Game Over for Real Life?

How do you feel about AI friends? It sounds weird, concerning, and creepy, almost like it might take away the psychological need of having and making real friends. Actually, those who professionally researched the field themselves say it is like a massive social experiment that we have had with no safety-first testing.

But nobody was nearly as concerned when digital technology first started booming in the 1990s. This is because we have seen the effects of technology on our modern era, and they are undeniably concerning. Yes, there are a great deal of benefits that come out of being easily informed and connected to your loved ones, but it is also plagued with a number of side effects, like our society being chronically online.

Why don’t we apply the same logic to e-gaming? Gaming seems innocent, but it also takes away the need to play real in-person games, sometimes even the need to establish real connections.

In fact, so much so that it sparked a whole new classified mental disorder in the DSM called Internet Gaming Disorder. Here are some more concerning facts about gaming.

Loot Boxes: Profit from Impulse

Loot boxes are randomized rewards in gaming; you either win them over time or purchase them. The trick is, these boxes are not guaranteed anything more than a common item, but also the potential to win an extremely rare item, utilizing and hooking on the psychology of gambling. Hence why research has shown they cause problems with gambling among older adolescents and profit from it.

The Unseen Yet Clearly Visible Consequences

A lot of mechanisms used in gaming are similar to casino-like tactics, hence hooking people. But what is most concerning is nobody really cares about the consequences is is posing on their life.

It is hard to know whether people are ignorant or oblivious to the effects of their actions on their daily life. The truth is most people understand that an online gaming addiction isn't helping their lives, but it is problematic for a few reasons. Because it is hard to quit the level of dopamine receptors, it feels like an escape from reality, and it gives a false perception of life enrichment. 

If gaming was controlled, adolescents, adults, and children were all able to maintain a maximum of two hours daily, then it could be considered psychologically fulfilling. But what ends up happening for addicted gamers is a decrease in the frequency of offline social interaction and increased isolation, loneliness, and less social support.

Gaming addiction has also been associated with anxiety, depression, and ADHD as well as increased aggression for violent video game users.

Maybe even worse than these symptoms is that games are associated with a great deal of toxicity that is normalized. A survey indicated that 83% of people experienced harassment in online multiplayer games in the six months before taking it.

Maybe this doesn't come as a surprise to you again because it seems quite obvious that gaming addictions are not really good for your health and that trolls are filled there. But the part that makes it even worse is that gaming may be contributing to toxicity, and people don’t realize it themselves because they are experiencing moral disengagement. 

What is the Solution? Focus Apps

Telling someone to stop an addiction is not going to work. But if you make it your mission to enrich yourself by removing gaming addictions from interrupting your dopamine receptors and creating addictions, then there are particularly helpful focus apps and websites that can help you stay regulated, even for those with little to no discipline.

Cold Turkey

• Blocks websites/apps completely

• You cannot undo it until the timer ends.

Freedom

• Blocks apps + websites across devices

• You can schedule sessions in advance.

FocusMe

• This one is extremely intense and can block pretty much anything.

• Regarded as “impossible to bypass”

  

It may be hard to use an app that forces you to withdraw but as long as you start trying that is what really matters. The real danger isn’t that technology replaces reality, it’s that we slowly stop noticing the difference.