Video game addiction

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"EverCrack" redirects here. For the video game frequently nicknamed EverCrack, see EverQuest.
See also: Internet addiction disorder and Computer addiction

Those who are "addicted" often have a hard time taking breaks from playing.

Video game addiction is hypothesized to be an excessive or compulsive use of computer

games or video games, which interferes with a person's everyday life. Video game addiction may
present itself as compulsive game-playing; social isolation; mood swings; diminishedimagination;
and hyper-focus on in-game achievements, to the exclusion of other events in life. [1][2][3] In May 2013,
the American Psychiatric Association (APA) proposed criteria for video game addiction in
the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, concluding that there was insufficient
evidence to include it as an official mental disorder. [4] However, proposed criteria for "Internet
Gaming Disorder" are included in Section 3, Conditions for Further Study. While Internet Gaming
Disorder is proposed as a disorder, it is still discussed how much this disorder is caused by the
gaming activity itself, or whether it is to some extent an effect of other disorders. Although there have
been various research proving the addictiveness of video games, counterarguments also abound:
For example, while research suggest people who play violent video games for an extended period of
time show increase with their aggressive behavior and hostility, such claims are disputed by multiple
sources.[5][6] Such sources also claim that individuals who play nonviolent games showed no
difference in their aggression or hostility.[7]

Preliminary diagnosis and symptoms[edit]

The American Psychiatric Association decided that enough evidence exists to propose the potential
disorder of video game addiction as a "condition requiring further study" in theDiagnostic and
Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders as Internet Gaming Disorder.[8] Video game addiction is a
broader concept than internet gaming addiction, but most video game addiction is associated with
internet gaming. APA suggests, like Khan, the effects (or symptoms) of video game addiction may
be similar to those of other proposedpsychological addictions.[9] Video game addiction may be
like compulsive gambling, an impulse control disorder.[10][11] APA explains why internet gaming
disorder has been proposed as a disorder:

This decision was based upon the large number of studies of this condition and the severity
of its consequences. .... Because of the distinguishing features and increased risks of
 clinically significant problems associated with gaming in particular, the Workgroup
recommended the inclusion of only internet gaming disorder in Section 3 of the DSM-5.

Excessive use of video games may have some or all of the symptoms of drug addiction or other
proposed psychological addictions. Some players become more concerned with their
interactions in the game than in their broader lives. Players may play many hours per day,
neglect personal hygiene, gain or lose significant weight due to playing, disrupt sleep patterns to
play resulting in sleep deprivation, play at work, avoid phone calls from friends, or lie about how
much time they spend playing video games. [3][12] In one extreme instance, it was reported that a
seventeen-year-old boy would play for periods of up to 15 hours, skipping meals and only
stopping when he blacked out.[13]

APA has developed 9 criteria for characterizing the proposed internet gaming disorder: [8]

1. Pre-occupation. Do you spend a lot of time thinking about games even when you are
not playing, or planning when you can play next?
2. Withdrawal. Do you feel restless, irritable, moody, angry, anxious or sad when
attempting to cut down or stop gaming, or when you are unable to play?
3. Tolerance. Do you feel the need to play for increasing amounts of time, play more
exciting games, or use more powerful equipment to get the same amount of excitement
you used to get?
4. Reduce/stop. Do you feel that you should play less, but are unable to cut back on the
amount of time you spend playing games?
5. Give up other activities. Do you lose interest in or reduce participation in other
recreational activities (hobbies, meetings with friends) due to gaming?
6. Continue despite problems. Do you continue to play games even though you are aware
of negative consequences, such as not getting enough sleep, being late to school/work,
spending too much money, having arguments with others, or neglecting important
duties?
7. Deceive/cover up. Do you lie to family, friends or others about how much you game, or
try to keep your family or friends from knowing how much you game?
8. Escape adverse moods. Do you game to escape from or forget about personal
problems, or to relieve uncomfortable feelings such as guilt, anxiety, helplessness or
depression?
9. Risk/lose relationships/opportunities. Do you risk or lose significant relationships, or job,
educational or career opportunities because of gaming?

One of the most commonly used instruments for the measurement of addiction, the PVP
Questionnaire (Problem Video Game Playing Questionnaire) was presented as a quantitative
measure, not as a diagnostic tool. [14] According to Griffiths,[15] "all addictions (whether chemical or
behavioral) are essentially about constant rewards and reinforcement". Griffiths proposed that
addiction has six components:[15] salience, mood modification, tolerance, withdrawal, conflict, and
relapse. But, APA's 9 criteria for diagnosing internet gaming disorder were made by taking point
of departure in 8 different diagnostic/measuring tools proposed in other studies. Thus, APA's
criteria attempt to condensate the scientific work on diagnosing internet gaming disorder.

Public concern and formal study[edit]

One meta-analytic review of pathological gaming studies concluded that about 3.0% of gamers
may experience some symptoms of pathological gaming. [16] The report noted problems in the
field with defining and measuring pathological gaming and concluded that pathological gaming
behaviors were more likely the product of underlying mental health problems rather than the
inverse.

In year 2010, article 24 of ACM Journal of Computers in Entertainment (volume 8, issue 4) by

Andrews Samraj and CK Loo suggested a built-in component based remedy for reverting the
children back from the adverse damages caused by the video games. [17]

A report by the Council On Science And Public Health to the AMA cited a 2005 Entertainment
Software Association survey of computer game players and noted that players
ofMMORPGs were more likely to play for more than two hours per day than other gamers. [18][19] In
its report, the Council used this two-hour-per-day limit to define "gaming overuse", citing
the American Academy of Pediatrics guideline of no more than one to two hours per day of
"screen time".[20] However, the ESA document cited in the Council report does not contain the
two-hour-per-day data.[21]

In a 2005 Tom's Games interview, Dr. Maressa Orzack estimated that 40% of the players

of World of Warcraft (an MMORPG) were addicted, but she did not indicate a source for the
estimate.[22] She may have derived the estimate from the informal survey managed by Nick
Yee at The Daedalus Project,[23] who notes that caution should be exercised when interpreting
that data.[24] Other critics[who?] have satirized the idea of MMORPG addiction, illustrating that the
genre has built-in mechanisms for burning out players, which is contrary to the concept of
addiction.[25][verification needed]

