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Can you be addicted to Internet games?

addicted to internet games

An addiction to online gaming can put your life on hold – or worse. Reach out to J.D. Murphy if you or somebody you love is struggling with addiction to online games.

Can you or somebody you love be addicted to Internet games? It sounds harmless — after all, it’s just a game. And, for many people, it is just a game. But, not for everybody. Online gaming moves from fun to a real problem when you play compulsively, to the exclusion of other interests. Is your online gaming endangering your ability to succeed in school? Does the amount of time that you spend online gaming interfere with your functioning on the job?

Like other kinds of addiction, if you are addicted to Internet games, you may experience symptoms of withdrawal when you are prevented from gaming. If an online gaming addiction is taking over your life, it may be time to reach out for help..

Is online gaming a real problem?

In the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), a publication of the The American Psychiatric Association,

Internet Gaming Disorder is identified in Section III as a condition warranting more clinical research and experience. Click here for details.

The best minds are working to promote your addiction to online gaming

Sony and Microsoft and a host of other companies take some of the best minds available to create interesting, engaging and compelling gaming environments. For some people, those environments are too successful and too compelling.

Just as drugs and alcohol can affect our brain chemistry, gaming can affect brain pathways, triggering feelings of pleasure and reward. When our brains demand that intense feeling from gaming, online games can quickly become addictive.

Self-test — check if you are addicted to Internet games

  1. Are you preoccupied with online games?
  2. When you can’t play, do you experience irritability, anxiety, or sadness?
  3. Have you increased the number of hours that you play games online?
  4. Have you tried, but been unsuccessful, in limiting the number for ours that you play?
  5. Has Internet gaming taken the place of other hobbies or activities that you previously enjoyed?
  6. Are you lying or being untruthful to your spouse, parents or friends about the number of hours that you spend gaming?
  7. Has online gaming damaged or jeopardized school, work or romantic relationships?

If you answered “yes” to more than one of these questions, it’s time for you to seek out help. Contact JD Murphy today. Call, or fill out the contact form and click Send.

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