Video games are a threat to the brain’s pleasure centers. Brain imaging has shown that video games work in the same area of the brain as cocaine and methamphetamine.
Video games increase the amount of dopamine being released in the brain, so when kids play video games, they really like it! And when you try to take those games away from them, they get really upset. In fact, some even go through withdrawal symptoms when they aren’t allowed to play.
The problem with video games is that they release so much dopamine that there isn’t enough of the chemical available for the little things in life. Other activities and relationships that would normally make your children happy leave them feeling nothing at all.
In my practice, I have found that kids tend to get hooked on their favorite games and play so much that other areas of their lives start to suffer. It can damage their performance at school and work as well as their relationships. They can also become irritable and confrontational, especially when parents try to make them stop playing.
Excessive video gaming is bad enough. Playing violent video games is even worse. Researchers at the Indiana University School of Medicine say that brain scans of kids who played a violent video game showed an increase in emotional arousal and a corresponding decrease of activity in brain areas involved in self-control, inhibition, and attention.
Another study on the effects of violent video games on children found that playing a lot of violent video games is related to having more aggressive thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Even more disturbing is the fact that these findings were just as common among children who were non-aggressive as for those who already had aggressive tendencies.
The good news gleaned from this study is that when parents limit the type of games and the amount of playing time, children were less likely to display aggressive behaviors.
This is why I encourage parents to “just say no” when children want to play video games. As I tell my patients, no more than 30 minutes a day.
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I assume this would also apply to the computer gaming world? We see this same reaction of “having nothing left, feeling nothing, being angry when unable to play, withdrawal and neglecting relationships and more important issues in life.
My question is isn’t there usually an underlying imbalance or issue that draws someone to need to stimulant their brain in this way?
I’m an adult who recently learned about your work and products through your appearances on PBS. (I’m attempting a career change, and after three years out of work — two in grad school — I need as much self-confidence as I can get!)
I am looking to join the video game industry. I’m fairly convinced that, for better or worse, video games will the entertainment and artistic medium of the century. I hope to be on the “better” side of things: I’d like games for kids to have more “message” and positivity in general, and I hope I can one day help facilitate change to that effect.
I’m curious what someone like you thinks can be done to keep games from being detrimental to the minds of young and old brains alike. Surely, they won’t be going away until they are superseded by more-realistic interactive experiences, which could potentially be worse.
Personally, I’d love to see someone like you work with the game industry to try to make their products less harmful, if not downright wholesome.
Finally, my question: I’m 37 — should I be limiting my own game play as well?
As a psychotherapist and addictions counselor i can vouch for the addictive quality video games are having and not just on teens but grown men (rarely any woman BTW) As for a 37 yo still playing video games..yes i would say “curb” your use significantly. I am astonished at how many grown men stend HOURS upon HOURS playing these games to the detriment of other responsiblities in their life. It is apparently very addictive.
I am a physician. I have witnessed how children and adults become addicted to video games. Earlier this week I found two of my high school children playing video games instead of being at a meeting they were committed to attend. As the X-box has been a problem for years, I simply got a butcher knife and cut the cord off the TV. We have been without the X-box and TV for about a week now. Life is much better. Several of my teenage boys have made comments about how nice it is not to have the X-Box. I am wiring the TV through a A/C cutoff electrical box which will allow me to lock it up so it is used only when it should be.
These are really good boys who are normally obedient. But the addiction of video games has gotten the best of them and they have not been able to ‘kick the habit’ on their own.
this is an interesting blog on the proven dangers ofvideo games
Why has it taken so long for us to admit the emperor has no clothes? I have been saying that the computer is the ultimate designer drug for years now, after witnessing grown men and boys in my household reject all else for computer use (including games). Neural pathways grow where they are used and this addiction is changing brains based on electronics – much to the detriment of interpersonal relationship abilities and physical health.