Gaming Addiction Debunked Recognize the risks and be safe.
A responsible look at Computer Games addiction.
There are many potential benefits to be derived from Computer gaming, as we have seen in Parts 1 and 2 of this article and there will be frequent instances where one might encourage the use of gaming to improve one’s own life and that of family and friends. In spite of this, it would be foolhardy to totally disregard the possibility of the risks, however improbable it may be that they concern you personally or indeed those for whom you might be regarded as responsible.
There are a few hard-hitting facts in the next few paragraphs but this should not discourage you and we finish as we started, on a positive and encouraging note.
Social tragedies associated with computer gaming addiction are becoming more common and there is a rising trend of reported and anecdotal evidence of how gaming addiction can lead to job losses, family break-ups, marriage failure and even deaths
Many of you will have heard of the headline case of 2005 when Lee Seung Seop visited an Internet cafe in the city of Taegu in South Korea and played StarCraft almost continuously for fifty hours. He went into cardiac arrest and died at a local hospital. “We presume the cause of death was heart failure stemming from exhaustion,” a Taegu provincial police official told the Reuters news agency. The police were not aware of the man having suffered from other health conditions prior to the tragic event and mentioned that the man had been fired from his job for repeated tardiness and missing work to indulge in his computer gaming addiction.
An acquaintance of Lee is quoted as saying “…he was a game addict. We all knew about it. He couldn’t stop himself.”
A fascinating fact but perhaps not surprising 15 million + people, or 30% of the population, are registered for online gaming in South Korea. Unsuprisingly, it is a South Korean corporation that runs the World Cyber Games, an annual event backed amongst others by A-list corporations Samsung and Microsoft.
Citing death as a consequence of Computer Game Addiction is thankfully an extreme example and some of you may recognize in yourselves, if not exact parallels with Lee’s demise, certainly the potential for something similar happening to you.
What conclusion can we draw from the Computer Gaming Addiction issue?
See if you might be suffering from Computer Gaming Addiction by answering the following questions:
# Do you find you need to play more and more hours in order to satisfy your need for the excitement?
# Do you find yourself thinking about gaming even when away from your computer, perhaps planning or anticipating your next session ?
# Did you ever lie to family and friends rather than admit to them the true amount of time you spend on computer gaming?
# Whenever you try to cut down on your computer gaming, do you find it makes you feel irritable or restless?
# Have you made repeated attempts to control, cut down, or stop computer gaming?
# Do you ever use computer gaming to take your mind off of personal problems, feelings of helplessness, guilt anxiety or even depression?
# Have you ever risked endangering your marriage or another important relationship in order to indulge in your computer gaming?
# Have you ever risked or lost a job, missed an educational opportunity or a career move because of your computer gaming?
You may be addicted to computer gaming if the answer is yes to any of these questions. These are the basic signs that you may well have lost control. It is best not to ignore the signs before seeking help, even self-help to deal with it.
Most of us will know in our hearts if we are spending too much time at computer gaming even before doing the tests. Home-based video games are less likely to become addictive compared to MMORPGs and online gaming according to research on the subject. Perhaps try more to “keep local” with your friends and family rather than going online to compete.
Perhaps a Golden Rule to achieve healthy gaming is ensure variety rather than sticking purely to one form of gaming.or another.
This is one of three concise articles, dealing with the issue of Computer Games Addiction. Submitted by a site dedicated to computer video and online gaming and endeavour to put a sensible perspective on this important issue.
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