Video game addiction symptoms
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Understanding Video Game Addiction Symptoms
Introduction to Video Game Addiction
Video game addiction, also known as Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD), is characterized by the excessive and compulsive use of video games, leading to significant impairment in personal, social, and occupational functioning. This condition has garnered increasing attention due to its rising prevalence and the negative consequences associated with it1 2.
Psychological and Behavioral Symptoms
Changes in Brain Function and Reward System
Research indicates that video game addiction can lead to changes in the brain similar to those observed in substance addiction and gambling. These changes primarily affect the brain's reward circuitry, leading to increased dopamine release and altered dopamine receptor sensitivity1 2. This alteration in the brain's reward system can result in a reduced sensitivity to natural rewards, making individuals more reliant on gaming for pleasure2.
Mental Health Issues
Individuals with video game addiction often exhibit a range of mental health problems. Common symptoms include increased levels of depression, anxiety, and stress4 6 7 9. Additionally, there is a significant association between video game addiction and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms, with individuals displaying poorer impulse control and cognitive functioning3 4 6.
Emotional and Social Difficulties
Video game addicts frequently experience emotional difficulties such as increased feelings of loneliness and social isolation. They may also exhibit higher levels of aggression and have a greater likelihood of engaging in pathological behaviors, such as excessive use of internet pornography4 7. These emotional and social challenges further exacerbate the negative impact of video game addiction on an individual's life.
Physical Health Consequences
Impact on Daily Activities
Video game addiction often leads to the neglect of essential daily activities, including work, sleep, and eating. Addicts may spend substantial amounts of time and money on gaming, prioritizing it over other important aspects of life5. This neglect can result in physical health issues due to poor nutrition, lack of exercise, and inadequate sleep.
Coping Mechanisms and Addiction Severity
Maladaptive Coping Strategies
The relationship between video game addiction and mental health is partially mediated by coping strategies. Addicts often employ maladaptive coping mechanisms, such as resignation and withdrawal, which contribute to poorer mental health outcomes8. Conversely, individuals who use more adaptive coping strategies may be less likely to develop severe addiction symptoms.
Hedonic Experience and Gaming Intensity
The intensity of video game use is related to the hedonic experience of the player. High-symptom addicts often experience a U-shaped relationship between gaming intensity and pleasure, where initial gaming leads to frustration and disappointment until excessive dopamine release occurs, temporarily improving their hedonic experience5. This pattern is consistent with sensitization and tolerance theories of addiction.
Conclusion
Video game addiction is a complex condition with significant psychological, emotional, and physical health consequences. It involves changes in brain function, mental health issues, and maladaptive coping strategies. Understanding these symptoms and their underlying mechanisms is crucial for developing effective interventions and treatments for those affected by this growing public health issue.
Sources and full results
Most relevant research papers on this topic
Symptoms, Mechanisms, and Treatments of Video Game Addiction
Video game addiction leads to brain changes and negative consequences, and is associated with depression, psychological, and social problems.
Systematic ReviewComputer and Video Game Addiction—A Comparison between Game Users and Non-Game Users
Computer game addicts and gamblers may show reduced dopamine response to stimuli associated with their addiction, presumably due to sensitization.
Systematic Review
Highly CitedVideo game addiction, ADHD symptomatology, and video game reinforcement
Greater ADHD symptom severity is associated with increased video game addiction severity, regardless of the type of game played or preferred most.
Observational StudyHighly CitedVideo game addiction in emerging adulthood: Cross-sectional evidence of pathology in video game addicts as compared to matched healthy controls.
Video game addicts exhibit poorer mental, physical, mental, and social health compared to matched non-addicts, with females at unique risk for negative outcomes.
Observational Study
Rigorous JournalHighly CitedVideo Game Addictive Symptom Level, Use Intensity, and Hedonic Experience: Cross-sectional Questionnaire Study
Higher video game addictive symptom levels experience a U-shaped relationship between hedonic experience and intensity of play, with high-symptom groups experiencing frustration and disappointment before achieving excessive dopamine release, while low-symptom groups experience no such fall-and-rise pattern.
Rigorous JournalAssociation between Internet Gaming Disorder or Pathological Video-Game Use and Comorbid Psychopathology: A Comprehensive Review
Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) is significantly associated with anxiety, depression, ADHD, and social phobia/anxiety, with higher rates in males.
Systematic ReviewRigorous JournalHighly CitedA Cross-Lagged Study of Developmental Trajectories of Video Game Engagement, Addiction, and Mental Health
Pathological gaming is reciprocally associated with mental health problems, and for a significant number of individuals, it does not resolve spontaneously over 2 years.
Observational StudyHighly CitedVideo Game Addiction, Engagement and Symptoms of Stress, Depression and Anxiety: The Mediating Role of Coping
Video game addiction is linked to poorer mental health, with maladaptive coping strategies partially explaining the relationship.
Observational StudyRigorous JournalHighly CitedPsychosocial correlates of internet gaming disorder: Psychopathology, life satisfaction, and impulsivity
Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) is associated with increased video game use, increased depression, anxiety, stress, lower life satisfaction, and increased impulsivity.
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