A 2006 lecture reported by the BBC indicated that 12% of polled online gamers reported at least
some addictive behaviours.[12][26] The lecturer, Professor Mark Griffiths ofNottingham Trent
University, stated in another BBC interview that addicts are "few and far between." [27]

In 2007, Michael Cai, director of broadband and gaming for Parks Associates (a
media/technology research and analysis company), said that "Video game addiction is a
particularly severe problem in Asian countries such as China and Korea." [28] Results of a 2006
survey suggested that 2.4% of South Koreans aged 9 to 39 suffer from game addiction, with
another 10.2% at risk of addiction.[29]

A 2007 Harris Interactive online poll of 1,187 United States youths aged 8–18 gathered detailed
data on youth opinions about video game play. About 81% of youths stated that they played
video games at least once per month. Further, the average play time varied by age and gender,
from eight hours per week (responses from teen girls) to 14 hours per week (responses by teen
boys). "Tweens" (8–12-year-olds) fell in the middle, with boys averaging 13 hours per week of
reported game play and girls averaging 10. Harris concluded that 8.5% "can be classified as
pathological or clinically 'addicted' to playing video games", but did not explain how this
conclusion was reached.[30]

Since the American Psychiatric Association decision in 2007, studies have been conducted

at Stanford University School of Medicine related to video game play. Researchers found
evidence that video games do have addictive characteristics. [31][32] An MRI study found that the
part of the brain that generates rewarding feelings is more activated in men than women during
video game play.[33][34]

The 2009 OSDUHS Mental Health and Well-Being Report, by the Centre for Addiction and
Mental Health (CAMH) in Toronto, Ontario, showed almost 10% of 9,000 surveyed students
from Grades 7 to 12 get at least 7 hours a day of "screen time".[35] A little over 10% also reported
having video gaming problems in the previous year. A recent articlePediatrics (journal) found a
mild association between watching television or playing a video game and attention issues in
more than 1,300 children ages eight to 11 years old. Children who played video games or
watched television for more than the normal two hours a day maximum, which is recommended
by the American Academy of Pediatricswere 1.5 – 2 times more likely to show signs of attention
issues, the researchers found. However, the study was further criticized in eLetters to the same
journal for failing to use well-validated measures of attention problems or control for other
important variables.[36] A more recent study using the Child Behavior Checklist and controlling for
family and mental health variables, found no link between video game use and attention
problems.[37] Also, a study in Pediatrics[38] found problematic gaming behaviors to be far less
common, about 4%, and concluded that such problems were the result of underlying mental
health problems rather than anything unique to gaming.

Writing in the American Psychological Association journal Review of General Psychology's

special issue on video games, Barnett and Coulson[39] expressed concern that much of the
debate on the issue of addiction may be a knee jerk response stimulated by poor understanding
of games and game players. Such issues may lead both society and scholars to exaggerate the
prevalence and nature of problematic gaming, and overfocus on games specifically while
ignoring underlying mental health issues.
Other scholars have cautioned that comparing the symptoms of problematic gaming with
problematic gambling is flawed, and that such comparisons may introduce researchartifacts and
artificially inflate prevalence estimates. For instance Richard Wood has observed that behaviors
which are problematic in regards to gambling may not be as problematic when put into the
context of other behaviors that are rewarding such as gaming. [40] Similarly Barnett and Coulson
have cautioned that discussions of problematic gaming have moved forward prematurely without
proper understanding of the symptoms, proper assessment and consequences. [39]

Some scholars suggest that psycho-social dependence may revolve around the intermittent
reinforcements in the game and the need to belong. [15] Some scholars explain that the social
dependence that may arise due to video games occurring online where players interact with
others and the relationships "often become more important for gamers than real-life
relationships".[41]

Through interviews with gamers who were addicted to a MMORPG but have quit playing,
multiple reasons causing gamers to leave their game has been disclosed. This also reflects a
number of aspects of online game addiction.[42]

General critiques on addiction research[edit]

Though the study on the topic of gaming addiction is growing, the research is still young, and is
therefore conducive to critique. Common challenges involve the reliability of
themethodology and validity of the results in some studies. Many rely on self-surveys from
University students and also lack time frames making it difficult to study the impact, if any, of
addiction on a long term scale. Other concerns also address the definition of addiction and how
to measure it, questioning whether or not time is a proper unit to determine how addicted
someone is to gaming.[43] A 2014 study done by Brunborg, Mentzoni and Froyland found that
video game addiction does have a correlation with negative outcomes, such as depression.
However, as stated in the article, the link between time spent on gaming and the same
outcomes were found to be weaker than the former, showing that time may not be the only
factor in gaming addiction.[44]

Other challenges include the lack of context of the participant’s life and the negative portrayal of
gaming addicts.[45] Some state that gamers sometimes use video games to either escape from an
uncomfortable environment or alleviate their already existing mental issues - both possibly
important aspects on determining the psychological impact of gaming. Negative portrayal also
deals with the lack of consistency in measuring addictive gaming. This leads to discussions that
sometimes exaggerated the issue and create a misconception in some that they, themselves,
may be addicted when they are not.[46][47]

Though the critiques are present, studies on this topic are still relatively young and growing and
there is much to still be explored in this realm. [44]
Connection with physical health[edit]
A Norwegian study conducted by the University of Bergen has looked at links between gaming
problems and common health problems. The study compared health factors like headaches,
neck or back pain, digestive problems and sleep problems between people with normal or no
affiliation to gaming and people with gaming problems. [48]

The study shows that people with gaming addiction are more exposed to all the tested health
factors than the other groups.[49]

The table below shows some numbers from the study. It compares the share of people who
replied that they never had problems with each particular health factor between the groups
"people with gaming addiction" and "people without gaming addiction". [48]

Share who replied "never"

