Game addiction and the Brain
Anything excess is a torment to overall health and wellbeing. So is Gaming! It is the action or practice of playing gambling games virtually or physically. As gaming develops fascination in cognitive spaces, excessive exposure for a longer duration can negatively affect the brain, memory, as well as other cognitive faculties, and the risk of addiction is high. The game addiction causes stress, anxiety, panic attacks, and isolation. According to American Psychiatric Association, “Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) is defined as “persistent and recurrent use of the Internet to engage in games, often with other players, leading to clinically significant impairment or distress”
The sales of video games are continuously increasing year on year. Though playing video games has some advantages it also has major disadvantages. Healthy brain stimulation, problem-solving skills, and stress relief are some of the advantages. When that person plays the game, it may stimulate some of the dopamine and it will relieve the stress for time being. It is acceptable when the person plays that moderately. If the person plays that continuously for hours together, it may lead to serious effects and it may affect the brain.
Studies have shown that regularly playing video games increases the grey matter in the brain and boosts the connectivity of the brain. Children, who played strategy-based games, have seen improvement in their problem-solving skills (Alsafi, Z., et al., 2019). The children who play video games can be accurate and better observers as the gamer needs to see every minor change which is needed to play games. Hence, they can see objects more clearly because of the improved spatial resolution.
Another study examined the relationship between personality, motivation, and IGD among 1881 adults from various countries. Researchers found that IGD is more common among the male gender, who are neurotic and possess introverted personality traits. (Carlisle, K. L., Neukrug, E., Pribesh, S., & Krahwinkel, J., 2019).
When the person becomes addicted to games then that person cannot leave that habit easily. When the game becomes addictive it not only consumes the person’s time but also leads to serious problems like insomnia, behavioral problems, violence, eye strain, neck and back problems, depression, etc.
Many people laugh and cry while watching a movie which is because of the process in their brain, and they react to the sensory input as if it is happening to them. It is the same case while playing video games also. When people play games, many people will think that it is happening for real. Sometimes this may lead to shock, aggression, etc depending on the game type and how that person takes that game and plays.
When an individual is engaged in gaming activity, the brain releases dopamine which is in response to the pleasant experience. If a person experiences that while playing video games, then the brain attaches that activity with dopamine. When a person plays video games repeatedly the dopamine is released increasingly and that person becomes addicted to the game. For example, while playing on the mobile phone if the child finds that the battery level of the mobile phone is low, they will plug in for charging and continue to play while charging as well. This may be harmful to the child, but this can be prevented; some children can self-regulate themselves while some cannot.
Through this article, we have only made small attempts to bring in facts about the effects of video games on the brain and the consequences relating to that. It’s high time to create awareness about IGD. Parents should set a reasonable time for using mobiles or playing games. They should spend quality time with their children and the parents should know the child’s likes and dislikes, know their friends, and what he or she was doing throughout the day. At CognitiveGain, we offer both ALPHA and ALPHA PLUS programs specially designed by the seasoned neuroscientists from Brighter Minds that enable parents to spend such quality time with their children and transform their kids in the path of self-discovery. This program will help the child to overcome the addiction to video games to some extent.
References:
- Alsafi, Z., Hameed, Y., Amin, P., Shamsad, S., Raja, U., Alsafi, A., & Hamady, M. S. (2017). Assessing the effects of manual dexterity and playing computer games on catheter–wire manipulation for inexperienced operators. Clinical Radiology, 72(9), 795-e1.
- Carlisle, K. L., Neukrug, E., Pribesh, S., & Krahwinkel, J. (2019). Personality, motivation, and Internet gaming disorder: Conceptualizing the gamer. Journal of Addictions & Offender Counseling, 40(2), 107-122.
- Speaking of Health (2021). Are video games screens another addiction? Accessed from https://www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/hometown-health/speaking-of-health/are-video-games-and-screens-another-addiction