Gaming Addiction Symptoms

Gaming addiction may sound like something made up by anxious parents, but it is a real condition... and it's on the increase.

People suffering from gaming addiction find it difficult to balance real life and the gaming world. They prefer to retreat into their games for hours, and even days, isolating themselves from the outside world.

Having something as troubling as a gaming addiction can lead to a withdrawal from society in the same way as any other addict. Video gaming is now a socially acceptable habit, with millions of new gamers getting on board every year.

In the past people were only ever able to play on their own or with a close friend in the same room as they were. These days online gaming is virtually limitless with games that constantly develop and never end. This has resulted in a huge rise of gaming enthusiasts who make friends online. Though this may seem social, it can be at the expense of the gamer going out into the real world.

There are warning signs to indicate when someone may have a gaming addiction. The most obvious sign is sitting at the computer whenever they have a spare moment, to the point where they start to neglect social activity, and the company of their family and friends. The gaming addict will feel a desperate need to be gaming, whenever they can. Because of long periods at the computer addicts may develop wrist problems, have dry eyes and sleep disorders.

Gaming addiction causes the gamer to be very unsettled when they aren't playing a game, and awkward or listless in social company. A dependency on video games develops and they start spending more and more hours inside the digital world.

The consequence is a replacing of the real world with the digital world of video games. It can damage school performance, work and relationships, as the gamer blanks out everything around them to enjoy their fantasy time online or inside a game. This compulsion will only grow stronger the more time that they commit to it.

To aid someone you believe may have a gaming addiction, it can help to explain why their compulsion could be having a detrimental effect on their lives. Video gaming addiction is here to stay and will do so until society starts to recognise it as a genuine dependency problem.