Mayo Clinic's Bad Take

 One thing that has remained a joke since the near beginning of the internet is to never Google your medical conditions or never WebMD your conditions. In the realm of gaming, I feel like there is a similar concept. When it comes to gaming, I believe that MayoClinic and other similar sources do not truly understand gaming addiction and lifestyle and just make incorrect remarks.

 

In regard to their “Are video games, screens another addiction?” article, they make good statements, but I feel that their approach is all off. Can video games be an addiction? Yes. Can anything be an addiction? Most definitely. From their negative symptoms list, they suggest video games cause violence, obesity, and loss of social skills. I disagree with all of these. Studies have shown that video games do not make people violent. Although sad, even national issues with gun control could not be linked to video games as the cause of the violence.

 

Obesity is not a direct result of gaming either – sure kids will be less active if they play games, but I do not believe these are directly correlated. They go onto say that kids might crave sweets while gaming, and if that is true, I suppose that could be a direct cause. Although I do not know if it is true, if it is I understand the direct relation.

 

The loss of social skills is a bit of a stretch as well. I think if the control group were young kids, I’m sure you could see loss of social skills. But little kids do not make up the majority of gamers. Many games actually require communication to succeed. I think the article is written as a blanket statement: Are Games Addictive? For improvement, would suggest MayoClinic to emphasize that most these negative effects are seen in children and not all of gamers as their first sentence makes it seem.

Overcoming Gaming Addiction

 

A common trend of this blog is to explore how people who play video games are able to utilize the skills the hidden skills they’ve gained and are able to push them into their own life. To be honest, that’s a very optimistic way of viewing video games. Many people do not know how to balance their gaming and professional lives – many times being addicted and caught up on playing games all the time.

TEDx speaker Cam Adair speaks on gaming addiction and explains a few ways of identifying where addiction begins and identifying factors that cause the addiction. Cam has been playing video games all his life and was addicted to them at a young age – eventually dropping out of high school. After dropping out, his parents forced him to get a job, but even then, he could not balance work and gaming – he spent all night playing games; forcing him to fall asleep during his shift.

Cam has now realized the key identifiers in why gaming addiction occurs through his own life experiences.

1. They act as an escape

2. They allow you to be social with friends

3. They’re Challenging.

4. They allow you to constantly improve and measure your growth

5. Games are entertaining.

By using these identifiers, we can see why people become so addicted to video games. It can be extremely difficult to stop when you have so many pros to playing them.

 

Cam Adair isn’t the only person who speaks up about these issues, but he is one of the biggest role models in this industry. Cam now has his own documentary on YouTube and has founded his own business to assist people in breaking their addiction with gaming.

 

If you are interested in learning more about Cam’s story or need help breaking video game addiction, you can navigate to his website: https://camerondare.com/ to learn more.

Understanding Your Faults

 Although there are many different benefits associated with being a gamer, there are a fair share of drawbacks as well. Being immersed in a virtual world can benefit someone cognitively, but may cause them to lack in a variety of other areas.

Just like every consumable medium, the amount of exposure needs to be taken in with moderation. The most common drawback we find in gaming is the ability to be immersed too much and too often. A lot of research points toward gaming becoming an addiction. Throughout a gaming session, dopamine is released numerous times, creating a feeling of arousal towards the activity of gaming. This could impact the brain, causing the player to want to play games more than the usual amount - because the brain associates this behavior as a reward. This is the same with any other abusable medium, like drugs and alcohol, if it is not consumed in moderation there can be drawbacks.

The direct drawbacks of this behavior is the lack of social connections. For many cases, gamers are introverted, shy, and don't reach out very often. This is most likely caused by the lack of communication when playing games. The players internalize all their thoughts and don't feel the need to speak out as often as other people. This behavior could prove to be a deciding factor during an interview process. Someone who is more outspoken, able to speak about their strengths, and have experienced more social interactions will be better prepared for interviews. 

If you are a gamer and find yourself being introverted, don't fret. There's ways to improve your personal weaknesses. The first step is to acknowledge your weaknesses, but to also acknowledge your strengths. If your biggest weakness is introversion, slowly work on speaking up more frequently. It won't be easy, but if you have the gumption to achieve your goal, you will improve beyond your imagination.