PLAYING ADDICTION & ITS PSYCHOLOGY

Addiction psychology primarily includes the fields of clinical psychology and abnormal psychology and encourages the application of research information in an attempt to better identify, assess, treat, and help clients without addiction. Addiction psychologists promote habits that develop well-being and emotional stability for their physical, mental and emotional issues during the recovery process.

Just like watching football, movies, reading books, listening to music, writing posts, soap operas and much more, playing is a form of entertainment. There is nothing in playing that would set it apart from the other part of entertainment, so there is nothing ‘addictive’ in playing as such, except for the following variables, people prefer to stick to this type of entertainment—

1. Ego-Alter

Many people have an alternate-person, which for some reason or another they can not bring into force in the real world. Some people want to play as a ‘policeman’ as a ‘robber’ as a ‘racer’ and so on and so on. Who are we to judge? Its something that makes them feel better about themselves.

2. Story rich

Most games have a storyline around which the missions/actual gameplay revolves, such as movies. And several games these days have several endings depending on the player’s choices. Think about it now, wouldn’t it be nice to watch a very good movie, monitor the plot and help it achieve an outcome you’d want? Even if there are no multiple endings, a good story is just as good if not better, as a blockbuster movie!

3. Relaxing

There are RTS games, and there are repetitive tasks for a few platformers, which are very slow in speed. These games are a perfect way to de-stress after a long day at work and to relax.

4. The Party

Crashing for a birthday party, stay-over or other purposes at a friend’s house, the more the merrier gaming is! When in hot-seat mode, particularly. Couch-co-ops are too good to miss out on or competitive couch games! They’re going to help you build memories that you’ll enjoy for a lifetime.

5. Squad-up

You keep coming back to the game when you have a good number of mates to squad together. It’s not that the game is worth it, it’s because every single moment will be worth the banter you’ll all have together.

6. Time-murderer

People game for a certain period of time when they want to do-away without really doing anything that would matter to them. This means that few people gamble on a daily basis, say for an hour or two. To them it wouldn’t matter what the game is.

7. Invalidity

Disability, physical or emotional, is a big challenge that can be resolved. The gaming industry is also used by people to conquer this obstacle. It is not that they are not capable of doing anything else, but that it is a way of proving to the world that they are no less! An online squad has veterans with permanent damage.

Psychology behind Playing Addiction

It activates your brain when you play . In real life occurrences, it is always equivalent to the same responses you will receive. It is much more frequent than in real life, however.

In games, I am mainly referring to the achievement/reward schemes. Your rewards part of your brain is stimulated by having a whole bunch of little things to beat, and releases oxytocin. In your brain, that is the “feel-good” chemical/hormone.

When Is Playing become a Mental Health Problem

Online and offline playing may have social and recreational advantages, and clinically problematic use would not be exhibited by most people who play them. A persistent or recurring habit that comes at the detriment of a person’s functioning outside of games and that may affect close relationships or interfere with the pursuit of educational or career goals is the kind of gaming activity that worries mental health experts.

If it doesn’t interrupt the life of an individual, a passionate involvement with games or even a prolonged bout of intense gaming does not signify an illness or an addiction. The ICD-11 recommends that for a diagnosis to be made, hard-to-control gaming that crowds out other facets of life should usually be obvious for a year or longer.

Signs of Playing Addiction

The DSM-5 contains a chapter to help individuals and physicians recognise the warning signs of problem-playing. Whether you play online or offline, these issues can happen.

Here is what to look for—your wife, a child, or a friend—in yourself or someone close to you. According to requirements suggested in the DSM-5, you need to have five or more of these indications in 1 year to have a problem:

Conscious all or a lot of the time about games

Feeling bad when you’re not able to play

Need to spend time playing more and more to feel healthy

Not being able to stop or play even less

Not wanting to do other things you enjoyed before

Having problems because of your gaming at work, school, or home

Playing in spite of these concerns

Lying to individuals around you about the amount of time you spend playing

To ease bad moods and feelings by using gaming

Not everyone who plays a lot, of course, has a problem with playing. Some experts claim that labelling people who may only be very excited about playing is dangerous. One thing they agree on is that the number of players who meet the game addiction requirements suggested is tiny. It’s projected to be between 1% and 9% of all players, adults and children alike, somewhere. (In boys and men, this is more common than in girls and women.)

Written By : Komal Gupta

Intern, Budding Psychologists