If managed correctly this technology can be beneficial, providing unlimited access to educational and knowledge gathering opportunities. However, it can and often is a double-edged sword. The problem arises when the focus shifts to the world of video gaming compulsively and rises to a level of an addiction.
Video game addiction might sound a little absurd to some, but it's really no different than a gambling addiction. You're playing for the win and the dopamine release that comes with it. According to WebMD it's not just about the physical feelings, either. "There's a psychological component to the addiction, knowing 'I can escape or feel good about my life.'"
Addiction treatment programs have shifted in the past decade with more and more people seeking help for behavioral addictions and process addictions (such as video game addictions), as well as continuing to seek help for substance misuse disorders.
According to the Center for On-Line Addiction, warning signs for video game addiction include:
Our phones and tablets have become incredibly integrated into our lives and can be wonderful tools. We feel useful and needed at the little buzzes of people contacting us for personal or business reasons at all times of day and night. We use it when we wait in lines, wait in the car, go to the bathroom, while watching TV, while cooking dinner, relaxing in the evening, before bed... pretty much all the time. "Just one more" game of Candy Crush, or any other app, or even compulsive Facebook use or email checking, may develop into a behavioral process addiction.
Role-play gaming seems to add an element of fantasy and a way to make people feel better about themselves. This is particularly important if you as a parent have struggled with addiction at the same time as your child. Both the parent and the child are trying to escape something and are turning to technology, video games, or drugs and alcohol, to 'tune out' of their daily life.
There is help for all though, and don’t wait to get it. You have the chance to break the cycle of video game addiction that is starting in your home, and to break the cycle of addictive behavior in your family. Reach out for help and if you can’t quite do it for yourself, do it for your kids.