There are several hazards to online gaming too.More common physical and psychosocial effects attributed to online video gaming are social isolation, increased aggression, and negative academic and occupational consequences (Sublette & Mullan, 2012). Online gaming can influence gamers negatively in a variety of ways, some of which include the following (Alagerelkey, 2021):
- Addiction: Players can get fixated on the gaming activity and it can become a dominant activity in their life. Anywhere from 1-10% of gamers have compulsive addiction issues (Alagerelkey, 2021). There is empirical evidence from 30 studies indicating that for some adolescents, gaming addiction exists and as this addiction becomes stronger, these addicts spend more time organizing, preparing and actually gaming (Kuss & Griffiths, 2012).
- Displacement and loss of interest: Players can use video games as a form of escapism from real world problems, which then can lead to displacement and loss of interest in previous hobbies or conflict with friends and family members.
- Lose touch with reality: Depending on the type of game and the characteristics of the mechanics, a gamer’s identity can also change and morph into a new one so they lose sense of reality as they then start to spend a majority of their waking or free time in the online gaming world.
- Negative psychological and behavioral effects: By playing hours and hours of video games, players can lose patience, get irritable, feel depressed and anxious, leading to experiencing or delivering violent threats, verbal aggression, cyber bullying or stalking (Alagerelkey, 2021).
Citations:
Alagerelkey (2021). Adverse Effects of Online Gaming to Students https://medium.com/@alagerelkey/adverse-effects-of-online-gaming-to-students-9c1968cdc6ab
Kuss, D. J., & Griffiths, M. D. (2012). Online gaming addiction in children and adolescents: A review of empirical research. Journal of behavioral addictions, 1(1), 3-22.
Sublette, V. A., & Mullan, B. (2012). Consequences of play: A systematic review of the effects of online gaming. International journal of mental health and addiction, 10(1), 3-23.
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