Tag Archives: Addictive

Online gaming is as addictive as heroin

Online gaming is as addictive as heroin

Gaming is big business but it has its downside. People have died from gaming and the world is recognizing that game addiction is serious and spreading fast. Mental health professionals opine that gaming can destroy lives, keep students from focusing on learning, workers from working, and women from their duties. There are instances where gamers have not left home for years.

Games like EverQuest, Dark Age of Camelot, and others are popularly referred to as heroinware. And symptoms of addiction according to Computer Addiction Services at McLean Hospital are: obsession with the game; inability to stop; neglect of family and work; lying to hide activity; problems with studies and work; health problems, muscular as well as vision related; neglect of personal hygiene; as well as sleep disturbances.

The games provide social interaction to lonely people, gamers gain acknowledgement as well as power denied elsewhere due to their gaming expertise, and the game weaves a spell on the mind—one gets so absorbed by the virtual realities that it is hard to get away.

The addiction is so real that it requires intensive therapy. Treatment programs include: behavioral therapy, anti-depressants, as well as prescription drugs.

Not all agree that gaming is addictive. MIT’s Games-to-Teach project manager opines that games sharpen critical thinking, improve social skills, and increase empathy. Many others do agree that games inspire imagination, creativity, and team work.

However, the problem is real and countries world over are taking measures. China has set up a clinic in Beijing for net-frazzled addicts to be treated with sports, acupuncture, and medication. The inmates according to the clinic’s director have: depression, nervousness, fear, interaction problems, panic, agitation, shaking and numb hands, as well as sleep disorders. Gaming is a serious problem in Korea — 1-2% of South Korea’s online gamers are addicts. The government is taking steps and requesting game developers to create advisory patches to alert gamers to the impeding dangers.

A hard core gamer is one who is completely absorbed by his online fantasy, he isolates himself from family and friends, lets everyday activities fall by the wayside, spends over 16-20 hours a day playing the game and games at work, at home, and while on the road. Gaming becomes his whole life, a thirst that is never quenched.

Treatment is long and hard and like other addictions the first stage is the most difficult, getting the gamer to acknowledge that he or she has a problem. Addicts find it extremely painful to “kill” the characters of the game and to erase /destroy the software. Most are unable to “keep away” and return to the game addictively. Studies indicate that hard core players are often neurotic, shy, have emotional as well as behavioral issues, and problems in the home environment.

To overcome the addiction, the player must consider and analyze the issues underlying the game—it is the question of power, social standing, respect, and emotions.

Gaming is set to become a global epidemic and needs immediate attention as well as solutions.

Online Games – Learn Why This World Is So Addictive

Online Games – Learn Why This World Is So Addictive

Video games are quite popular among the people of all ages from past 2-3 decades. With the purchase of the personal computers, computer gaming is a common feature that has developed craze among the crowd. Computer gaming includes all kinds of games. We have lots of variety in these games right from the slow games like chess, cards etc. that require careful steps to be followed for continuing the game, to the games that involves the speed like racing games with motorbikes and cars. These are some of the games commonly liked by the people of all age groups.

Unfortunately, most of these games require more than one person. If you have ever played Checkers on your own, you will agree that it can get boring after just a few moves. However, these days, it is tough to always get people to play with you. After all, everybody has their own lives to lead. Everybody has his own share of tensions.

What do you do if you have no one to give you company in playing a game of your choice? You rejoice because you have your computer to play with. Thanks to the rise of video and computer games, we no longer have to sit at home and mope because our football buddies decided they had better things to do. In the worst case, all that one has to do is switch on the computer and turn to a whole host of games.

Everybody loves a good game to get rid of the stresses of the day. After a long day of work, a good game of Scrabble can be a lot of fun, as can a game of Monopoly. If one is not keen to rack one’s brains too much, one can also go work up some sweat by playing a game of squash or tennis on the lawn

The latest craze among the crowd is for the online games. These online games allow you to play different kinds of games on the computer. This is an option that allows two people to play the same game simultaneously while sitting at the different computer systems at different places. One can easily enjoy these games by installing these games from the internet. The process of installation is quite easy and even very casual that even a small kid can follow. What we need to do is to follow the guidelines provided in the installation guides attached with the games files.

Among the famous online games we even have the various puzzles and the arcade games; these games are quite popular among the kids. Apart from downloading the games from the internet, we can even go for the installation of the games by the compact discs of various games. Even the various play stations and the retail stores involved in providing the online games lets us download the files to enjoy the online games.

The Internet provides the game lover with access to all kinds of free online games. There are games based on movies and popular cartoon series. There are games that involve speed and violence. And there are games that involve thinking hard and strategizing. There really seems to be something for everybody.

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