Game addiction is explained as thinking about the game all the time, disrupting daily work, negatively affecting social, family and academic life, and continuing to play, not being able to stay away from the game, showing reactive behaviors when prevented from playing, conflict, and showing deprivation symptoms when not playing. In the literature, situations related to human and technology connection have been discussed in many ways from the past to the present. Multi-technology use has been explained with terms such as compulsive, pathological, problematic and dependent, and they have been used interchangeably. For the first time in 1995, Goldberg used the term ‘internet addiction disorder’ for the first time by renewing the criteria for substance addiction. Problematic online activities are included under the term Internet addiction; these are online shopping, gambling, gaming, social media etc.
Individuals are born with the desire to play by nature. The concept of game is a verb that integrates with the human being and adds the ingenuity of abstract thinking to the human being and liberates the human being. In addition, playing games is an activity that comes out naturally and satisfies the individual (Yağbasan and Şener, 2019). From the past to the present, with the development of technology, playing games has passed to the digital dimension and game addiction has developed with the transition of game action to the digital dimension. The World Health Organization and the American Psychiatric Association have defined game addiction as a mental disorder. Studies in the literature emphasize that the time spent on digital games in the world is increasing day by day.
Symptoms of Game Addiction
Symptoms of Game Addiction; obviousness, tolerance development, relapse, withdrawal symptoms, mood lability, and conflict. Tolerance; is the need to increase the time spent by the individual in playing games and activities related to the game. obviousness; The fact that the game is at the center of one’s life defines that intentions and actions are always game-oriented. Relapse is the reoccurrence of the behavior after the person has taken control of his or her playing activity. The sign of deprivation is the reaction and feelings that occur in the individual when the game cannot be played or suddenly reduces playing. Mood changes are mood changes such as excitement and relaxation that develop with playing games. Conflict is the loss of functionality that occurs as a result of playing games, and the negativities it creates in your life as a result of delaying tasks.
Symptoms of players with a diagnosis of game addiction; Play is top priority in their lifetime,
Bragging about the games and the duration of the game, Hiding from the public that you are playing the game, If a time limit is imposed on playing the game, they will oppose it, Unwillingness to engage in all activities outside the game, Disconnect from social life, Failure in attempts to quit the game, An escape in the life of the game, The game Inability to quit the game despite experiencing various setbacks and awareness because of playing. Game addiction is not only in the DSM, but also in the ICD-11.
It has been considered as ‘gaming disorder’ under the umbrella of the disorder in which
Komobid Diagnoses in Gaming Addiction
The causes of gaming addiction are very complex. One or more reasons can trigger game addiction and cause addiction. We can consider the causes of game addiction in two sub-factors, internal and external. Internal factors; low self-esteem, self-regulation issues, motivation to play, structural and functional neurobiological abnormalities, depression, ADHD, and comorbid diseases such as social phobia. We can list external factors as parental problems, negative role models, neglect, domestic violence, relational problems, social loneliness, and factors related to the game itself.
Game addiction negatively affects the sleep factor required for healthy life symptoms in adolescents. Adolescents are sleep deprived because of playing too many games and insomnia shows symptoms such as ADHD symptoms. It is believed that some of the adolescents who experience insomnia due to gaming have ADHD. However, these adolescents are not diagnosed with ADHD, but merely game addiction. As there are cases where ADHD and game addiction are comorbid, such cases are frequently encountered. In addition, a compilation of 24 studies found a significant correlation between OD and depression, anxiety, ADHD, social phobia/anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive symptoms in the association of gaming addiction in the middle of psychiatric comorbidity. Moreover, it has been reported that individuals with social anxiety and those who think that they cannot express themselves adequately in daily life have a risk factor that they may be more prone to game addiction.
