What Effect Does Video Game Disorder Have on My South Dakota Teen or Young Adult?

Video game disorder in South Dakota teens and young adults and young adults is very hard to treat. We offer effective treatment for teens and young adults from South Dakota with video game addiction, social media addiction, and cell phone/screen addiction.

In one surprising study, In one study 84% of addicted gamers were still addicted two years later, demonstrating how difficult gaming addiction is to treat. In the same study, 7% of online gamers were classified as psychologically or behaviorally dependent on online gaming.

This begs the question, “Why is gaming so addictive?” According to research in the Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 41% of people who play online video games do so as an, “escape from the real world.” Another risk factor is found in players with strong social motivation. Some games involve social obligations, where players have to work together. This can mean a player feels obliged to play along as the rest of the group wants to play. Farmville strives to ensure participation at regular intervals by making gamers dependent on each other for daily allotments of fantasy resources.

Putting together role play and social use in one game should yield a highly compelling game. World of Warcraft, a massive multiplayer online role-playing game, fits this description and is, anecdotally, pretty addictive.

There is much debate currently about the effect of video game violence on the real world. According to a study in Pediatrics, as much as 20% of real-life violence may be attributable to media violence. Why is this? Researchers speculate that there is a two-fold issue here. First, constant exposure to video game violence decreases our sensitivity to real-world violence. Seeing a fight at school might seem more normal to a child who has been exposed to ongoing video game violence, making them less likely to intervene or even more likely to instigate violence themselves.

Video Game Disorder: First Steps for South Dakota Families

The first step for South Dakota families is to sit down with their teens and young adults who have video game addiction and discuss their concerns. Our program can help plan your family intervention. Don’t criticize or blame. Simply express your concern and create a dialog about the topic. A teen will more likely change if the influence is positive and supportive versus critical in nature. Treatment for video game disorder starts with building empathy with the child and expressing genuine concern.

Agreeing on limits is a great next step to help South Dakota families that have a teen experiencing video game disorder. It’s important for the teen to understand the reason for the limits, however. Have the teen write up a contract with your input that outlines when they can have screen time, and begin the contract with a statement of purpose.

It’s very easy for parents of teens and young adults to fall into the habit of nagging. Nagging is the knee-jerk response to seeing a behavior you don’t like. But teens and young adults, in general, don’t respond well to nagging. Also, as we all know, as soon as the nagging stops, the teen’s behavior resumes.

A better approach is to acknowledge the issue and let the teen know you are there to talk about it when they are ready. Remember: the goal of changing technology overuse behaviors is not to police the teen into submission. The goal is to build intrinsic motivation- that is, to develop sufficient insight into where they see technology overuse is affecting their lives in a negative way, and the child, therefore, wants to limit their online recreational activity.

The Summerland Gaming Addiction Rehab Process:

Let’s have some unplugged fun!