In today’s society you’ll find that people of all ages including children and adults love video games. Studies show that around 97% of the today’s today play video games for around one hour daily. There’s both a mixture of good and bad in regards to playing video games. Playing video games can be very good for your child but if you don’t balance things just right, your child could become addicted to it.
Check out these Tip Top Ten Negative Side Effects of Video Gaming
10. It can effect your child’s health
When your child spends hours upon hours playing video games it can slowly cause an impact on their health. They ignore physical activity and exercise. They sit down on the couch or wherever their spot might be. They might even skip a meal because they are trying hard to reach the next level. The constant computer screen glare can cause their eyes to hurt. It can cause back problems and many other health issues. They could think something is wrong with them when it’s just from playing video games for a long time.
9. Long hours increase childhood obesity
When your child is doing nothing but sitting and playing video games for a long time they have a higher chance of childhood obesity. They might also grab easy snacks that they can reach too such as popcorn or chips instead of having a real meal. They don’t want to get up and fix something properly because it might mean they could lose the level they are on.
8. School studies can affect performance at school or college
Studies show that when a teen or young adult plays video games for awhile that their performance at school is affected. It can lower their academic performance. They might even ignore doing homework and school projects because they are hooked on the game. If they stay up late they might be drowsy the next day. This goes for both young adults and teens.
7. They can become addicted to gaming
One study being done right now and being talked about throughout the medical field is becoming addicted to video gaming. The term of this would be called either video game addiction or pathological gaming. This would be considered a disorder, but it’s not yet classified. These types of gamers that have this possible disorder develop insomnia, anxiety, depression and even social isolation.
6. Video games can cause aggression
One effect that’s most detrimental is that when a young adult or teen plays a violent video game for hours and days on in, they have a higher chance of aggression. Studies show that around 100 papers for research show that when a child is exposed to violent video games they have a causal risk factor for possible increased aggressive behavior.
5. Not willing to participate in activities
Playing video games cause a child or young adult to not participate both special interests and extracurricular activities that might be something other than the games. When someone starts to always think about video games and talking about them constantly they might be addicted to them. They very well could even abandon favorite hobbies that had forever and never go back to them.
4. Relationships suffer
Friends and family member relationships could suffer when someone is spending lots of time gaming. They might avoid talking with one of them in order to finish the game. Another thing is they might even lie as to what they are doing and might not want to admit they playing video games. It could also cause arguments when the other person finds out about the excessive amount of video gaming. Both people could even end up needing help if one is suffering from this kind of addiction. They could take it personally and think it’s something about them when it’s from the result of video gaming.
3. Having problems with attention
Attention problems might also easily develop as a child or young adult plays more video games. Some of these attention problems include ADD or ADHD and or simple hyper activity. Instead of trying to reach for medication for these problems, try to first decrease the amount of video gaming. The child could even develop side effects of medicine if they are sensitive.
2. Somatic complaints
A person might develop somatic symptom disorder or have somatic complaints. They might complain of having both extreme fatigue and pain. They could also struggle with having major emotional distress or either problems with having to function in the real world. All of this might be a result of just playing video games.
1. Skipping work or social events
One of the biggest problems is that adults and young teens might find themselves skipping work or either social events. They could stay up for long periods of time at night and not realize the time and miss work the other day. They might even miss a very important social event at school or college due to the fact they forgot about it from playing video games. It’s important to watch the time at night and not play for long hours in order to avoid skipping work. One suggestion would be is to set your clock on your phone to have it go off for bedtime to ensure that you get enough sleep and won’t miss work the next day.
Conclusion:
You might consider talking to someone if you’re starting to feel that you’re addicted to video games and might not can break the cycle alone. One way to see is to challenge yourself and set a certain amount of time with video gaming or either take a break for a week and see if you can not play video games that entire week. Spend time with your friends, do chores and other things that you use to do or even get back to some of your favorite hobbies in order to avoid video gaming addiction.