When Video Game Addiction Goes Too Far
With millions of gamers across the planet, it’s possible that video gaming is one of the world’s most recent mental health epidemics. But how do you know if you’re just a gamer, or if you’re addicted to video games? Video game addicts spend 30+ hours a week compulsively playing video games. Different types of video game addictions are listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) including internet gaming disorder.
Some gamers have been known to wear diapers, and to stop eating or drinking because they have been so addicted to playing the video game that they can’t stop, even for a moment. But for those of us who don’t play video games, this behavior seems strange. Why can’t a gamer stop?
Gaming activates the brain’s reward system so intensely that the gamer feels a strong sense of pleasure, a “high” from playing. Eventually, the feeling becomes so powerful that it turns compulsive. The virtual world begins to take priority over the real world, and many video game addicts forego their hobbies, responsibilities and give up their real-world relationships for their video games and online relationships with characters or other gamers. Like other addictions, the gamer can feel withdrawal when they are no longer able to play their video game, including anger, sadness, irritability and even some physical symptoms.
