Addiction To Online Video Games: Characteristics, Symptoms And Causes
For more than a decade, online video games have completely revolutionized entertainment habits around the world, and currently there are millions of people who play this popular form of pastime all the time.
In some cases, in fact, the use of these leisure products becomes excessive and gives rise to a dynamic of dependency, something that has been called “addition to online video games”. In this article we will see its characteristics and possible causes.
Video games have currently become the absolute kings of entertainment for both young people and adults, as well as one of the most profitable industries in the world, given that they make million-dollar profits every year.
Now, the appearance of online video games, very popular in the last two decades, has generated the appearance of new ways to relate to the world of electronic entertainment. That is why addiction to online video games has its own characteristics, qualitatively different from other forms of addiction to new technologies. Here we will see what these differences are about; but first, let’s look at its symptoms.
Regarding the symptoms, addiction to online video games are those of behavioral addictions. When the person has not been able to play those games for several hours in a row, The following alterations and symptoms usually appear:
But beyond the symptoms, there is a whole series of psychological phenomena that surround these moments of crisis and that characterize this addiction.
Characteristics of video game addiction
Video game addiction is a relatively recent phenomenon since it was not until 2013 with the publication of the DSM-5 that a new category different from chemical addictions was created to include this type of addiction: behavioral addictions.
Among behavioral addictions, video game addiction is one of the most proliferating currently, due to the increasingly widespread use of new technologies and the growing popularity of all types of video games, mainly those that are limited to action, war, adventure or fantasy genres.
These games offer the user an increasingly realistic and stimulating experience, with almost infinite possibilities of interaction in the virtual world, that is why every year more people practice them, and the users are also increasingly younger. When, in addition, these games are online, a very important social dimension is added, and a greater ability to always offer new content without having to go to the store to buy more things.
These types of online games were accepted with open arms by both children and adolescents and their parents, since their practice improves reflexes, creativity, visual abilities and calculation, among many other skills and mental functions.
Despite all this, we are currently witnessing a boom in cases of people addicted to online video games, a type of addiction that has gradually replaced other types of behavioral addictions and is among those with the highest incidence. affecting especially children and young adolescents.
Since addiction to video games constitutes a true public health problem both in our country and in those around us, in today’s article we will present the main characteristics of addiction to online video games and the most representative causes that generate them. this type of addiction in its users.
According to official statistics, more than 10% of video game users end up becoming addicted to them and this happens mainly between 10 and 35 years of age, especially in boys and adult men.
On the other hand, addiction to online games It usually affects individuals whose personalities have a tendency to become obsessed with playing the game more as well as people who have some previous alterations (personality disorders, autism, obsessive disorders or social phobia).
As happens in the majority of behavioral addictions (such as gambling addiction or sex addiction), addiction to new technologies has a neurobiological substrate and is related to the activation of the so-called reward circuits, based on the person needing to obtain each more and more frequently the pleasure that comes from playing a certain video game.
Main causes of video game addiction
Although addictions affect each person who experiences them differently, there are a series of general causes that can explain the appearance of a video game addiction.
1. Specific personality traits
As we have previously indicated, there are some personality traits that can predispose a person to develop an addiction to video games throughout their life.
Some of these features are a low tolerance for frustration a belief in superiority, an obsessive personality, a tendency toward competitiveness, and the need to demonstrate one’s abilities to other users.
2. Online socialization
Online video games allow the creation of communities of players who socialize almost every day through the game without ever having to meet in person.
This ease of interacting from the comfort and protection of home makes it possible for many people with socialization problems or difficulties in the real world to meet people without leaving home, which ends up increasing their communication deficits.
In this way, people addicted to online video games also end up developing other disorders related to social interaction such as social phobias, agoraphobia or anxiety.
3. Presence of previous alterations
The presence of previous mental health disorders can also predispose the person to developing an addiction to online video games.
Some of these alterations may be cases of depression, generalized anxiety personality disorders or autism spectrum disorders.
4. Feedback from the game itself
The feedback that the game itself offers to its users can also cause addiction to this type of online gaming.
So much the rewards with real or virtual money that are obtained by achieving certain objectives or level up, as the personal satisfaction of winning games against other users generates great well-being in the player, who ends up seeking that well-being constantly and by all means.
5. Constant updates
The fact of constantly adding updates by video game developers is also one of the key factors in the development of addiction in their users.
These updates or new scenarios added at specific times of the year such as Halloween or Christmas They provide extra motivation for the user who is always looking for new stimuli to satisfy their anxiety.
6. Lootboxes
Lootboxes or reward boxes are virtual items that function as an incentive system for the user and with which players receive a random selection of items or equipment useful for the development of the game.
These reward packages can be purchased with both real and virtual money and currently many countries, especially in Asia and Oceania, are prohibiting them because they generate cases of addiction, especially in young children.
7. Point accumulation systems
The point accumulation systems that users receive when they achieve certain objectives allow them to climb the rankings and demonstrate their capabilities.
The need to be in the highest positions in the ranking It causes many people to become obsessed with the video game and end up developing an addiction to it.
8. Personal problems
People who have personal, family, social or work problems in their lives are also more likely to end up developing an addiction to online games.
This may be the case of people who grow up in unstructured family environments, people with addiction to drugs or other substances, children and adolescents with school and academic failure or people with difficulties in social relationships.