Health factor
Non-addiction
Addiction group
group

Headache 28.7% 20.6%

Neck-/back pain 25.8% 16.2%

Digestive
51.4% 40.3%
problems

Sleep problems 45.3% 31.2%

Sadness 43.1% 22.0%

Sleepy in daytime 22.6% 10.4%

Palpitations 71.4% 53.5%

Media coverage[edit]
The press has reported concerns over online gaming since at least 1994, when Wired
Magazine mentioned a college student who was playing a MUD for 12 hours a day instead of
attending class.[50]

Press reports have noted that some Finnish Defence Forces conscripts were not mature enough
to meet the demands of military life and were required to interrupt or postpone military service
for a year. One reported source of the lack of needed social skills is overuse of computer games
or the Internet. Forbes termed this overuse "Web fixations" and stated that they were
responsible for 13 such interruptions or deferrals over the five years from 2000–2005. [51][52]

In a July 2007 article, Perth, Western Australia, parents stated that their 15-year-old son had
abandoned all other activities to play RuneScape, a popular MMORPG. The boy's father
compared the condition to heroin addiction. [53]

In an April 2008 article, Telegram.co.uk reported that surveys of 391 players of Asheron's
Call showed that 3% of the respondents suffered from agitation when they were unable to play,
or missed sleep or meals to play. The article reports that University of Bolton lead researcher Dr.
John Charlton stated, "Our research supports the idea that people who are heavily involved in
game playing may be nearer to autistic spectrum disorders than people who have no interest in
gaming."[54]

On 6 March 2009, the CBC's national news magazine program the fifth estate aired an hour-long

report on video game addiction and the Brandon Crisp story, titled "Top Gun", subtitled "When a
video gaming obsession turns to addiction and tragedy". [55]

On August 2010, Wired reported that a man in Hawaii, Craig Smallwood, sued the gaming
company NCsoft for negligence and for not specifying that their game, Lineage II was so
addictive. He alleged that he would not have begun playing if he was aware that he would
become addicted. Smallwood claims to have played Lineage for 20,000 hours between 2004
and 2009.[56]

In January 2012, a video entitled "IRL – In Real Life" was released on YouTube. The film
attracted widespread coverage on television, radio and in newspapers around the world. [57] The
film was made by graduate student film maker, Anthony Rosner. In the film he documents his
experience with gaming addiction and how he was able to overcome it. [58]

Parental concerns[edit]
According to ABC News, parents have many concerns about their children playing video games,
such as:
 Age appropriateness: There is really no guideline to when a child should be introduced into
the game world. Children have their own game of rights passage. There comes a time when
a parent will know that their child is developed enough emotionally and socially and is ready
for video games.
 Play time: The National Institute on the Media and Family suggests that a child should have
no more than an hour to play video games daily.
 Health and Obesity: For some parents this should not be a concern because there are now
video games that involve a lot of physical movement (Wii, Connect). Parents should also
require at least two hours of outdoors activities for their children.

Other concerns are addiction, safety concerns and violence, aggression and misbehavior. [59]

Governmental concern[edit]
The first video game to attract political controversy was the 1978 arcade game Space Invaders.
In 1981, a political bill called the "Control of Space Invaders (and other Electronic Games) Bill"
was drafted by British Labour Party MP George Foulkes in an attempt to ban the game for its
"addictive properties" and for causing "deviancy". The bill was debated and only narrowly
defeated in parliament by 114 votes to 94 votes.[60][61][62]

In August 2005, the government of the People's Republic of China, where more than 20 million
people play online games, introduced an online gaming restriction limiting playing time to three
hours, after which the player would be expelled from whichever game they were playing. [63][64] In
2006, it relaxed the rule so only citizens under the age of 18 would face the limitations. [65]
[66]
 Reports indicate underage gamers found ways to circumvent the measure. [67] In July, 2007,
the rule was relaxed yet again. Internet games operating in China must require that users
identify themselves by resident identity numbers. After three hours, players under 18 are
prompted to stop and "do suitable physical exercise." If they continue, their in-game points are
"slashed in half". After five hours, all their points are automatically erased. [68]

In 2008, one of the five FCC Commissioners, Deborah Taylor Tate, stated that online gaming
addiction was "one of the top reasons for college drop-outs". [69] However, she did not mention a
source for the statement nor identify its position in relation to other top reasons. [69][70][71][72]

Possible causes[edit]
Some theorists focus on presumed built-in reward systems of the games to explain their
potentially addictive nature.[73][74] In reference to gamers such as one suicide in China, the head of
one software association was quoted, "In the hypothetical world created by such games, they
become confident and gain satisfaction, which they cannot get in the real world." [75]

A high prenatal testosterone load may be a risk factor for the development of video game
addiction in adulthood.[76]
Ferguson, Coulson and Barnett in a meta-analytic review of the research, concluded that the
evidence suggests that video game addiction arises out of other mental health problems, rather
than causing them.[16] Thus it is unclear whether video game addiction should be considered a
unique diagnosis.[16]

Researchers at the University of Rochester and Immersyve, Inc. (a Celebration, Florida,

computer gaming Think-tank) investigated what motivates gamers to continue playing video
games. According to lead investigator Richard Ryan, they believe that players play for more
reasons than fun alone. Ryan, a motivational psychologist at Rochester, says that many video
games satisfy basic psychological needs, and players often continue to play because of
rewards, freedom, and a connection to other players. [77]

Michael Brody, M.D., head of the TV and Media Committee of the American Academy of Child
and Adolescent Psychiatry, stated in a 2007 press release that "... there is not enough research
on whether or not video games are addictive." However, Dr. Brody also cautioned that for some
children and adolescents, "... it displaces physical activity and time spent on studies, with
friends, and even with family."[78]

Dr. Karen Pierce, a psychiatrist at Chicago's Children's Memorial Hospital, sees no need for a
specific gaming addiction diagnosis. Two or more children see her each week because of
excessive computer and video game play, and she treats their problems as she would any
addiction. She said one of her excessive-gaming patients "...hasn't been to bed, hasn't
showered...He is really a mess."[3]

Prevention and correction[edit]

Some countries, such as South Korea, China, the Netherlands, Canada, and the United States,
have responded to the perceived threat of video game addiction by opening treatment centers. [29]

