The symptoms of an addiction are:
1) Mental obsession
2) Physical obsession
(To get the mental obsession to shut up, you play the
game - remember, the mind WILL kill the body to get
what it wants!)
3) Denial
(Saying the can quit if they want to, but not doing it.)
4) Delusion
(Create a different story so they can continue to play,
example - accusing their family, that if they were
nicer, they wouldn't have to play the game. Convincing
themselves and those around them that their playing the
games instead of participating in their real life is
acceptable, convincing even themselves, that their
involvement in the game really isn't THAT bad,
it is just everyone else who has a problem.)
5) Pattern of use
They set up rituals, so they will be able
to play the games - such as bringing their
laptop on their honeymoon.
6) Low self-esteem
After seeing how bad their real lives are getting
not wanting to go back, because there is nothing there.
They have abandoned their core values to continue
to play the games. They know what they are doing is
not right, but they cannot stop. They no longer trust
themselves.
7) Increased tolerance
They play longer and longer, because they no longer
have a real life to go back to. The only activity
they participate in is gaming and that is where their
only friends are.
8 Harmful consequences
They no longer want to live. They have violated their
values. They have lost their relationship, their job,
quit their schooling. They have no real life left.
Excessive gaming CAN be an addiction, and it CAN be very harmful to people and all parts of their lives, when it gets out of control.
Liz Woolley