When you play 14 hours a day, you have no time or desire for anything else
(photo: CC0 Public Domain)
It wasn’t long ago when we read about digital addiction clinics in China – and we were amazed. But more and more places around the world are realizing the scale of this new kind of addiction. Alas, this is not uncommon: passionate about their hobby, many people “sink”, lose sight of the important things in life, lose contact with loved ones, sometimes even become aggressive.
For Stephen and Louise, life with their 16-year-old son Alex is often difficult. Alex’s obsessive desire to play shooters like Counter-Strike until late at night has caused more than one scandal in the family home. The boy was recently diagnosed with autism.
Alex is a patient in a specialized British clinic for the treatment of video game addiction. He is a patient from earlier this year, he says BBC. His parents referred him to the clinic, but the young man still did not realize his need for treatment.
Although the treatment may not work for her son, Louise believes it has an unexpected benefit for the rest of the family: “What works best for us is talking to other parents whose children have the same play needs. Our support group meets once every two weeks at Zoom. ”
Husband Stephen added: “More than anything else, I think the greatest thing is to realize that you are not alone. There are many other people like us, they experience the same thing.
“For us as a couple, as a family, it was a challenge, because it is quite difficult to communicate,” said the harassed father. “And while people are coming, he is standing and playing upstairs all the time, shouting and cursing. For us, sleep was also a huge problem. We had to sleep in separate rooms. I had to turn on a fan to drown out the sound of his game.
Hundreds addicted
Alex’s clinic has been open for about two years. The urge of children, mostly teenagers, to play games is so extreme that it often leads to outbursts of violence and confrontations with parents. If access to game consoles or computers is denied, young people threaten to commit suicide. Their social interactions are almost always limited to online entertainment and games.
Gaming disorder is a controversial condition identified by the World Health Organization on three characteristics:
- impaired self-control during play;
- prioritizing games over other important things;
- increase games despite the negative consequences.
Some psychologists, along with the gaming industry itself, question the evidence used to define the disorder. But here in London with the games they went to a clinic at the British National Center for Behavioral Addictions. It is well established and known for treating gambling problems. Of course, the games are “new territory” for the team, according to clinical counseling psychologist Dr. Rebecca Lockwood.
“We know that gaming disorder is a very rare condition. “The symptoms can be really severe, which surprised us,” she said.
“Often people have a hard time managing their emotions. They can fight anger, anxiety and bad mood. Experiencing physical symptoms due to sleep loss. That’s because people play at night to make contact with gamers abroad.
More than 300 people have already been treated at the clinic. Most, about 200, came in 2021. 89% of the people treated at the gambling center are men. The age range is “surprising” – there are 13-year-olds, there are people over 60.
When the game grows into a problem
For millions of people, video games are the main entertainment, source of emotion and connection. So when does the time spent in a game cross the line into problematic behavior?
For most people, games are a hobby. In their free time, they play and there is nothing wrong with that, psychologists are convinced.
“We sincerely believe, we fully accept, that for many people, gaming is a really positive thing in life,” said Becky Harris, manager and family therapist at the clinic. “But in the case of this small percentage of people who have a huge problem with games, it really affects their quality of life and their ability to interact and function.”
Part of this problem is often communication with loved ones. When an adult’s attention is spent 14 hours a day playing games, he has no time for his family, his children, let alone other relatives and acquaintances.
When the interruption of a favorite pastime leads to outbursts of aggression, this is a problem. When prolonged sitting in front of the monitor leads to lack of physical activity, systematic overeating and eating unhealthy foods, this is a problem.
Thanks to the way many patients at the clinic have escaped their addiction, Stephen and Louise hope that one day their own son will solve some of his problems.
