Much has been written about the problem of gaming addiction in recent times. Since gaming is such a new hobby, it\u2019s difficult to understand the full extent or reach of gaming addiction; a recent survey by ExpressVPN<\/a> gives some insight into the amount of time spent gaming by generation, but at what points does it become an addiction? Gaming addiction is not recognised<\/a> by the American Medical Association as a disorder that can be diagnosed, for instance. However, anecdotal evidence and studies have shown us that gaming addiction seems to be a real problem for the gaming population, so it\u2019s definitely worth discussing.<\/p>\n What exactly does gaming addiction entail? This may be one of the questions that\u2019s making a clear definition difficult. Some gamers can play games long into the night without feeling addicted, while others play for just an hour or two a day and still feel as though they are in thrall to the games they play. A new study by VPN company ExpressVPN could shed some light on this issue, though, so let\u2019s take a look at some of its conclusions.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n When we talk about gaming addiction, we\u2019re referring to an inability to stop playing video games or an inability to stop thinking about them during other activities. Gaming could make other activities boring or frustrating, for instance, or simply remove the pleasure from them. Addiction could also make it hard to form or maintain relationships due to gaming, or it could interrupt work or other activities. The definition is fairly broad, but gaming addiction is essentially characterised as an inability to function in everyday life due to excessive gaming.<\/p>\n The study by ExpressVPN shows that 5% of millennial gamers admit they feel addicted to gaming, while 3% of Gen Z gamers admit to the same. Since ExpressVPN\u2019s study is self-reported, the real number is likely to be higher, but that gives us an idea of how gamers feel about their own problems when it comes to gaming. Almost 30% of ExpressVPN\u2019s respondents said they thought about gaming all the time, however, and almost half of those respondents said everything else was \u201cboring\u201d compared to games.<\/p>\n ExpressVPN\u2019s definition of gaming addiction refers to a dependency on the dopamine that\u2019s released when we accomplish something in a game. It could be achieving a high score, for instance, or beating an opponent in a multiplayer game. As with other dopamine-releasing activities, there could be a tendency to chase more and more unattainable highs, leading to longer gaming sessions and interruptions to everyday life, which now feels drab and grey due to the newly-conditioned dopamine response related to gaming.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n According to the ExpressVPN study, some of the biggest issues gamers face when it comes to gaming addiction are \u201cneglecting essential everyday activities\u201d such as eating, sleeping, or social interactions. Gamers also obsess over video games to the detriment of other activities, which gels with the idea of gaming addiction as a serious condition that needs to be medically addressed.<\/p>\n ExpressVPN also found that over half of its study\u2019s respondents play video games \u201ceven though they know it can negatively impact their daily lives\u201d. ExpressVPN\u2019s study found that 30% of gamers \u201cthink about video games all the time\u201d, while 58% play \u201cdespite possible negative consequences\u201d and 47% \u201clie to their loved ones\u201d about how long they spend gaming. Those are some worrying statistics, but they do suggest that gaming addiction should be taken more seriously.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n While ExpressVPN doesn\u2019t provide clear data regarding the gender divide for the above statistics, it does tell us that there is a \u201cmarked difference\u201d in how men and women perceive video games. Women, according to ExpressVPN\u2019s study, want to \u201cfurther reduce the time they spend” gaming, with \u201cthe majority\u201d of female respondents admitting to this. Women also apparently \u201cfeel more guilty\u201d about playing games during their free time than men do.<\/p>\n Interestingly, ExpressVPN\u2019s study shows that men play video games to connect with their friends and to make new friends. This doesn\u2019t appear to be as much of a priority for women, however; women say they play games primarily to \u201cunwind and entertain themselves\u201d rather than to engage in any kind of social activity with others. 43% of men say that they play video games to connect with their friends, while just 21% of women say they play for the same reason.<\/p>\n We\u2019re speculating here, but one of the reasons for this could be the unspeakably toxic environment in which women and non-binary gamers find themselves. Reports suggest<\/a> that many female gamers experience toxic behaviour themselves while gaming, and that still more witness toxic behaviour among others while gaming online. Women may avoid gaming socially because they don\u2019t want to be subject to this toxicity, which suggests that the gaming landscape must change to further accommodate women.<\/p>\n It\u2019s worth saying that ExpressVPN\u2019s study seems to suggest women struggle less with gaming addiction than men do. The study shows that 72% of male respondents \u201clost interest in the hobbies that they used to enjoy\u201d because of gaming, while just 49% of women say the same.<\/p>\n On a similar level, men report more negative emotions, such as anger or anxiety, when they\u2019re unable to play their favourite games, than women do. While this doesn\u2019t necessarily point to lower addiction rates among women, it does suggest that women experience the negative consequences of addiction less than men, which, in turn, could potentially mean women struggle with gaming addiction less.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Much has been written about the problem of gaming addiction in recent times. Since gaming is such a new hobby, it\u2019s difficult to understand the full extent or reach of gaming addiction; a recent survey by ExpressVPN gives some insight into the amount of time spent gaming by generation, but at what points does it … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9580,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"close","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[222,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9578","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-videogames"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nerdleaks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9578"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nerdleaks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nerdleaks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nerdleaks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nerdleaks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9578"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nerdleaks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9578\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9579,"href":"https:\/\/nerdleaks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9578\/revisions\/9579"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nerdleaks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nerdleaks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nerdleaks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nerdleaks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}What does gaming addiction mean?<\/h2>\n
What could gaming addiction lead to?<\/h2>\n
Is there a gender divide when it comes to gaming addiction?<\/h2>\n