Because few clinical trials and no meta-analyses have been completed, research is still in the
preliminary stages for excessive gaming treatment. The most effective treatments seem to be,
as with other addictions and dependencies, a combination
of psychopharmacology, psychotherapy and twelve-step programs.[79]

China[edit]
The Chinese government operates several clinics to treat those suffering from overuse of online
games, chatting and web surfing. Treatment for the patients, most of whom have been forced to
attend by parents or government officials, include various forms of pain or uneasiness. [80][81] In
August 2009, Deng Sanshan was reportedly beaten to death in a correctional facility for video
game and Web addiction.[82]
Netherlands[edit]
In June 2006, the Smith and Jones clinic [83] in Amsterdam – which has now gone bankrupt –
became the first treatment facility in Europe to offer a residential treatment program for
compulsive gamers.[84] Keith Bakker, founder and former head of the clinic, has stated that 90%
of the young people who seek treatment for compulsive computer gaming are not addicted. [85]

United States[edit]
Computer gaming addicts anonymous cgaa.info, formed in 2014, is a recovery fellowship
offering twelve-step support and fully following the Twelve Traditions. They have daily chat
meetings at stepchat.com for support and recovery from computer gaming addiction of all kinds:
video, console, PC, online, tablet, phone, arcade, etc.

McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts has set up Computer Addiction Services.

[86]
 Elsewhere, gamers may seek services at generalized addiction support centers.

Online Gamers Anonymous, an American non-profit organization formed in 2002, is a twelve-

step, self-help, support and recovery organization for gamers and their loved ones who are
suffering from the adverse effects of excessive computer gaming. The organization provides a
variety of message boards, daily on-line chat meetings, a Saturday and Wednesday Skype
meeting, and other tools for healing and support.

In July 2009, ReSTART, a residential treatment center for "pathological computer use", opened
in Fall City, near Seattle, Washington.[87]

Gaming Addiction 2012 promotes responsible gaming including internet games, online
gambling, and fantasy sports. They offer surveys for gamers and people that care about gamers.
They advocate a simple three pronged approach to responsible gaming: Understand what
gaming is; Solve problems that are created by excessive gaming; act out the solution and live a
healthier life free of gaming addiction.

Canada[edit]
At a Computer Addiction Services[86] center in Richmond, British Columbia, excessive gaming
accounts for 80% of one youth counselor's caseload. [88]

Australia[edit]
In 2012, Emil Hodzic formally launched the Video Game Addiction Treatment Clinic
(www.videogameaddictiontreatment.com.au) in response to the growing need for individual and
family based assistance. He is the first Psychologist in Australia to provide specialist
psychological support, consultation and talks on this issue.
Notable deaths[edit]
Globally, there have been deaths caused directly by exhaustion from playing games for
excessive periods of time.[89][90] There have also been deaths of gamers and/or others related to
playing of video games.

China[edit]
In 2007, it was reported that Mr. Zhang died in Jinzhou after playing online games persistently
during the week-long Lunar New Year holiday as a result of a heart attack, brought on by a lack
of physical activity.[91] During the same year, reports indicated that a 30-year-old man died
in Guangzhou after playing video games continuously for three days. [92][93]

In 2012, two men in Taiwan died while playing computer games. The police "speculated that
long hours in a sedentary position created cardiovascular problems" for the second, an 18-year-
old.[94]

The suicide of a young Chinese boy in the Tianjin municipality has highlighted once more the
growing dangers of game addiction, when those responsible do not understand or notice the
risks of unhealthy play. Xiao Yi was thirteen when he threw himself from the top of a twenty-four
story tower block in his home town, leaving notes that spoke of his addiction and his hope of
being reunited with fellow cyber-players in heaven. The suicide notes were written through the
eyes of a gaming character, so reports the China Daily, and stated that he hoped to meet three
gaming friends in the after life. His parents, who had noticed with growing concern his affliction,
weren't mentioned in the letters.[75]

In March 2005, the BBC reported a murder in Shanghai, when Qiu Chengwei fatally stabbed
fellow player Zhu Caoyuan, who had sold on eBay a dragon saber sword he had been lent in
a Legend of Mir 3 game,[95] and was given a suspended death sentence. [96]

South Korea[edit]
In 2005, Seungseob Lee (Hangul: 이승섭) visited an Internet cafe in the city of Taegu and
played StarCraft almost continuously for fifty hours. He went into cardiac arrest and died at a
local hospital. A friend reported: "...he was a game addict. We all knew about it. He couldn't stop
himself." About six weeks before his death, his girlfriend, also an avid gamer, broke up with him,
in addition to his being fired from his job.[97][98][99]

In 2009, Kim Sa-rang, a 3-month-old Korean child, died from malnutrition after both her parents
spent hours each day in an internet cafe, rearing a virtual child in an online game,Prius Online.
[100]
 The death is covered in the 2014 documentary Love Child.[101]
Vietnam[edit]
An Earthtimes.org article reported in 2007 that police arrested a 13-year-old boy accused of
murdering and robbing an 81-year-old woman. A local policeman was quoted as saying that the
boy "...confessed that he needed money to play online games and decided to kill and rob..." the
victim. The article further related a police report that the murder by strangling netted the thief
100,000 Vietnamese dong (US$6.20).[102][103]

United States[edit]
In November 2001, Shawn Woolley committed suicide; it has been inferred that his death was
related to the popular computer game EverQuest. Shawn’s mother said the suicide was due to a
rejection or betrayal in the game from a character Shawn called "iluvyou". [104]

In February 2002, a Louisiana woman sued Nintendo because her son died after suffering
seizures caused by playing Nintendo 64 for eight hours a day, six days a week. Nintendo denied
any responsibility.[105]

18-year-old Devin Moore was addicted and obsessed with Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. He
suddenly snapped and went on a crime spree on 7 June 2003. He was caught trying to steal a
car and was brought in to the police station where he then managed to steal one officer's gun,
and shot him and two other officers dead before stealing a police car and escaping. He was
eventually caught and sentenced to lethal injection. After he was recaptured he said, "Life is a
video game. Everybody's got to die sometime."[106]

