The Hidden Dangers of Computer and Video Gaming

Posted by Thomas

February 9, 2008

Originally Published in the THSC Review
by Thomas Umstattd, Jr.

“Come on, Mom. … Just a few more minutes; I’m almost done with this level.” Parents have all heard it: a child’s pleading to get just a little more time to play. I know. I was that child.

Game Addict

When I lived in a college dorm, my room was across the hall from a gamer, whom I will call “Dominique.”He played the computer game World of Warcraft for sixteen hours or more each day. He stopped going to class and eating at the cafeteria, and he withdrew from anyone outside of the game. He took only brief breaks to pick up fast food to eat while playing. The artificial greatness of gaining Level 70 replaced the adventure of following Christ in his life. How could someone become so consumed by a mere game?

The Problem
Unfortunately, Dominique’s story is not an isolated occurrence. Nearly 2.8 million gamers play for thirty hours a week or more. Some of those gamers play for as many as sixty, or even eighty, hours a week. Oh, and gaming is not just for kids anymore. According to the Entertainment Software Association, gamers are thirty-three-years-old, on average, and sixty-nine percent of American heads of households play digital games.

It gets worse. Imagine those hard-core gamers as parents and spouses. The resulting impact on their families is similar to any addition: neglect, abandonment, and divorce. There are online groups, such as EverQuest Widows and World of Warcraft Widows, which together have over 10,000 members. Many of these women believe that they have lost their husbands to gaming addiction. While some have filed for divorce, others feel separated by a digital chasm that they cannot cross, and they do not know what to do. They are bitter, hurt, and angry. Their stories would break your heart.

One woman posted the story of how her husband quit work so he could have more time to play. After a while, he hardly talked to her as he spent his entire day in the digital world. When she went through a difficult pregnancy, her husband was so glued to his game that her parents had to move in to care for her. Now her son is two years old and has spent maybe twelve hours of quality time with his father—ever. Her grief is palpable as she describes feeling abandoned, a single mom in the presence of her husband.

What appears to be an innocent pastime can easily become a slippery slope into a life-devouring addiction. But what makes games so addictive?

Your Brain on Games
You have probably heard long, scientific words like endorphins, adrenaline, and dopamine in connection with drugs like cocaine. You might be familiar with how they can cause addictive reactions. You probably have educated your children about the dangers of addiction and warned them to stay away—far away—from drugs. What you may not know is that a gaming addiction involves the same biochemicals as cocaine.

Several British researchers did a study on the brain in which their test subjects played a game while a PET scanner monitored their brain activity. They found a “two-fold increase in levels of extracellular dopamine” while the gamers were playing. Dopamine is what gives a high similar to that of cocaine. And for good reason: it is the same chemical released when you take cocaine. Dopamine, adrenaline, and endorphins unite to form a powerfully addictive combination. This is why it is so hard to get your son to stop playing and go to bed.

Longing for Significance
However, the draw of computer games goes much deeper than just biochemicals. Gaming also artificially satisfies our longing for significance. In digital games, players do not compete for a regional high school match. They play for the Super Bowl. They do not save a cat out of a tree; the save the world. Video gaming offers an easy path to artificial greatness, without the responsibility and hard work required for true success.

I think it is this need for significance, more than the biochemicals, that entices people like Dominique. The more he played, the more significant he became in the game, and the less significant he became in the real world. This draw for significance sucked him into a virtual world as much as physically possible.

Shepherding Your Gamer’s Heart
What do you do if you have a child who is into digital gaming? There is no simple answer. Taking the PlayStation out of the living room is much easier than taking it out of your child’s heart. Your gamer may have a chemical and emotional addiction to the gaming experience, and removing the Xbox may be as effective as getting all the beer out of the house of an alcoholic.

The best thing to do depends on the age of your gamer. Removing the games or game system is more effective for younger children. If your gamer is older, he will need to understand the problem so that he can say “no” himself. I have watched many teens either count the days until graduation or just play at a friend’s house because their parents threw away the console. The PlayStation may have been out of the house, but it lingered in the heart of the gamer like a cancer.

Some gamers need nothing less than spiritual surgery, and this can only be done by the hand of the Great Physician. God did this to me by refocusing my priorities on Christ. My Web site, Cgames.com, has a test for gamers to use to examine their hearts to see if gaming has become a problem. You may find it helpful when discussing this issue. The site contains many other resources to help you deal with this difficult problem.

Thomas Umstattd, a former gamer, directs Cgames.com, a Web site and podcast dedicated to providing a Christian perspective on digital games. He graduated from twelve years of home schooling in 2004 and is currently writing a book on the dangers of digital gaming, offering a plan for action.

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