Online Gaming: Friend or Foe
Online games and video games can be a fun and engaging way to stay in contact with friends and family and occupy time during social distancing. There are many games that serve as important self-care skills for individuals of all ages and facilitate cognitive development (especially spatial cognition) in children and teens. Playing games for the enjoyment and appreciation of the activity is sometimes referred to as harmonious passion.
However, some games can be addictive and may interfere with rather than enhance our lives and well-being. When this occurs, it is called obsessive passion. This experience often involves excessive time spent playing the game, decreased time and interest in other activities, conflict in social and romantic relationships, subjective loss of control over game play, sleep deprivation, and academic or career consequences. It can be difficult to differentiate which games may be helpful and which may be harmful.
Research on online game and video game addiction shows several commonalities among games that tend to be addictive and differences between those games and games that tend to be beneficial or, at least, innocuous. One factor that contributes to gaming addiction is the structure of the game. In general, Massively Multi-player Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs) are more likely to lead to addiction and craving in players. This is likely due to the game structure including increasing reward cycles, immersion, unlimited play time, and a social/community component. Conversely, people tend not to develop addiction and craving for games that have a definite end point or time limit, less immersion, static reward cycle, and less social interaction.
None of these factors individually cause gaming addiction, but rather increase the likelihood a person may become addicted in combination with other factors, including the person's motivation to play the game. There are several motivations to play online games and video games: social interaction with a virtual community, competition with players, advancing in the game's objectives, achieving special rewards or status symbols, cohesion and teamwork with players, discovering a detailed - and often beautiful - virtual world, role-playing a customizable character, and escaping uncomfortable real life emotions and experiences.
Whether a game will become addictive depends on the relationship between the individual's motivation to play, the structure of the game, and what the individual is experiencing in life outside the game. People experiencing depression and anxiety may be particularly vulnerable to online/video game addiction, and the experience of online/video game addiction can exacerbate existing depression, anxiety, and insomnia.
If you or a loved one is struggling with gaming craving or addiction, expert psychologist Dr. Nicole Cross is available for individual consultation. Dr. Cross also provides individual consultation to parents on video games for children that may be less addictive and more educational. She will identify goals and concerns regarding child gaming and provide specific recommendations.