Press reports in November 2005 state that Gregg J. Kleinmark, 24, pleaded "guilty to two counts
of involuntary manslaughter". He "left fraternal twins Drew and Bryn Kleinmark unattended in a
bathtub for 30 minutes, in order to go three rooms away and play on his Game Boy Advance"
while "in the mean time, the two ten-months old kids drowned". [107][108]

Ohio teen Daniel Petric shot his parents, killing his mother, after they took away his copy of Halo
3 in October 2007. In a sentencing hearing after the teen was found guilty of aggravated murder,
the judge said, "I firmly believe that Daniel Petric had no idea at the time he hatched this plot
that if he killed his parents they would be dead forever." [109][110]On 16 June 2009, Petric was
sentenced to 23 years to life in prison.[111]

In Jacksonville, Florida, Alexandra Tobias pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for shaking

her baby to death. She told investigators that the baby boy's crying had interrupted her while she
was playing the Facebook game FarmVille. She was sentenced to 50 years in December 2010.
[112]

A New Mexico woman named Rebecca Colleen Christie was convicted of second degree
murder and child abandonment, and sentenced to 25 years in prison, for allowing her 3 and a
half-year-old daughter to die of malnutrition and dehydration while occupied with chatting and
playing World of Warcraft online.[113]

Brazil[edit]
In 2014, in Rio de Janeiro, 16-year-old Gabriel Cavalcante Carneiro Leao was hit by a bus
distracted while playing the Google Alternate reality game Ingress which is played on cellphone
and requires visiting real world locations. After four days in a coma, he died. [114]

Philippines[edit]
In March 2014, a 17-year-old boy assaulted and killed his grandmother in Quezon city after she
scolded him for playing Defence of the Ancients at a local internet cafe. [115]

In popular culture[edit]
This section needs additional citations for verification. Please
help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources.
Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2014)

 In the Boston Legal episode "Word Salad Days", a mother sues a video game company after
her 15-year-old son dies of a heart attack due to exhaustion from playing a game for two
days straight.
 In L.A. 7 episode, Game Boy, Bradley becomes addicted to a game, forcing Tina, Hannah,
and Paul to go look for Spike, the teen game designer who created the game.
 The South Park episode "Make Love, Not Warcraft" parodies many aspects of game
addiction.
 The South Park episode "Guitar Queer-o" features a made-up game called "Heroin Hero", to
which people develop a drug-like addiction.
 In The Simpsons episode "Marge Gamer", Marge suffers from overuse of an MMORPG.
 In The Simpsons episode "Lisa Gets an "A"", Lisa becomes addicted to a fictional video
game called Dash Dingo (a parody of Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back).
 In the CSI: Miami episode "Urban Hellraisers", a suspect is found dead after playing a game
for seventy hours straight.
 The King of the Hill episode "Grand Theft Arlen" features Hank addicted to a game called
Pro-Pain, a parody of Grand Theft Auto series.
 In the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Game", William Riker brings a video
game from Risa. It stimulates specific parts of the brain, and almost all of theEnterprise crew
become addicted to it.[116]
  In The Big Bang Theory episode "The Barbarian Sublimation", Penny becomes addicted
to Age of Conan.
 In the Law & Order: SVU episode "Bullseye", addiction to a fictitious MMO leads a mother
and her boyfriend to completely neglect their daughter, while trying to protect their virtual
online son.
 In the British television series Red Dwarf, the future scenario of total immersion gaming is
considered along with the potential for addiction and possible misperceptions of an
existence inside the game world. Series 2 episode "Better than Life"; series 5 episode "Back
to Reality". This is considered in more depth in the novels based on the early series of the
show, "Red Dwarf: Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers" and "Better Than Life" Red
Dwarf novels.
 In Welcome to the NHK, Tatsuhiro becomes addicted to an MMORPG which worsens
his hikikomori status.
 The Sam and Cat episode "Brain Crush" contains examples of mobile phone and video
game addiction. Some people of their city and eventually their friend Dice and Cat's
grandma Nona become addicts to the title mobile game, which is a parody of Candy Crush.
 The Angelo Rules episode "Game Off" contains a video game known as "Flamethrower
Bunny." Anyone who plays it eventually becomes addicted. Victims included Ethan, Angelo's
father, and even Angelo.
 In the 1000 Ways To Die episode "Stupid As Death Does", the segment "Game Stopped" is
about a video gamer who plays for 60 hours and dies due to clots in his leg being released
into his heart and lungs. This death is also based on the death of Lee Seung Seop.
 The South Park episode Freemium Isn't Free Stan is once again addicted to another game
this time on a mobile phone. His father mistakenly compares his son's addiction to gaming
with his grandfather's gambling addiction and father repeatedly calls the addiction
"Demons". The episode is simply criticism on free-to-play games in general
andfreemium itself.
 In a 1982 television advertisement for the Atari 2600 in the UK, a young boy, after being
given an Atari 2600 by his father, plays with the Atari 2600 nonstop until he becomes
a middle-aged man.[117]

References[edit]
Notes[edit]

