Many gaming companies employ psychologists to keep players completely immersed. Addicts get hooked on achievements & milestones, leading them to play for hours without realizing the amount of time that’s passed.
Many modern video games incorporate aspects of gambling to keep players engaged. This practice has become so pervasive that several countries have moved to ban loot boxes – features of games that provide variable rewards, much like a slot machine. Video game companies have also taken pages out of the pharmaceutical and tobacco industry playbooks, employing lobbyists to stymie attempts to include video game addiction in the DSM. These efforts and resources can hinder addicted individuals from seeking treatment or even recognizing that an issue exists.
Most avid gamers are not addicts. Gaming addiction affects somewhere between 1 and 4 percent of gamers. However, when taken to extremes, video game addiction can have severe consequences. At its most extreme, problem gaming can result in death—there are several recorded cases of players dying of dehydration or malnutrition as a result of compulsively playing and ignoring their own physical needs. While such cases are rare and extreme, many problem players struggle to maintain employment and interpersonal relationships as their play interferes with life activities.
IF YOU THINK YOU MAY HAVE A VIDEO GAME ADDICTION, ASK YOURSELF THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS:
Are you preoccupied with video games?
Do you use gaming to avoid negative emotions in your life?
Do you experience irritability, anxiety or cravings when you can’t game?
Do you feel the need to spend increasing amounts of time playing video games?
Have your attempts to control your gaming failed?
Do you find that you are less interested in your previous hobbies in favor of gaming?
Do you continue to game despite adverse consequences in your life?
If you have answered five or more of the foregoing questions “yes”, you may be benefit from gaming addiction counseling NY.
If you believe you may be experiencing video game addiction, I can help. By learning how to avoid problem gaming behaviors, you can manage the hold gaming has on your own life. Even if you find that you play a lot of video games and your behavior does not rise to the level of addiction, you may benefit from learning strategies to manage your own behavior and keep yourself from slipping into video game addiction.
PHONE: 718-551-2777
3 CONVENIENT NEW YORK COUNSELING LOCATIONS: West Hempstead, NY, Douglaston, NY, Hewlett, NY
Video Game Addiction Therapy
Addiction Counseling
Nancy Hilsenrath, treatment placement specialist at Acadia healthcare.
Gaming Addiction Counseling NY
