Does your child or anyone in your family suffer from video game addiction?
Most people own several electronic gadgets with screens in a world that is becoming more and more digital. However, a lot of parents are concerned about how screen time may affect both their children and themselves.
It can be difficult to limit a child’s screen time because screens are practically ubiquitous. How should you control your kids’ screen time? How can you tell whether you or your kids have a screen or video game addiction?
What Is Gaming Addiction
When someone plays video games frequently and uncontrollably or excessively, they have a video game addiction. Those who have this addiction will favour playing video games above other things.
Their socialising and relationships with family members may both suffer as a result of their addicted conduct. Younger gamers who don’t know any better are typically the ones who struggle with gaming addiction.
Many individuals weren’t persuaded that video game addiction was a real and valid problem until lately. The World Health Organization (WHO) added gaming disorder to its list of international diseases in 2019.
Video Game Addiction
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What makes video gaming so addictive?
They are made to repeatedly satisfy the four psychological requirements of trust, confidence, mastery, and autonomy in your children. Children play more because it makes them feel good, therefore they want to play more.
Kids might not receive the same amount of reinforcement in the actual world as they do in the virtual world, which is another reason why forcing them to stop can be difficult for them.
Gaming Addiction In Singapore
The Straits Times reports that in Singapore, counsellors have observed a marked increase in the number of children who are addicted to gaming as a result of the epidemic.
According to the Ministry of Education (MOE), this may be due to the increased time spent online during the pandemic. According to MOE, students who struggle with excessive online gaming may feel anxious and agitated when they can’t unwind and regularly don’t get enough sleep owing to the strong need to spend more time gaming.
The majority of the seven counselling organisations The Straits Times spoke to pointed to the 2020 circuit breaker as the cause of many children’s addictions, with the number of cases rising by as much as 60 per cent.
A non-profit organisation called Touch Youth Intervention (TYI), which offers counselling and intervention services for youth, reported receiving 1,004 calls in 2021 from young people who were having problems with excessive gadget use, including gaming addiction.
According to MOE, in extreme circumstances, excessive internet gaming can impair people’s lives as they substitute it for daily activities and strain their friendships and familial bonds.
Symptoms Of Gaming Addition
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Screen time or video games can develop into an addiction, just like narcotics, alcohol, or cigarettes, if they have a negative impact on your relationships and health and you are unable to stop them.
Some indications include:
- Having strong cravings to watch television or play video games, which prevent you from thinking about anything else.
- Buying electronics or video games with money you don’t have
- Reducing participation in social or recreational activities in favour of screen time or video games
- Participating in screen time or playing video games while knowing it negatively impacts your life, such as leading you to perform poorly at work or school or neglecting domestic duties.
- When forced to stop playing, even for a little length of time, displaying signs of impatience, anxiousness, or hostility.
- Misrepresenting to others how much you use
- Increasing the amount of screen time necessary to maintain the same level of enjoyment
- Ignoring your appearance, such as failing to care for your wardrobe or grooming
The brain can change permanently or over time as a result of excessive screen use, which would require considerable behavioural and medical interventions to correct.
How To Stop Gaming Addiction
1. Monitor your child’s gaming time
Being honest about how much time you spend playing video games is the first step in recovering from a video game addiction. For instance, playing video games for more than five hours is excessive.
2. Set limitations
Video game addiction can be avoided and stopped by placing restrictions on your playing time.
Use parental restrictions on your console, limit your gaming to family and friends, spend no more than a particular amount of money each month on games, or set apart specific periods when you can’t play. Decide on reasonable gaming restrictions that you’ll stick to, and adjust them as necessary over time.
3. Cut back on playing
Going cold turkey when trying to kick your gaming habit is never a good idea. You might relapse if you do that. Wean yourself off of playing your games instead. Playing less for an hour each day at first, then more as the weeks pass. You won’t feel as though you’re denying yourself of playing that way.
4. Play video games that require movement
Not all video games require you to use a controller while lying on your couch. Many games, especially those on Wii platforms, require players to stand up and move about. You might play a fun dancing game or engage in activities like tennis or bowling.
5. Avoid MMORPG Games
Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games are referred to as MMORPGs. Nick Yee estimates that 50% of players of MMORPGs consider themselves addicted to them. Given that many of their games require paying a monthly membership charge, developers often design them to keep players engaged.
How To Break A Child’s Video Game Addiction
Counselor Oh Chee Siong of LoveTalks Counselling advises parents to provide alternate pastimes for children who are gaming-obsessed in order to help them.
She continued by saying that rather than challenging their children, parents should learn why gaming is so beneficial to children and encourage them to try other activities that are similar. You cannot expect magic to happen instantly; it may take a number of steps.
Friends and family members of an addicted youth should maintain composure, refrain from overreacting, and support the addict in getting help. If he declines, you should get support to learn coping mechanisms.
How To Prevent Gaming Addiction
1. Use gaming console parental controls
Use the parental controls that are included with most gaming consoles to help prevent internet gaming disorder. Anyone can use these controls to impose restrictions on communication, viewing and sharing of content, and more.
2. Set gaming limits
Set verbal limits for gaming in addition to employing parental controls for screen time. For instance:
- You should only play video games for (X) minutes or hours each day.
- Games should not be played right before or after crucial events, meals, or bedtime.
- Avoid engaging in games that are not suitable for you.
- Avoid chatting up strangers in online games.
- Only spend ($X) on video games each month.
3. Help them find other alternative activities
Anyone may avoid playing video games too much by keeping busy with other activities. Try out a new sport, read a few books, tidy your house, or hang out with your friends. There are innumerable other activities one might engage in to pass the time.
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4. Play games as a family
Try playing games together as a family if you have children and worry that they’ll develop a game addiction. This will alter their perception of games as a way to bond and assist them in developing a positive relationship with playing games.
Moderation is crucial here, as it is with many other hobbies that can have both positive and negative effects. By reducing the amount of time spent in front of a screen and substituting healthy activities like exercising or socialising in real life for virtual game worlds, most of the negative effects of gaming can be reduced, if not entirely avoided.
In conclusion, rather than letting the game take over your life, playing video games may be entertaining and enjoyable when incorporated into a balanced lifestyle that includes enough of rest, physical activity, and a nutritious diet.
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