One of the common activities among teenagers is video games. With the various devices, teenagers can play their favorite games at any place and time. However, video gaming addiction might begin to set in when they start to neglect other vital activities because they want to play video games.

If you are not sure whether your teenager is struggling with video gaming addiction, here are some tips to help you observe better.

Reduced performance in school activities

One of the easiest ways to know that your teen is addicted to video games is when there is a drop in their performance at school.

They might record abysmal scores in tests and assignments because they didn’t dedicate enough time to school tasks. Additionally, they might not really be involved in regular school activities because they are more focused on their video games.

Isolation

When a teen is addicted to video games, it might be hard for them to sustain good relationship with other people. They will prefer to stay in the comfort of their rooms and play their video games, instead of spending time with family and friends.

Conflicts

One of the major causes of conflicts between addicted teenagers and their loved ones is when they are quizzed about the number of hours they spend on video games.

Some of them might lie or argue with their parents or caregivers which might strain the relationship between both parties.

A decline in personal hygiene

Another way to know when a teenager is struggling with video gaming addiction is when they don’t pay good attention to their hygiene. They might go for some days without practicing the basic self-care habits that would make them look good.

When you notice that your teenager does not invest more time into essential tasks, it is a pointer that they might be addicted, but they don’t even know what they are facing.

You can help your teenager get help by talking to them and taking them to an addiction treatment center.

The notion behind a lot of games is an idealistic fun approach to solving problems. While others focus on mental relaxation and pathological recreation. In most societies, the media tends to concentrate on the drawbacks of gaming other than embracing its positive impact on people.

The various merits of gaming

1. Improved decision-making skills: many adventure and sport-games require players to make quick, informed, and useful decisions to win. Games having peripheral moving pictures tend to increase sensory alertness and aid decision-making processes. Therefore, Kids who spend reasonable hours playing games grow up to become extraordinary decision-makers.
2. Exceptional problem-solving skills: every game has a problem that the player must solve to proceed to the next stage. Multiple levels, difficult tasks, adventure-based, and complicated puzzles are some of the characteristics of games that help kids become better problem solvers.

While children spend several hours trying to solve problems on their game, their thinking capacity evolves and assists them with solving real-life issues as they fall due.

• Increased learning ability: some study shows that healthy gamers may possess exceptional ability to learn complex things faster than non-gamers. Due to the level of complexity, pleasure, and reward system that makes up a game, kids who play games tend to have a higher intelligence quotient that aids rapid learning processes.

Games are a good way to increase gray matter in the brain. Increased gray matter boosts brain connectivity, perception, and memory.

• Enhanced social skills: With the advent of online multiplayer games, gamers have been able to socialize and become socially aware of their environment. Funnily, some people meet lifelong friends and partners while playing online.
• Informative and academic purposes: in recent times, games are used as a fun way to persuade students into learning.  Developers now make games that help students improve their reading, maths skills, and even help kids learn new words.

No matter how advantageous gaming can be, parents and guardians should ensure that it is done with moderation. Its benefits are not a justification to play games for 10 hours daily.

Gaming addiction has been declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a mental health disorder.

If your children are fond of spending long hours playing video games, you should consider ensuring they don’t get addicted. Not only kids are vulnerable to gaming addiction, teenagers, youths, and adults are also prone to experiencing it.

Gaming addiction refers to a pathological behavioral condition, that encapsulates the minds of children from several aspects of their lives.

How does it start?

Children who suffer from obsessive gaming do not just fall into it in a day. It is the accumulated hours of tireless play over a long period that causes it.

Kids who overly cherish video gaming other than hanging out with friends, reading, doing outdoor sports, and other similar social activities are vulnerable to gaming addiction.

What are the effects?

An insight into how excessive gaming affects people is key to understanding the ways through which they can be controlled. Excessive gaming habit can affect a person in several areas, some of which are:

• Social isolation and relationship problems.
• Academics and work-life crisis.
• Inadequate sleep time.
• Lack of interest in activities that have educational and societal benefits.
• Mental and physical health issues.

