Drugs and alcohol - what else can be the source of people's addiction? Do you think other else except the two famous examples given above? Sex? Other? Gambling? Another. Video Games? Yes! Video games can also be an addiction! Playing video games has been rampant all over the world. The audience can be children, teenagers, adults, our grandfather or grand mother. It does not choose people, everyone can play although every chosen games must be appropriate in our age.
Do you know the meaning of "WU JI BI FAN"? In English, it means "Too much stuff is bad". We can relate it in addiction. I may say that your hobby might turn into addiction. Your hobby in alcohol, in drugs, or in gambling, all of it may turn into excessive hobby.
Now let's talk about video game addiction. I, myself loves to play video game. Everytime that I have my free time, I used to play poker but I cannot call myself as an addict or video game addict but you can call me a internet addict because I love browsing the net.
So, how can we acquire this kind of addiction. Is it like zombie that if some one who is a video game addict will bite you, you will also become one of them? Of course not! According to the article entitled "Video Game and Technology Addiction" by Mara Tyler that I found in a site "HealthLine" saying that the development of technology as well as games affect the obsession of the teenagers on it.
The symptoms and signs of a video game addict were listed on her article. The first symptom is obsessiveness in technology device. If you are a person who is always looking for the gadgets from time to time, feeling like that you will die if your gadgets are not beside you. You may develop this kind of addiction.
I remember one of my cousin, he is always looking for his PSP. Even though we are eating, he is still holding his gadget. He cannot sleep if he does not see his gadget beside him. That is why his father scolded him in the way he act. As a punishment, his game console was kept away from him.
The second symptom is loss of interest in other activities. A person who focus ONLY on playing video games and non other than that you may have this addiction. If in the past, you used to play outside, with your friends have time go shopping, you are still a normal person. Knowing how to manage your time besides facing your computer all day may be out of the topic.
Another sign is spending hours in playing. Video gaming for 24 hours a day, are you a zombie? Are you still a normal person? You forget to eat and to take a bath just to play that game. WOW, its craziness! It is not in a normal state if a person forget to eat because he enjoys playing. Showering, shaving, washing clothes, and brushing teeth may all be neglected in favor of gaming as it progress.
Another symptom is increasing your social activities between the gamers. Playing video games and will talk to co-player to buy or to sell a certain things from that game. My brother is like that. He played "Cabal" which some of he sells some of his items that have no use for him. He will talk to his co-players if they need this, that and those. Then if they agreed on each other. The item is on the other player and the money is on him.
The author also added to those signs is poor performance in school. Are you a student who has a failing grade because of an overnight playing of video games? Are you sleeping while your class is on going. Are you an absent-minded person during the class discussion because you are thinking about how to win that game? Better to leave that addiction if you do not want to ruin your future, kiddo.
In addition to those symptoms above is failing to control your usual behavior. It may happen to a person who is really expose to violent games. Your emotion and your behavior is hardly to manage. You are always feeling irritated and depress same as feeling of anxious and guilty.
If you are experiencing symptoms better to ask yourself. Am I going to leave the video game world? Or am I going to continue this kind of rotation? When video game is more than just a game... It is an addiction.
Although there are no specific treatment for video game addiction, some organization and rehabilitation is willing to fight against it. Organizations that are trying to combat the effects of game to those potential addict.
Though it cannot be cured but there are ways to prevent those symptoms given, I read an article entitled "5 Ways to Prevent Video Game Addiction in your Child" written by Chenda Ngak in a site named "Yahoo Shine" as long as video game is around parents have been struggling with the problem of controlling their children's video game habit.
So the first way is switch to casual game. Many games now are so very addictive but not suitable for children such as World of War Craft. It requires supervision of the parent to their child. If you simply don't have the time to monitor your child's gameplay, try switching to casual games like Rock Band or Wii Sports.
The second step is to create a reward system. For parent you may reward your child for having a good grades in his school. Because the most obvious example is giving your child a much-wanted game in exchange for good grades. It is not bad to trick your child if it is for his own good.
The author also stated to keep a strict schedule. Set a time for a certain things. Three hours for study and homework, one-hour for television or video games. And if your child has sport send him there. It is good for him to engage in outside world than creating your own world inside your house.
The fourth step is take a family trip. Family bonding will lessen the connection of the child in a video games. They will forget about their games because they are enjoying the company of their family. But if you are going for a trip, leave the game consoles behind because it may be a threat to enjoy your bonding.
The last is discuss the problem. Families that are faced with a serious problem must treat the addiction in a similar manner to other addictions. While video games aren't a physical problem, it is still worth your time to figure out why your child has this psychological disorder. You should ask yourself and your child if there are problems of depression and anxiety in the home. But do not ever punish your child.
There are many ways to prevent the game addiction. It is in the hand of the parents and also the children if they still want to continue playing games with so much obsession in to it. It is not bad to play video games but too much of it is. As what I said in my previous blogs, video games are just a stress reliever and entertainment. Do not let those games to break all the things that you need to do and all the opportunities outside to evolve yourself.
