Video Game Addiction

VIDEO GAME ADDICTION

After playing video games for 50 hours, a man died in an Internet cafe in South Korea (Khazan). China has set up a system in order to control the online video gaming hours. This is the vital step the country has taken to prevent the online gamers from getting addicted by limiting the hours of online video gaming (Koo). Thailand, on the other hand, has banned a very popular game called Grand Theft Auto 4 after a crime was committed in a similar fashion as shown in the game. Australia has rejected the allowance of a video game because of the drug content in the game that could have negative effects on the gamers’ minds (AJ). All these examples give us a slight idea that video game addiction can be really deadly. There are ill effects of playing excessive video games, and a video game addict can completely get hypnotized and lose interest from the real world.
Video games can cause negative physical and mental changes in a person, who plays too much. A video game addict chooses to play video games for hours and hours; as result of which, there are changes in his behavior and personality. The gamer loses interest in his life and chooses the fantasy world of the video games over the real world he is living in. Addicts have several unhealthy disorders, one being “Carpal Tunnel Syndrome”, which is a “physical symptom of gaming addiction.” In this disorder, the area near the wrist gets damaged as a result of too much gaming. The nerves of that area are squeezed due to excessive use while playing. One other ill effect of gaming is the sleeping disorder caused due to excessive gaming and some times it may even result to a migraine. In short, the gamer does nothing but playing video games all day which results in his mood modification and change in behavior as he lies about the hours he played video games and has conflicts with the people around. An online addict loses weight as he skip meals and is sleep deprived. Personal hygiene too, is affected as he skips showers, and other grooming activities (Video Game Addiction). Online gamers are said to have a relatively low body mass index, which means they have a low weight to height ratio (AJ). If you meet a video game addict before and after he was addicted, you will observe that there is a shocking change in the person, both mentally and physically.
Video game addiction can cause individuals to become socially isolated from his family and friends. As we have learned from above, a video game addict plays the video game for unhealthy hours; as a result, he does not give time to the most important part of his life, his family. Certain online video games connect one player to other players to for a team and play against the opponent team; for example, in World of Warcraft, a player have a specific three dimensional character, who has a certain responsibility, a job, and a certain respect in their team. A gamer connects with his teammates via mail and communicates with them. It is said that, if a gamer has to continue playing the game, he has to be loyal to his team, and even if he wants to stop playing, or quit at a point, he is subjected to pressure and is compelled to continue playing (Wagner). Hence a social environment of friends, and in some cases, even relationships are created in online games (AJ). A woman in Midwest, who talks about his son being an ex-addict of online games, said that his son was addicted when he was in high school and he spent all day playing video games. She said he would never come out of his room and would skip meals, and most importantly, family time. He was so engrossed in the game that he failed in school. The only thing that slapped him out of his addiction was the last option given to him, that is, to leave the game, or to leave the house forever. Luckily it worked in the mother’s favor and today he is a graduate (Wagner). A wife, who is pregnant, talks about her husband, who plays video games all the time. She talks about how immature a fully-grown man can get due to video game addiction, as he shows no interest in their baby. She is worried that he will continue playing even after the baby is born while she struggles with the baby’s upbringing (Khazan).
Excessive video games or video game addictiveness causes failure in real life. The online games are designed to be so realistic, that it is like a new world and according to a gamer, a better one. A gamer gets to play a role model, make friends, achieve goals, have a girlfriend/boyfriend etc. (Aj). The longer you play, the higher is your respect, and the easier to access the game. The higher is the rank, the more a person is respected in the society of the game world. A research says that, the people who are addicted love what they are addicted to because the respect, the status, and all that achieve in the game is nearly impossible for them to achieve in real life, or they have already failed to achieve. Another mother named Liz Woolley lost her son due a video game called Everquest. She said he got so addicted to the game that he lost his job, his house, and was then admitted to the hospital. He was so addicted that he continued paying the hospital bills, did not stop playing. Later he committed suicide in front of the computer screen, and his body was found by his mother (Khazan).
Video game addicts are so much into the game, that many have forgotten their aims and goals in life, and some have even lost their lives. Video games are designed for leisure, or as a stress buster in spare time, but not for a full time job. Hence it is our responsibility to control and limit the hours of video games and other such addictive drugs as a small flame can cause a huge fire, and burn our lives.