Playing an exciting video game gives a feeling of living inside any thrilling movie, fighting with monsters and showering with gold coins.No wonder our children will love such gaming experiences!
But don’t you think that too much of anything is very bad? When children become a game addict he unconsciously cages his entire childhood in that fictional world.
Let’s talk about everything parents should know about video game addiction.
What Is Gaming Addiction?
Across the globe, children enjoy gaming as their favorite online activity. However, there is a thin line between casual gaming activities and severe game addiction.
According to the World Health Organization -Game addiction is a pattern of repetitive behavior that may be online or offline and it can manifest by excessive gaming, indulging into gaming so much so that other life activities start being compromised.
Causes Of Video Game Addiction
Do you think your kids are hooked to various tempting video games? If yes, then you should dig deeper and know the reasons for kid’s gaming addiction.
- Developers design exciting games and users get thrilled by playing with the release of Dopamine -a pleasure-giving chemical.
- More thrills and chills of video games put the children into the fantasy land. And winning all the time in the virtual world makes kids happy.
- The virtual world of video gaming offers total control to the user. When children feel free to run-jump-fight and do everything that they are prohibited to do in real life, they get obsessed with the gaming world.
- The manipulative game uses the psyche of kids to set cliff-hangers at the end of every level of the game. The unsatisfied curiosity will make kids obsessed to play another level of the game.
Symptoms Of Video Game Addiction
- Loss Of Interest In Other Hobbies-A video game addict only focuses on gaming as his primary hobby. He gradually loses his interest in other hobbies, he used to have previously.
- Withdrawal Symptoms-A game addict needs games all the time. It is almost like he can not survive without it! Therefore, when they are always on games they show withdrawal symptoms such as -constant irritability, sadness, anxiety, etc.
- Being Preoccupied With gaming Ideas– An addict will always be preoccupied with games or related techno activities. They plan a few strategies to win the game, which new game they should start playing, How can they achieve the next level-thus they constantly preoccupy their mind about gaming.
- Cheating Loved Ones to Play games-Although the game addict knows the negative impacts of excessive gaming, he just can’t stop it! And their loved ones restrict them in order to save them from this loop. But the game addict cheats his loved ones by not listening to them and continues playing the games.
- Gaming Becomes The Most Important Activity Of Life-When a person started neglecting other life areas such as career, relationship, study, etc he is surely an extreme case of video game addict.
- Gaming Becomes The Solution To Every Problem-When a person chooses video gaming to escape negative moods, to get relief from social disturbances, family problems or career challenges, he is surely a game addict!
Did you notice any of these symptoms in your child? If you are a parent of a game addict child, you must be finding ways to stop their gaming obsession.
How To Stop Video Game Addiction?
Either it’s an adult or a youngster, any game addict constantly struggles to break the loop of obsession. And there are many ways we can help them.
Treating gaming disorder can be started at any age and stage of life. The following are the steps that can cure video game addiction.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy(CBT)
- If your child is a game addict you can take the help of professional experts. The CBT is a mental health counseling performed by a specialist.
- Therapists teach the patient how they can replace the thoughts about gaming, they also help to change their behavior and responses towards games.
Screen Time Limit
- Another effective way to curb gaming obsession is by limiting screen time. A parent can use parental control apps to limit a kid’s device activities.
- Screen time control, app time limit and app block features of child monitoring apps discontinue the usage of addictive apps and games.
Discuss The Disadvantages
- If your child is a video game addict you should discuss the disadvantages of his bad habit. He should know how badly his addiction can take over his life.
- You can also take the help of your family physician or pediatrician. Once a child is self-aware about his addiction, he will automatically try to limit his device usage.
Encourage Him To Engage More In Real-Life Activities
- Engage your kids in various real-life activities such as sports, social gatherings, weekend outings, etc
- This will help him to cut off his device obsession and he will have more happening real-life excitements.
To sum up, Let’s consciously fight against Video game addiction by choosing real-life experiences over the fantasized virtual world.
