Fighting Video Games Addiction : Video Game Addiction

A great deal of research has focused on the identification of addicted adolescent gamers (Van Rooij, Schoenmakers, Vermulst, Van Den Eijnden, & Van de Mheen, 2011). Van Rooij et al. (2011) assumed to provide empirical data-driven to identify a group of addicted online gamers. The video game industry is among the fastest growing sectors of the US economy (ESA Entertainment Software Association, 2013). Both Korean and western researchers report specifically that Massive

While video games may be a fun distraction, playing them too often, as many people tend to do these days, is unhealthy, uneducational, and possibly even dangerous. The rise of technology over the past few decades has led to countless new ways of communicating and working, as well as countless new ways of distracting oneself from communicating and working. Video games are simply one of these methods of distraction. Although they can be a great way to destress when played every once in a while, the fact that they are now available on a huge variety of different devices, including mobile phones, means that most people now play them every day, multiple times a day. The amount of time, energy, and money people spend on these games is infinite, and can only lead them to another virtual level, rather than taking them anywhere in real life. I believe that there are many benefits to playing video games, but that focusing on them too much cannot be good for anybody.

Although we may not notice it, but people can be addicted to video games and it will have serious downsides on your health. Like gambling addictions, both video game and gambling addictions both fall under the same categories of disorders. An Impulse control disorder is defined as psychiatric disorders that are identified by a sort of an impulse- failure to resist a temptation, an urge, or an itch. Both Video Game & Gambling addictions are both recognized as Impulse Control Disorders, both are caused by the need for thrills and highs and the social status correlated with being a successful gamer. Even both addictions both contribute to an elevated dopamine level, which in turn goes into the brain’s reward center; relating to various activities most find pleasure in such as eating or consuming drugs.

CNN, Samantha Bresnahan and Will Worley in their article, “When Video Games Become an Addiction”, argue about how and why video games become an addiction. They support their claim by first talking about video game addiction in the US, then about who mostly get addicted and in what age it is more popular, and finally why video games are addictive. Bresnahan’s purpose is to explain video game addiction in order to find a solution for it. They establish a hopeful tone for the readers.

The following is an analysis of the idea of “video game obsession disorder”. This will bring to light three variations of video game obsession as well as whether or not it’s actually commonplace. Video game obsession can be somewhat related to that of drug addiction, with cases of withdrawal symptoms and/or dangerous actions to keep up on their “fix”, rather than giving it up, or of cases where video games have driven people to some pretty dark places. Now before we continue any further into the subject, I must note that my opinion of this is that a large proportion of the cases I will list will be of people who have severe psychological problems, not necessarily an average person who plays Candy Crush too much. As well as my passion for video

Based on Han’s study on university students, he found that there were some differences in brain activity between video game addition players and normal players. Excessive video game players’ brain activity in the anterior cingulate and orbitofrontal cortex was higher than normal players. It was meant that the different form of brain activation will distinguish the addicted player and the non-addicted player. In the study, researchers took fMRI scans of the brains of 78 teenage boys who were addicted to video games and the other 73 were in common condition. The results showed that video game addiction players had stronger connections between several different regions of the brain. It declared that excessive video gaming would lead the player response faster to some events.

In another approach, Griffiths M. (2003) explored videogames use in treating physically challenged children at childhood and adolescence. They enabled wheelchair users to play commercially available videogames and their results demonstrated improved physical fitness in a sample of people with spinal cord injuries, spinal cord diseases, amputations, nerve diseases, and multiple sclerosis. It also found Videogames as distractors in the role of pain management. Moreover Videogames were found to help development the social and communication skills among the learning disabled. Based on this research, it is clear from the preceding overview that in the right context, videogames can have a positive therapeutic benefit for a large range of children and adolescents.

I truly enjoy playing video games and hope to encourage others whom are not already playing.I narrowed my focus to the possible therapeutic effects of using video games as a treatment for chronic illnesses such as autism. I am personally interested in this topic because for the majority of my life I have been told time and time again video games are horrific for kids. Yes, there have been several outdated studies linking children who played violent video games with more aggressive behavior. But these studies were not very scientific and did not take other factors into account. For example, they compared the violent tendencies of people in combat and contact sports, like football, MMA, etc, with similar problems in video gamers.

A report published by the Entertainment Software Association revealed that in 2015, 155 million Americans play video games with an average of two gamers in each game-playing household (Entertainment Software Association, “Essential Facts about the Computer and Video Game Industry”). With this massive popularity that has come alongside video games in mind, the question is raised: how are video games affecting today's people? With the current way video games are structured, the game rewards players for achieving certain accomplishments e.g. competitive video games reward players who achieve victories with a higher ranking. With this in mind, some gamers may place more emphasis on their gaming achievements rather than their happiness or success in the real life. This in turn might cause a gamer to become addicted; however, a distinction must be set between video game addiction and operant conditioning. Operant conditioning towards a gamer can be one of the factors contributing towards video game addiction; they are not the same thing.

Video game addition is a serious problem in many parts of the world today and deserves more attention. It is no secret that children and adults in many countries throughout the world play video games. According to Jennifer Seter Wagner, studies show 92 percent of under ages of 18 play video games frequently in the United States. A video game is an electronic game that needs the players to generate visual feedback on a video device such as a TV screen or a computer device. There are two concepts that people have about addiction to video gaming: some people believe video games benefit children mind, but most people consider video games have negative side effects for all ages. I strongly believe that addiction to video gaming has negative side effects for teenagers such as wasting money, disobeying parents, skipping class to play games, and others.

Whenever there is a mass shooting in the United States, it doesn 't take long before society suggests violent video games might be to blame. Video games have been culprits of crime today to many eyes in America. Just about anyone in most modernized countries has heard the claim before, placing the blame on a video game, music or television for the violent acts seen in their youth today. There is no link to violence on video games. Typically, these trends seem to pop up when we are referencing school shootings, gang related crime and other domestic terrorist acts done by our youth. It is too easy to quickly blame something like a violent video game for their behavior.

The controversial topic of video game addiction is what I have decided to focus my multi-genre research project on. Although a multitude of people do not even know of the existence of such a problem in today's society, I can assure you that this is becoming an increasingly greater problem effecting people around the world of all ages. Through my multi-genre project, I intend on proving the uselessness and detrimental qualities of playing video games, and I am going to explore some healthy alternatives to such a problematic habit.

Video games have been a favorite pass time for Americans and people all over the world for many centuries. I have always loved video games ever since I was introduced to the Nintendo 64 when I was a little girl. I found Super Mario Bros. and Donkey Kong very addicting when I began playing it. However, a new level of game addiction has been introduced into the era of technology. Games on our phones have been a new popularity in recent years. Usually when I hear the words “video game,” I think of a console, like the Wii or PlayStation. I don’t consider games that are on the app store like Flappy Bird or Temple Run a legitimate video game. Even though they don’t fall under that category, these games are downloaded over a million times. A

Video games are the perfect outlet and source to pour one’s soul into, especially if the game at hand deals is relatable. Usurp-Road to Valhalla is such a game as it deals with the various themes and issues that accompany growing up, dealing with adversity, and the pressure that parents can place on you. As of now the project is just an idea but I believe that it deserves funding so that it can be made into an actual game. All of the aspects such as target audience, features, and concerns have been looked into and have been assessed to prove that this game will be one that is greatly appreciated and loved by all. A vision is only that unless it has the force behind it to be acted upon.

The GAIA consists of five addiction-related subscales: loss of control and consequences, agitated withdrawals coping, mournful withdrawal, and shame; and a 31-item overall addiction subscale was produced by summing these five factors.