"Pathological Gaming"

image frm google

Recently gaming has been in the news because of its positive health benefits, including increased exercise and help with getting individuals with ADHD to focus, but a new study is saying that there is a link between video games and addictive behavior and additional mental health problems. The report, which will be released in the February issue of Pediatrics according to CNN, studied 3,000 fourth through eighth graders and discovered that nine percent had "pathological gaming" issues which often lead to depression, poor grades and anxiety. Children who have a harder time fitting in are more at risk, and nine to 12 percent of boys (versus three to five percent of girls) qualified as addicted to gaming, Reuters reported.

Read more: http://techland.time.com/2011/01/18/study-video-games-linked-to-mental-health-problems/#ixzz1SoPr92b

It was quite a shocking discovery when I googled for more information on kids who are addicted to gaming and came across the above study.  The youngest one at home seems to have the highlighted symptoms up there of a pathological gamer.  He spent most of his waking hours (if not in school) kicking virtual football  leading his team to glory, beating various opponents at virtual tennis games or racing unheard models of cars (to me i.e) in various locations.  Before things go from bad to worse, last weekend we (the father and I) decided enough is enough and the computer is now out of bounds for him. The recent results of his second term school tests also served as one of the causes for him  to be kept far away from the computer.  

I know it is difficult for us as parents to swallow when realizing our kid fits the above description as being depressed, having poor grades and to top it up anxiety too.  Before knowing about the study we had noticed certain traits in his behavior such as being a bit moody and angry over the slightest things. It was like the games he played had taken over the priorities of his life like eating and sleeping.  Repeated calls to eat at mealtimes were often ignored and his sleep pattern especially during weekends were atrocious..habis terbalik, malam berjaga dan sianghari tidur.   Needless to say the drive C in the hardisk is nearly full of his downloadable games from the internet.  It was hard for him in the beginning  not to come anywhere near the pc, he would hover behind me whenever I am using it.

Alhamdulillah when I stepped inside the house these past few days after office I noticed the computer was not switched on and there is his elder sister who is keeping an eye on him when we were not at home.  Hopefully he will get over with this gaming thing and concentrate more on his studies because next year he will be sitting for SPM which will be the turning point in his life.

I am sharing this sad tragic true story about The Lost Boy here who was just like my son addicted with the internet and gaming.