Online Gaming Addiction – Myth or Reality? - Showing All the Symptoms

Researchers at the Charite University Medicin Berlin, in Germany, say that those who play games excessively share important reactions with drug addicts. One of these is “drug memory.” A person addicted to crack will be tempted to abuse the drug when they are presented with certain “trigger” associations – if they enter a building in which they have frequently used the drug, for example.

Based on this knowledge, several researchers at the university compared 15 men in their 20s who admitted that their gaming had chased other activities – such as work and hanging out with friends – out of their lives, with 15 controls who also played games, but not to as great a degree. The researchers showed the volunteers a variety of visual cues and asked them how they felt about the images. Both sets of volunteers reacted the same to neutral images (such as furniture), and even to the alcohol related images (all participants were drinkers).

However, when the excessive computer gamers were showed screen shots of their favorite games, they reacted like drug addicts experiencing “drug memory” from one of their triggers. They felt an overwhelming desire to play the game, expected to feel better once they did, and fully intended to play again as soon as possible. Who would have thought a simple screen shot could have such an effect?!

There’s more here than meets the eye – literally. Another experiment the researchers performed monitored a large muscle in the eye associated with being startled. In theory, those who are experiencing the most pleasing stimuli display the smallest of startle reflexes. True to their expectations, excessive gamers could not be easily startled while looking at a game-related image, unlike the controls.

Next: How Bad Can It Get? >>
 

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