1. Jump up^ "Computer Game Addiction". Berkeley Parents Network. Retrieved  25 June 2007.

2. Jump up^ Hauge, Marney R. and James Robert 'Paynee' (April 2003). "Video game
addiction among adolescents: Associations with academic performance and aggression"  (PDF).
Retrieved 25 June  2007. Paper presented at a Society for Research in Child Development
Conference, Tampa Florida
 3. ^ Jump up to:a b c Tanner, Lindsey (22 June 2007).  "Is video-game addiction a mental disorder?".
Associated Press. Retrieved 2009-05-09.
4. Jump up^ "Conditions for Further Study".  Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
Disorders(5th ed.). American Psychiatric Association. Retrieved  31 August 2014.
5. Jump up^ Christopher J. Ferguson (5 November 2014). "Does Media Violence Predict
Societal Violence? It Depends on What You Look at and When".  Journal of Communication  65(1):
E1–E22. doi:10.1111/jcom.12129.
6. Jump up^ Przybylski, Andrew K.; Rigby, C. Scott; Ryan, Richard M. (June 2010). "A
motivational model of video game engagement". Review of General Psychology 14 (2): 154–
166.doi:10.1037/a0019440.
7. Jump up^ "Negative Effects of Violent Video Games May Build Over
Time". Psychcentral.com. December 11, 2012. Retrieved December 11,  2012.
8. ^ Jump up to:a b Petry, Nancy. et. al. 2014: An international consensus for assessing internet
gaming disorder using the new DSM-5 approach An international consensus for assessing internet
gaming disorder using the new DSM-5 approach - Petry - 2014 - Addiction - Wiley Online
Library Access via Researchgate
9. Jump up^ Khan, Mohamed K. (2006).  "Report of the council on science and public health".
Retrieved 25 June  2007.
10. Jump up^ Brown, Gerald L. (15 March 2004).  "Impulse control disorders: a clinical and
psychobiological perspective"  (PDF). Retrieved 25 June  2007.

Computer Games Addiction

Computer game addiction has become a major problem in our society, since many children and teenagers play an
excessive amount of hours of computer games a day and develop countless problems such as violent behavior and
social isolation. In the past, not many people really cared about computer games being violent, it was not a hot topic
as it is today. But within the past few years, with games becoming more realistic and violent, there have been certain
acts of violence committed by individuals who have been known to play such games. As an example, in China a 13
years old boy killed himself after playing for 36 hours straight. The boy left a suicide note saying he wanted to join the
heroes of the game he worshiped. Guilty pleasures like video games, television, and candy are tolerable when done
in moderation. The problem with computer games is that unless they are controlled or limited, they can endanger not
only one's social life ,but also one's health.
Those who believe games containing violent gameplay and images are to blame for some murders would often
assume that because of   gun crime in some countries, like USA,   has gone up during the time these games have
been around. The way some see it is that if a child sees and plays games that contain, for example gang violence
from a young age, then the child may be more likely to think of such things as acceptable. As an example, the game
"Counter-Strike" became a huge hit when I was little. This computer game promoted violence ever since the
beginning. The first thing you do when you enter the game is to choose, whether you want to be a terrorist or a police
officer and then you can choose how   to kill your opponent and the weapon you want to murder your enemy with.
Playing violent computer games can increase a person's aggressive thoughts, feelings, and behavior according to
studies. 

Computer Addiction Research Paper

Computer addiction is a new disorder, which affects the young population, especially adolescents
and young adults. Although it has nothing to do with the infection, it spreads throughout the world
with the speed of an epidemic. A lot of reports in the press show here and there adolescent
aggressive behavior led to tragic consequences.

The experts’ conclusions are not encouraging. Danger of becoming addicted to computer games
threatens anyone who spends playing video games more than two hours a day.
The computer addiction has the same roots as that of gambling. The brain of each person is
provided with the pleasure center. Direct stimulation of this center in laboratory animals leads to the
fact that they forget everything else. Refusing food consumption for the sake of pleasure, laboratory
animals die from exhaustion. The computer addiction is a gradually formed disorder. If such a
person can get access to the computer for 2 hours or more, he, like an alcoholic, will be suffering
from a hangover, experiencing withdrawal symptoms.
Read more about Computer Addiction research paper writing help here!

As with most mental illnesses, it is the first to notice the change surrounding the nature and behavior
of the patient. It is very difficult to convince the addicted himself that he is sick. The first step in
treating the patient is the realization of his pathological addiction to the computer. It is important to
positively adjust the patient to visit a therapist, for that purpose any excuse in the form of
psychological testing, vocational guidance can be used. The rest of the work you can safely entrust
to the professionals in the field.

Typically, people susceptible to the computer addiction are unsure of themselves, have difficulty in
communicating, feel dissatisfaction with their lives, having low self-esteem and complexes. After the
first session with the therapist, the addicted begins to understand the nature of his addiction more
critically. Such a therapy makes it finally possible to change yourself and get rid of computer
addiction after a course of psychotherapy.

An important stage of successful treatment of computer addiction is to identify reasons why a person
wants to escape from reality. The mainstay of treatment is psychotherapy. In case of detection of
latent depression, there should be drug treatment. Psychocorrection is conducted both individually
and in groups. As a result, the treatment improves the relationships with family and peers, brought
willpower, increases self-esteem, forms a new culture of life. It is important to work not only with
addicted, but also with members of his family. Only with their assistance, the outcomes will be
strong, and family relations – harmonious. On individual treatment sessions, the therapist relieves
the patient from the “game hypnosis,” and gives him indifference to computer.

Conclusion
In conclusion, the argument of video game addiction is not only our own. Many other countries are facing
similar problems. There are now camps and psychologist dedicated to gaming addiction and this is only
the icing on the cake of reality. As I watch my brother(obvious game addict) play games 24/7 and take no
time to see what friends he says he has, I can only imagine the problem is getting worse with newer
generations. What face book addiction is to us, gaming addiction is to them. Do we need to start everyone
on detox? No, I believe that the only step to getting "Clean" is to realize you have an issue (like a drug).
These gamers believe these 10 hour nights of gaming is merely habit and the creators of the games they
are playing see it as profit even if they cover it up with "moderation is the key to everything" speeches.
We are living in a technological world filled with kids that know nothing outside of Call of Duty, Second
Life, or World of Warcraft. These games are not made to be finished, they are made to be a second life.
This second life kills their first lifes social skills and GPAs and leave them with a tough future to face.
These are the kids who will be building the world in the future.

Pphilippine normal university

The indigenous peoples hub

North Luzon campus

Title

A TERM PAPER

IN ISSUES AND PROBLEMS IN THE CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY

SUBMITTED TO : ARLENE M. GAFFUD

(PROFESSOE)

SUBMITTED BY: JOANA MARIE P. DOROL

IV-BEED1

INTRODUCTION
There is a current phenomenon that is happening today. this concern our Filipino youth and their addiction to
MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games). We said addiction because these type of games
are addicting. When a person plays one of these types of online games, he or she is hooked into a fantasy world
which separates the person from the real world. The players in these games up to 10-20 hours a day.

