Playing online / video games is not wrong. It only becomes a cause of worry when it becomes habitual and results in an addiction or compulsion to constantly play, which may lead to negative effects on the mind and body. With more online games being accessible to everyone on a smart phone itself, the addiction takes on a whole new level because this is a gadget available with one 24x7. These games play on the “reward” system in the brains of young users, tempting them to play more and more as they receive gratification.
More and more incidents of crimes and deaths are being reported connected to online/video games. In a recent incident, a 21-year-old killed his father for not giving him money to recharge his phone to play a popular online game. DC finds out why this craze.
“Playing games helps me to divert myself from problems and stress. For those 2 hours I totally forget about everything and it keeps me engaged. Every time I win, it gives me satisfaction and a feeling of achievement”, explains, PS Aravind Adhith, an engineer who has been into PC gaming since childhood and doesn’t like to call it an addiction.
Students are also known to skip classes for playing games. V. Kaushikk, a game enthusiast feels that people are getting addictive to games because they are designed that way. A game gives a lot of self-confidence and motivation.
“There are people who are addicted to sports and other activities, likewise some are addicted to online multiplayer games like PUBG, Fortnite etc. These games relax one’s mind”.
“I play multiplayer games as they are very exciting, enjoyable and also prove to be an escape from reality and that’s one major reason why people find games relaxing.
Games like PUBG provide multi-player interactivity and excitement along with a competitive platform and are a huge hit in the gaming community”, says Sadakshi KR, a freelance writer.
Psychologist Padma opines, “The aspect of the video games capture the entire sensibilities of an individual. The children want an activity constantly which is a sensory activity like a sensory stimulation and the video games serve that purpose. The video games have the ability to praise the individual ‘Brilliant’ which is like praise or credit to an individual. The children don’t have the capacity to think that it is stereotypical or it is already programmed”.
The artificial intelligence which is programmed in the games put these ideas into a person’s head. That’s when a person gets addicted. “The parents should monitor the games which the children play and game should be something that has an early exit. For instance, if you play a game you should run out of life within half an hour. That’s how a game should be”, suggests Padma.
