linking video game to addiction it is clear that
video game can be addictive and affects a number of users and players (Griffiths 232-233).
Current Statistical Data: Video Game Addiction
High rates of video game have drastically gone up over a decade (Addiction.com).
Recent studies on global video game addition reveal alarming degrees of addiction. Douglas A.
Gentile, a research scientist, conducted a study, in medical journal Pediatrics, to examine how
and to what extent video game usage rates are affecting the children and teenagers. Gentiles
study population comprised of 3,034 children and teenagers. From the study, Gentile concluded
that both children and teenagers spend an average time of 20 hours weekly, playing video games.
The research also estimated 72% of American house play video games. About 9% of the 3,034study population displayed signed of video game addiction while 4% of the study participants
were classified as extreme video game users and players, using 50 hours weekly on average.
(Gentile 600).
How many people are affected, young and old? No one knows, however, two statistics
stick out: Worldwide, video game industry is a $66 billion industry. A 2007study suggested that
about 12% of the video game players in a 7,000 study were diagnosed as extreme addicts. Video
game players are generally in trouble if this trend even, to some extent, reflects numbers in
universal population. Video game addiction exists in the contemporary world. A 2009 study
conducted by Iowa State University, revealed that one in every 10 people to be a pathological
gamer with respect to the standards established for pathological gambling. Their video gaming
behaviors has caused family, social, and psychological damage. This study was based on the
nationwide survey of 1,178 American teenagers and children aged between 8 to 18 years. The

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study found out that 8.5% of American youth shows different signs of addictive behavior. Other
participants displayed more than half of 11 symptoms of pathological gambling as outlined by
the American Psychiatric Association (Vivo).
General Symptoms of Video Game Addiction
A classical sign of video game addiction arise where children or teenagers spend more
hours in front of the television, computers, and mobile phones. When teenagers spend most of
their leisure time indoors, glued to the computer and only taking short breaks for snacks and
bathroom then addiction is crippling. Such behaviors are referred to as grinding or farming and
generally last for several hours to the whole afternoon. Extreme cases arise where teenagers
spend the entire day playing video games. This out-of-control 24 hours video gaming spree cause
the players to exhibit an unusual preoccupation when they are away from the game or computer
(Vivo).
Video gamers, who are addicted or at the risk of video game addiction, lack the ability to
control their personal time. They are unable to control the amount of time spent when they start
playing. When they go online, they extend their scheduled time and cannot realize that they have
spent 4-7 hours instead of the schedules 10-30 minutes. Addicts completely lose track of time.
This is not usual for people with no video game addiction. There are instances where video
games addicts trans-night, only to realize that its morning when they see rays of sun striking their
windows (Illinois Institute for Addiction Recovery ).
Addicted video gamers post decline grades or fail in classes. In some circumstances, they
pass mathematics and typing classes while posting poor grades in English, Science, Social
Studies, and Physical education. This is related to preoccupation, loss of time, and lack of control

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effects of addiction brought forward by addiction. As a result, they tend to fall asleep during
school hours due to fatigue. This makes them not to complete their assignments on time and do
not participate or drop out of several school activities, clubs, or sports.
Addicted video gamers tend to isolate themselves from the rest of the family. When
playing, they lock themselves inside their rooms, away from friends and family. Just like any
other addiction, video gaming addictions results in financial, personal, family, and academic
problems. Excessive video game playing impairs real life relationships and disrupts personal
plans. Presently, video gaming has become a costly activity, since addicts spend a
disproportionate amount of their monies on computer-related equipments, such as software
packages, continuous upgrading of their computer hardware, and other accessories.
Recommendation
1. Several people attempting to quit video game addictions exhibit different withdrawal
techniques including: Anger, depression, boredom, loneliness, procrastination, mood
swings, anxiety, and sadness. Video game addiction cause physical discomforts or
medical complications such as dry eyes, severe backaches and headaches, and Carpal
Tunnel Syndrome. As a result, it is advisable to consult a certified addictions Counselor
dully trained in recognition and treatment of video game addiction. Addiction Counselor
does perform effective assessment in determining what extent of care is more suitable.
Over the last five years, programs such as wilderness therapy and therapeutic boarding
schools have been employed and prove effective in aiding teenagers with video game
addictions.
2. Governments should establish video game addiction treatment institutions in an effort to
supply help for addicted people. Such institutions should aim at eliminating compulsive

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response of video game addicts; help them develop habit-forming attitudes as much as
those of addicted drug users or gamblers.
3. Parents are encouraged to have their children take part in different outdoors activities.
They should develop necessary steps to create activities for their children, for instance
schedule play hours after school, organizing children parties at homes, and signing up
their children for after school sporting activities (Allen).
4. Researchers, scholars, and addict professionals should write books addressing video
game addiction and advice to video game addicts on different steps to circumvent video
game addiction. These books or periodicals should provide vital data for parents on how
to go about childrens addiction to video games.
Conclusion
Understanding video game addiction is significant for everyone: as legitimate as it sounds for an
individual to restrict video games for themselves. Video game addiction is real, particularly when
the South Korean man died after spending about 50-hours in a gaming session. Video game
addiction has all the features one requires to define an addiction. This kind of addiction is
occurring around the world, particularly in United States, United Kingdom, China, Korea, and
Japan. Video gaming addiction has led players to lose family ties and friends. Withdrawal
symptoms such as cold swear, anger depression, irritability, developing migraines and back
problems, and occasionally death are among the common traits of video game addiction. A lot
needs to be done as far as video game addiction is concerned, to help reduce it effects globally.

Works Cited
Addiction.com. Alarming Video Game Addiction Statistics. 2013. 16 October 2014
<http://www.addictions.com/video-games/alarming-video-game-addiction-statistics/>.

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Allen, Patrick. Overcome Video Gaming Addictions. New York City: BookPudder Publisher ,
2014.
Clark, Neils and Shavaun P. Scott. Game Addiction: The Experience and the Effects. Jefferson,
North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2009.
Colonna, Bob. The Addiction Process . Bloomington, Indiana: iUniverse, 2000.
Flanagan, Jack. The psychology of video game addiction. 06 February 2014. 15 October 2014
<http://theweek.com/article/index/255964/the-psychology-of-video-game-addiction>.
Gentile, Douglas A. "Pathological Video Game Use among Youth 8 to 18: A National Study."
Psychological Science XX.5 (2008): 594-602.
Griffiths, Mark. "Internet and Video-Game Addiction." Essau, Cecilia A. Adolescent Addiction:
Epidemiology, Assessment, and Treatment. Waltham, Massachusetts: Academic Press,
2008. 45-67.
Gunter, Barrie. The Effects of Video Games on Children: The Myth Unmasked. Edinburgh,
United Kingdom: A&C Black, 1998.
Illinois Institute for Addiction Recovery . What is Video-game addiction? 2014. 16 October
2014 <http://www.addictionrecov.org/Addictions/?AID=45>.
McIlwraith, Robert D. "I'm addicted to television: The personality, imagination, and TV
watching patterns of selfidentified TV addicts." Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic
Media XLII.2 (1998): 371-386.
Vivo, Meghan. New Facts about Video Game Addiction: Problem More Widespread Than
Expected. 2013. 17 October 2014 <http://www.video-game-addiction.org/video-gameaddiction-articles/new-facts-about-video-game-addiction-problem-more-widespreadthan-expected.htm>.

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