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| Video Game Addiction |  In medicine the term “addiction” means a constant obsessive usage of a substance recognized by the user to be destructive. The majority of people correlate addiction with drug or alcohol use, or an activity like gambling. But nowadays there is growing data that people, in particular teens and pre-teens, are involving into computer-related addictions to the Internet and video games as well.
The idea of video game addiction (also known as “gaming”) is seriously debated among medical and mental health experts. In early 2007, the American Medical Association (AMA) collected scientific information dating from 1985 through 2007 on video games and their influences. The point was to analyze and sum up the research data on the possible emotional and behavioral effects, including addiction potential, of video games. The AMA found that, though more research is required, the behaviors linked to video game overuse are analogous to those of gambling addiction.
People who get involved in Internet or video game overuse often disregard family, friends, and school. They develop dependence-like behaviors, becoming nervous, uninterested, or fidgety when they are not gaming. As a rule, students often abandon homework, resulting in a decline in grades. They sometimes lose connection with their friends, choosing in its place to put in the “relationships” they build up while gaming.
The antisocial side of gaming addiction is most common among those who play massive multiplayer online role-playing games, also known as MMORPGs. These online games allow players to talk to each other, and a kind of online community is developed. When taken too far, though, the online society becomes more important than real-life friends and family.
Video game addiction is questionable issue for the reason that not all gamers who show signs of addiction-like behavior display any kind of withdrawal signs. Some gamers can go for days or weeks without playing. Still, some professionals state that the unrestrained overuse is indicative of an actual addiction, with or without withdrawal.
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