How to Beat Video Game Addiction?

To all the parents out there with children who love video games, we’ve got some terrifying news — video game addiction is real, and many children suffer from it.

Video game addiction doesn’t affect people the same way psychotropic drugs or alcohol does, at least not physically. The individual may look the same, they won’t have track marks on their arms, or their skin won’t get all translucent. However, it can have the same devastating affect mentally.

However, there are several different methods you can use to beat video game addiction:

1. Wean them off Video Games: Don’t make your kids give up video games altogether. Like all drugs, they have to slowly be weaned off of video game addiction, otherwise the void left in their lives will only make them sink deeper into addiction. You need to slowly show them that there’s a life for them outside of their video game as well.
2. Moderation is Key: Research shows that video games can even be beneficial for you if it’s played in small quantities. As such, don’t banish video games altogether. Curtail the number of hours your kids can play them.
3. Limit the number of Consoles and Video Games: There are a whole bunch of different consoles that one can play video games in — Nintendo wii, Playstation, Android devices, xbox, etc. Furthermore, all of these consoles come with a bunch of games. Kids who are addicted develop a logic that they need to spend an equal amount of time with all their devices, and all their games, thus leaving no time for anything else. As such, you need to make it clear that they can only play one video game at a time, and in one console.
4. MMO’s are the Worst: MMO’s are the kind of video games in which the individual effectively plays the video game along with other people around the world. This creates a pseudo social network that fulfills the individual’s need for social acceptance. Over time, this virtual world of socialization takes over their actual social lives. You must prevent this from happening by seriously limiting the amount of time they spend on MMOs.
5. Find the Root Cause: Finally, all addictions have a root cause. It’s okay for you to physically staunch the addiction. However, until you address the root cause it may manifest in other ways, addiction to drugs or alcohol for instance, or other forms of unhealthy activities. The root cause may be anything — lack of confidence, or lack of parental support, domestic strife, etc. Seek help, get to the root cause, and address it directly. That’s the only sure way of beating this.

Well so now you know how to beat video game addiction, but how do you spot addiction to begin with? If you’re concerned that your child may be addicted, please go through infographic designed by Gaming Chair Insider. It will tell you about all the tell tale signs of video game addiction and how to address it.

So, what do you think? Is someone you know addicted to video games? Read that infographic and find out.

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Scott Hartman

A hardcore gamer and co-owner of Gaming Chair Insider. For most of his adult life, he’s worked for companies that design ergonomic gaming chairs for other enthusiasts like himself. However, he now dedicates his time to reviewing these chairs in his blog.