Ways to control video game addiction

If duly checked and controlled, video games could be advantageous in various ways. Gaming is meant to be for relaxation and recreation. Parents should ensure to monitor their kid’s game time and consider the following tips:

• Place restrictions on gaming hours.
• Ensure there is always an activity to keep them occupied before and especially after their game time.
• Introduce your child to sporting and other outdoor activities.
• Ensure their gaming console or computer is kept in a public area of the house where you can see them play. This will assist you to monitor their gaming hours and aid restrictive measures.
• Talk to them about how rewarding other activities with scholarly and physical benefits could be for them.
• Help your child make friends that enjoy outdoor and social activities other than gaming.
• If the situation seems too serious, consult a therapist.

A woman’s child comes to school, failing to act the same as the rest of his/her peers－but instead remains unengaged. The rest of the kids are full of excitement, as they circle the playground time and time again. But even so, this does little in getting the attention of the one-child who has isolated himself/herself from the rest of his/her classmates. The other students struggle to discern what’s wrong with him/her at their age, and resume in their game of hide and seek. Yet in doing so, fail to understand what is going on at home for the child they have deemed as nothing short of an outcast. 

The above scenario paints a possible picture of what it is like for children who are affected by the substance abuse of a parent. Consequently, some may believe that the addict is only hurting himself/herself, but when he/she has another life to take care of besides his/her own, he/she is hurting him/her as well. This doesn’t just go for children from preschool through elementary school, but pre-teens as well, as they begin to lose more and more focus on their work at hand. In turn, the attentiveness they may have once had while at school may replace itself with anxiety, depression, and other similar health issues－as a result of the stress they may feel while in the presence of their parent(s). 

In addition to such, a child seeing his/her parents engage in substance abuse can serve as a breeding ground for future addiction. When growing up, a child looks at his/her parent—and/or parents—as role model(s). But when the environment is unsafe by way of harmful—and/or negative—behaviors this can impact the learning behavior of the child. Depending on how young he/she is, he/she may pick up on these particular stimulants, and carry them with him/her as he/she continues to develop. He/she might even begin to think that it is healthy to deal with emotional issues—through substance abuse—because that is what he/she has been taught via his/her environment. 

In conclusion, if a parent is struggling with substance abuse—via drugs, alcohol, or both—it is best that he/she gets the help that he/she needs early on. In doing so, she is not only helping himself/herself—and improving his/her well being—but the wellbeing of his/her child. He/she can then find himself/herself fully engaged and present in the life of his/her child. And as a result, the parent will not only be a whole lot happier but the child as well.

Oftentimes, video games are a big pastime for individuals who either want to master—and/or beat—the game itself, or want to escape reality. Some may even find themselves feeling free from a current situation—and/or circumstance—that they are having difficulty dealing with, and/or see as problematic. But, when this turns from the occasional pastime to several hours on a daily basis, what was once an escape, can soon turn into a trap, as it begins to consume a huge amount of their time. In turn there are two factors in which video game addiction can stem from—and/or be associated with—which are listed as follows; one is standard video games, while the other is multiplayer video games.

Therefore, one can take the gamer, and the gamer’s preference, and see as to why they enjoy the game itself, and/or analysis how the game serves as their means of escape. For some, they may find themselves reaching goals in a virtual reality which they feel as though they can’t do otherwise, or they might even find themselves wanting to be the top player, and/or the best of the best. Consequently, no matter whether their “need” to game stems from the competition, or other factors, this can cause not just emotional and mental health risks, but can also be detrimental to their physical health as well.

One of the biggest ways in which we see this is through fatigue, migraines, and/or eye strains that the individual is faced when they begin to take part in gaming. For, as they stare at the screen for long periods of time they may find this to cause a significant amount of problems to their vision, not only presently, but in their future. Yet unfortunately, the eye strain is not noticeable, and many oftentimes dismiss such. But, the consequences that follow such can be very grave, as they may result in eye damage, mild or severe.

In conclusion, if one feels as though they are suffering from an addiction to gaming, he/she shouldn’t be afraid to reach out for help as soon as possible, before the gaming consumption worsens. It is then that he/she can begin to regain his/her life back, and begin to come to terms with the underlying cause—and/or source—of his/her gaming addiction. It isn’t until the root of the problem is found, that it can be uprooted, so that he/she can begin anew.