When time on spent on the computer, playing video games or cruising the internet reaching a point that it harms a
child’s or adults family and social relationships, or disrupts school or work life, that person may be caught in a cycle
of addiction. Like other addictions, the computer or video game has replaced friends and family as the source of a
person’s emotional life. Increasingly, to feel good, the addicted person spends more time playing video games or
searching the internet. Time away from the computer or game causes moodiness or withdrawal.
ISSUES:
Every single person living in the United States today is affected by juvenile crime. It affects parents,
neighbors, teachers, and families. It affects the victims of crime, the perpetrators, and the
bystanders. While delinquency rates have been decreasing, rates are still too high. There have been
numerous programs that have attempted to lower this rate. Some are greatly successful, while many
others have minimal or no impact. These programs are a waste of our resources. It is essential to
determine the efficacy of different programs, and to see what works and what does not. In this way,
the most successful programs can continue to be implemented and improved, while those that do
not work are discontinued.

A number of different types of programs currently exist. Those that get involved with the delinquent
after the occurrence of deviant behavior tend to be less succesful, since by that point antisocial
habits are well developed. More effective programs are ones that intervene before the onset of
delinquent behavior and prevent that behavior – prevention programs. By getting involved in
children’s lives early, later crime can be effectively reduced (Zagar, Busch, and Hughes 282).

Prevention programs positively impact the general public because they stop this crime from
happening in the first place. And there are even some prevention programs that are more successful
than others. One aspect of exceptionally successful prevention programs is their comprehensive
nature. Programs that are more holistic prevent future crime better because they deal with various
aspects of a child’s life, not just a single one.

Two programs that have both of these features – early intervention and comprehensiveness - are
home visitation programs and Head Start. Both of these programs have shown incredible results by
targeting specific risk factors that lead to delinquent behavior. Once these risk factors are lessened,
the problem behavior is much less likely to occur. In conclusion, juvenile justice prevention programs
such as prenatal and early childhood nurse visitation programs and Head Start are largely
successful at deterring crime for the children involved because they occur early in the
child’s development and because they focus on holistic and general aspects of the child’s life rather
than focusing on crime itself.

Although there is really no way to completely predict which children will behave in delinquent and
criminal ways in the future, there are a multitude of risk factors that have been shown to correlate
with these behaviors. Fetal substance exposure, prenatal difficulties, an abusive and violent family
are all risk factors related to poorer executive functioning. This weakness is then shown to lead to
violent behavior (Zagar, Busch, and Hughes 281).
Other precursors to later frequent offending include poor child-rearing practices, poor parental
supervision, criminal parents and siblings, low family income, large family size, poor housing, low
intelligence, and low educational attainment (Zigler and Taussig 998). Physical and/or sexual abuse
are specifically risk factors for homicidal behavior (Zagar, Busch, and Hughes 288). It has also been
shown that early-onset antisocial behavior is associated with more severe outcomes compared with
antisocial behavior that occurs later, and it is more likely to persist into adulthood (Olds et al. 66).

But these risk factors generally have a more complicated connection to problem behavior than
simply increasing it directly. For example, low intelligence is considered a risk factor since children
with below-average intelligence have a good chance of doing poorly in school. They may also have
some sort of mental retardation. Both of these factors are correlated with physical abuse from the
parents. Therefore, a child that has low intelligence and is also dealing with parental abuse must
face two external events that preclude delinquent outcomes (Zigler and Taussig 999).

Socioeconomic status is another interesting risk factor. While in some studies it is directly associated
with delinquent behavior, other studies have found that regardless of socioeconomic status, those
children who were raised by distressed and unsupportive caregivers in unstable families had a
greater chance of developing problem behavior than did children who had nurturing caregivers and
grew up in supportive homes (Zigler and Taussig 999). Once again, it is the combination of factors
and the interactions among them that best forecasts behavior.

So one risk factor alone will hardly predict any future behavior. What is important to look at is the co-
occurrence of any number of risk factors. As the number of risk factors that a child possesses
increases, that may predict with increasing accuracy if they will develop delinquent behavior (Zigler
and Taussig 998). So what does that mean for prevention programs? It means that targeting risk
factors is a great way to prevent crime. As more and more risk factors are diffused, the child has less
and less reason to misbehave.

First, it is important to define what exactly early intervention is. A program is considered “early” if it
occurs from before birth until early adolescence, and before the onset of delinquent behavior. This is
a valuable time period because early childhood provides an unusual window of opportunity for young
children to be uniquely receptive to enriching and supportive environments (Welsh and Farrington
872). Research has shown that the later the intervention occurs in the child’s life, the more
therapeutic effort is required to return the child to a pattern of normal development (Zagar, Busch,
and Hughes 286). If these programs are successful, they should alleviate some of the risk factors
associated with delinquency and antisocial behavior and have lasting effects on socially competent
behavior (Zigler and Taussig 999).
The results of high-quality early prevention programs can be tremendous. Looking specifically at
preschool programs and parent educational services that improve school readiness, they help to set
a pattern that prevents delinquency in later years. Children who participate are less likely to drop out
and perform delinquent behavior because they have had better early school experiences and a
stronger commitment to education (Zigler 5). Early interventions also show increases in IQ scores
and executive functioning, better elementary school achievement, and lower rates of aggression and
other antisocial behavior (Zagar, Busch, and Hughes 291). These programs focus on the risk factors
that were mentioned before, and that is why they actually reduce crime.

The best programs, in fact, deal with a variety of risk factors, including ones that come from the
home. The best of the early intervention programs build on the strengths of families as well as
children (Zigler 5). Adults that are offered practical and social support are in a better position to
become effective parents than parents who are stressed and alienated. Early intervention programs
offer a support system of parental involvement and education that works to improve family
functioning and with that, child functioning (Zigler and Taussig 1003). This aspect of dealing with the
family also makes these programs more comprehensive, which is another factor of good programs.

