Video Gamer Anonymous?

Do we need a support group for video gamers?  Sales for video games and video game systems are at an all time high.  If you think hard enough you probably know someone that has cancelled plans or shown up late to an engagement because they were playing some sort of game.  Looking ahead in the future it is only going to get worse!

Believe it or not, the psychology of substance addiction or behavioural addiction can be applied to video gamers.  Gamers go through periods of emotional highs while playing which are a direct result of the activity.  The more experienced the gamer becomes, the more accessible that emotional high becomes.  This lays the groundwork for development of an addiction.  Aiding this link is that fact that many of the modern games include movie clips and other accessories to facilitate this emotional link.  It is in the developers interest to hook these gamers to ensure sales of the next version of the game.

Video Gamer Anonymous?

Regardless of the activity, addictions are harmful.  However, video game addictions are extremely detrimental to children because it reinforces maladaptive behaviours in young individuals who are still growing and developing a sense of self.  This argument becomes popular when kids play violent games and then engage in aggressive behavior away from the computer.  Less apparent is the child that doesn’t even learn to engage with another human being except over a high-speed connection during a video game.  School performance tends to be affected as well due to homework time being spent playing a video game.

So the question remains whether a video gamers anonymous group needs to be set up.  If society wishes to be proactive then it should as the effects of the video game industry are just starting to be noticed in the mainstream.