How to Overcome Online Games Addiction
May 10, 2016 | 1 Votes
by jose
9
rate
Addiction affects people regardless of gender, race or age, and brings a lot of harm to not only the affected individual but also to everyone around them. Computer and online game addiction is no different from any other form of addiction in this respect. So how do we deal with it?
Throughout human history, the tendency to overdo something whether it’s a task one gets so absorbed in or something taken into one’s self have most of the time resulted in either harmful or self-inflicting damage. Addiction affects people regardless of gender, race or age, and brings a lot of harm to not only the affected individual but also to everyone around them.
Computer and online game addiction is no different from any other form of addiction in this respect. It can cause irreparable damage not only to your health but also to your mental well-being and the stability of your relationships with your loved ones. Before getting into the core of the subject, let’s start by first discussing what computer gaming does to a person... The negative effects that is.
Staying in front of the monitor will lead to physical pain. No, you won’t get any broken bones or bleed no matter how violent the game you are playing but consider the following:
- Back pain (regardless of age)
- Weight gain (especially in gamers who don’t go out to exercise anymore)
- Poor diet (that is if you remember to still eat at all)
- Lack of sleep, resulting in decreased mental and physical capacity
- Damage to your eyes due to prolonged stress (Why does everything look blurred?)
These are just a few but most common physical symptoms as there are countless others aside from the negative social and psychological effects. Let’s take a look further.
- Loss of productive time for school or work. Instead of doing his homework, Sammy plays his favorite FPS with his on-line friends till 1 am. Sarah has been trying to build her farm on-line for the nth time even during her work hours. In most instances, the inability to control the impulses to game is the main cause of these problems... not the games themselves!
- Anti-social behavior. A person may have lots of friends online. Whether it’s gaming or social media there are always like minded peeps that know you and enjoy talking to you online. However, when you start missing out on family occasions, weddings, birthdays, funerals or even your long time friend’s get together party just to hang out with your virtual family or friends, there’s something terribly wrong with you.
- Extreme psychopathic behavior. Mostly found in minors who still don’t have the ability to think correctly for themselves, when they start to lie, cheat, disobey or throw violent fits of tantrum because it’s past bedtime and they have to stop playing and go to school in the morning. Do take note that this behavior doesn’t only applies to games addiction, but also to all forms of addiction.
As you can see games addiction, especially if left unchecked, may possibly damage the individual beyond repair. So how do we deal with it?
Well, first, we’ll need to see if the addicted individual is a child or an adult. This is because a child has parents or guardians concerned with their general welfare and they obviously will have more authority over the child, while an adult may have no one to help him or her control the addiction. At this point, the only one who could help an adult would be oneself.
Right once that’s out of the way, then first step to recovery is admitting that one has an addiction to computer gaming be it an online multiplayer or a console game. In the case of minors, the parents or guardians have to get the child to acknowledge their addictions and be prepared to do something (usually a pretty harsh or firm action) to deal with it.
After acknowledging the problem, it’s time to hopefully remedy the people’s inability to control themselves from playing too much computer games, or at least get the problem under wraps. Here are some helpful steps to guide you:
#1 Address your priorities.
Make a list of what your priorities really are. Unless you are really working as a professional gamer funded by corporate sponsors to win the next ESL tournament, then it’s time to set your priorities straight. Be it work or studies, you have to set for yourself what comes first. A child may need help in doing this but those of you old enough to drink beer can surely think for yourself. Make a list and don’t put computer gaming on it.
#2 Do your work first.
Finish all assignments, works, chores etc. before you ever think of the game. Just think, would it not be better to get rid of all those things to do, so you don’t have to worry about them anymore and really enjoy your game time? Again, minors will need strict supervision. Some schoolwork have to be done online so parents and guardians will really have to keep an eye on things.
#3 Reduce and control you gaming time.
We won’t ask you to quit gaming altogether or even do something drastic yourself like deleting your characters and your account, heavens no! Just learn to control yourself and reduce your game time. If you can’t do that or find it extremely difficult to do so, you could enlist the help of a close and concerned friend or family member. Set aside time for gaming. Place an alarm clock next to your pc and when it dings, save your game or bid your online friends farewell for the moment and live to game another day.
#4 Find something else fun (a hobby perhaps) to do aside from online gaming.
Really, there must be lots of things you can do aside from staring at a monitor for hours and hours. Notice the people living with you, talk to them. Engage in traditional sports like badminton, bowling, karate, taekwondo and wrestling with friends. Do something else away from the pc.
#5 Have the commitment.
Acknowledging your have a problem is the first step, but having the commitment to follow through and solve your problem is definitely the next. Build up the willpower and self-control to change. If others can do it, so can you! Think of it as a quest for moderation, the ultimate level of the game you play. Mastering oneself is foremost to mastering the game. The game is there for you and not the other way around. You control the game, it does not control you. The only one who controls your life is yourself, don’t hand it to a computer.
Minors as well should be made aware of this, computer gaming can be a part of their growing-up process, but they should realize that games are only “a part” - it’s not their whole life. They still have a life to live!
This are but a few remedies one can take to deal with computer game addiction, online or offline. Just keep doing them till you start to feel that gaming isn’t everything and there are other important things to do and other ways of having fun. If nothing still works, then it would be best to get professional help.
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