Anyway, the effects of successful experiences early in childhood build on each other to generate
further success in school and in other social contexts (Zigler and Taussig 1002). An important point
to make is that no child is inaccessible. In fact, the greater risk factors a child has, the more they will
benefit from additional support such as a strong and encompassing program (Zagar, Busch, and
Hughes 291).

Even in terms of cost these programs succeed. Various cost-benefit analyses show that early
prevention programs provide value for money and can be a worthwhile investment of government
resources compared with prison and other criminal justice responses (Welsh and Farrington 871).
Especially since today the majority of money in crime prevention goes towards incarceration (Zagar,
Busch, and Hughes 285). If that same money could be used for prevention programs instead, the
results would be outstanding.

By now it is clear that programs that target youth early in their lives are generally more successful
than programs with a later onset. This is one important aspect of good programs. Another facet that
predicts success is how well a particular program addresses various aspects of the child’s life. Some
programs only focus on a child’s schoolwork and academic achievement. Other programs focus
solely on the parents. But the programs that seem to work the best are ones that incorporate many
different aspects of a child’s life into their curriculum.
One particular study used a review-of-reviews approach to identify general principles of effective
prevention programs that might transcend specific content areas (Nation et al. 450). This meta-
analysis found that one of these principles is comprehensiveness. The study defines comprehensive
as “providing an array of interventions to address the salient precursors or mediators of the target
problem” (Nation et al. 451).

Two important factors of comprehensive programming are multiple interventions and multiple
settings (Nation et al. 451). The idea of multiple interventions and multiple settings relates to
Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems theory. This theory states that there are a multitude of
systems surrounding a child that all influence the development of the child. Therefore it is not
enough to work with just one of the systems. True progress can only be made when many of the
systems are involved.

This Ecological Systems theory influenced another article to come up with an ecological approach to
enrich child development by trying to promote social competence in the various systems that
children encounter. This approach is based on the assumption that the most proximal influence on
children is the family, however, both children and families are interactive members of a larger system
of social institutions (Zigler and Taussig 997). So by targeting these various systems as opposed to
just one or a few of them, a program is able to more fully aide in the appropriate development of a
child. Because the risk factors associated with delinquent behavior are based in many different
systems, comprehensive prevention approaches are bound to be more effective than those of more
narrow range (Zigler and Taussig 1004).

One prevention program stands out among the sea of others. It is implemented early on in a child’s
life, and it takes a holistic approach in order to deal with the many aspects of the child’s life. It is also
one of the most famous early prevention programs out there. Head Start began as part of Lyndon
Johnson’s War on Poverty. The Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 gave enormous power to the
Office of Economic Opportunities, who then founded the program (Zigler and Muenchow 2). Sargent
Shriver, the initial creator, states that he had the idea for Head Start after a revelation that almost
half the people living in poverty were children (Zigler and Muenchow 3).

Although Head Start was roughly based on some other educational experiments, it was a very
unique undertaking – truly the first of its kind. The program provides comprehensive education,
health services, nutritional guidance, parental involvement, and social services to low-income
children and their families (Zigler and Muenchow 5). Almost 50 years later, Head Start has enrolled
over 22 million children in its history (Mills 4). It has been called “the best investment this country has
ever made in its young children” (Mills 165).
The program, which is based on income to determine eligible families, aims to improve the
intellectual capacity and school performance of poor children (Zigler and Muenchow 4). The ultimate
goal is to prepare kids to enter school – to give underprivileged kids a “head start” (Mills 304). So in
the beginning, juvenile delinquency was nowhere in the picture. In fact, the goals spanned no later
than the first few years of school. No one expected the huge impact that the Head Start program
would have on its participants.

In fact, the main long-term impact is indeed reducing school failure (Mills 169). But the side effects
have been unexpected and tremendous. Head Start has been shown to improve intelligence,
academic readiness and achievement, self-esteem, social behavior, and physical health (Mills 165).
In addition, results are also highly favorable for impacts on future government assistance,
employment, income, substance abuse, and family stability.

There is evidence that suggests that these programs not only pay back their costs but also earn a
profit for the government and taxpayers in terms of deflecting costs of social assistance and judicial
costs, and adding to tax revenue. And finally, a meta-review of programs concludes that preschool
intellectual enrichment is effective in ultimately preventing delinquency (Welsh and Farrington 873).
Again, this is most likely due to the curbing of early risk factors that set children up for future
success.

Another preschool program, the High/Scope Perry Preschool Project, was similar to the Head Start
program. It was a short-term experiment however, and therefore was more concentrated and had
more funding. But the basis of the program was very similar to Head Start. The Perry Preschool
Project was shown to be very effective in decreasing arrest rates, and increasing achievement and
success in school (Zagar, Busch, and Hughes 298).

Children who participated in the project also used less special education services, relied less on
public assistance in the future, had better jobs and more stable employment, showed increased
home ownership, and had less children out of wedlock (Zagar, Busch, and Hughes 301). It is clear
that programs such as Head Start do much more than just prepare kids for school. Their effects
cover various areas of children’s lives, and are visible many years later.

Another highly successful type of program, that also combines early intervention with comprehensive
care, is home visitation. There are many different types of home visitation programs, but most of
them share a few common factors. The premise of this program is that nurses or trained
professionals meet with usually low-income and/or high-risk mothers. Often times these women are
teen mothers. The professionals meet with them throughout their pregnancy and then until the child
is around 24 months of age.
The general goal of these visits is to provide information and support to the mother. More
specifically, the nurses aim to reduce environmental hazards, instruct mothers about nutrition for
themselves and for their infants, effectively correct behavior, and reduce substance abuse by the
mother (Zagar, Busch, and Hughes 297). Yet before discussing the outcomes of home visiting, it is
important to understand just how crucial parenting is to the healthy development of the child.

Good parenting provides children with a variety of different skills for them to use for the rest of their
lives. Two of these important skills are impulse regulation and empathy. When these skills are
lacking, the risk for adolescent criminal behavior increases. Another valuable skill that parents
generally instill in their children is the ability to regulate their emotions, which the lack of can also
predict future delinquency (Olds et al. 70).Continued on Next Page »