Did You Know?
•According
to rehab4addiction.co.uk, playing computer games releases dopamine in
the brain’s reward centre. Dopamine is a feel good
hormone released during pleasurable activities. A gaming addiction means
dopamine is released in unnatural quantities. Thus the gamer’s brain becomes
tolerant to dopamine as a result. Gamers need to play computer games constantly
in order to maintain normal levels of dopamine.
•A
gaming addiction is similar to a gambling addiction: both are classed as an
Impulse Control Disorder (ICD). Withdrawal symptoms occur when gaming is
withheld from the addict. Such symptoms typically include irritability or
anxiety when the addict cannot play computer games.
Signs
and symptoms of computer game addiction include:
Irritable when not being able to play
Playing long into the night (even at 3-4am), mood swings, violent and damage property, withdrawn and socially isolated, damaged social relations, neglect personal hygiene, neglect work or school, insomnia, gamer’s thumb, rapid weight gain or malnutrition.
Online
role-playing games (especially multiplayer online games) are
more likely to result in video game addiction than other computer game genres.
Students
addicted to video games have lower academic grades than their non-addicted
peers.
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
•How
long do you think is a healthy amount of time to spend gaming per day?
•Are
there games that you can imagine being addictive?
•How
do you think young people could avoid being drawn in to gaming addiction?
•In
which ways do you think addiction might affect someone’s mental health or
wellbeing?
•What
support could people seek if they felt that they had a problem?
•What
advice would you give to a friend about this?
View previous topics of the month here: https://www.reflectionsmoodle.co.uk/mod/folder/view.php?id=1442