VIDEO-GAMING ADDICTION

Video-Gaming Addiction

Video-Gaming Addiction

Rational

This topic was chosen because as a parent and Aunt of growing kids who enjoy video games it is important to me to be aware of the potential social harms that may precipitate from what appear to be harmless acts of play and enjoyment, but in actually, may manifest itself as having potentially negative effects on the well being of the individual.

Focus

Throughout the last numerous decades, video and computer games have emerged as one of the mainly popular forms of amusement, particularly children.

Opinion

A mandated congressional commission study involving major medical players should be enacted to assess the legal, social and medical ramifications of Video overuse.

Thesis

There is increasing evidence that people, especially teens and pre-teens, are developing computer-related addictions to the Internet and video games.

Introduction

The concept of video game (sometimes called "gaming") addiction is heavily debated among medical and mental health professionals. In early 2007, the American Medical Association (AMA) gathered scientific information dating from 1985 through 2007 on video games and their effects (Provenzo 2002). The purpose was to "review and summarize the research data on the possible emotional and behavioural effects, including addiction potential, of video games..." The AMA discovered that, though more research is needed, the behaviours associated with video game overuse are similar to those of "pathological gambling" or gambling addiction (Eron Leonard et al. 2006).

Discussion

The term "Internet Addiction" was first coined in the 1990s by researchers who observed people using the Internet so much that other areas of their lives suffered. The word "addiction" was used because of the similarities in dysfunction between those who overuse the Internet or video games and other, more readily acknowledged forms of addiction.

People who get caught up in Internet or video game overuse often neglect family, friends, and school.

They develop dependence-like behaviours, becoming agitated, bored, or restless when they're not gaming. Students often neglect homework, resulting in a decline in grades. They sometimes lose touch with their friends, choosing instead to invest in the "relationships" they develop while gaming. The antisocial aspect of gaming addiction is most common among those who play "massive multiplayer online role-playing games" or MMORPGs. These online games enable players to talk to each other, and a kind of online community is developed. When taken too far, however, the online community becomes more important than real-life friends and family.

In 2005, the Entertainment Software Association conducted a study on gaming and found that approximately 35 percent of all gamers are less than 18 years of age. Approximately 9 percent of all gamers play MMORPGs, which is the segment most likely to become addicted. As evidence mounts for the existence of video game addiction, researchers have tried to determine who most at risk for addiction is. So far, evidence suggests that young people who are socially awkward, perhaps considered outcasts at school, and are unusually lonely are most susceptible to gaming addiction. Many of these young people feel they are in more control online than they are in real ...