The other week, I was conversing with a teenager who stopped going to school. Something has "taken over" his life. Such caused him to take less interest in education and less positive parental relations. He got "hooked" and would stay all day long in the internet shop in lieu of school.
Almost anywhere we go, we see children and teenagers hooked on this new addiction. Not drug addiction. Not alcohol, food, or some sport. It's called "video game addiction." The psychological cycle of substance addiction can be applied to video game addiction. This led psychiatrists now to propose the inclusion of this modern-day psychological disorder (a "clinical impulse control disorder") in the next edition of DSM, the manual for mental health disorders.
Psychotherapy and "detox" for video game addiction sounds like a stretch. But it does make sense. The negative, detrimental effects of video game addiction along physical, psychological, social, and spiritual dimensions are fast growing. Parents may need to act well now before it's too late for our children and teenagers.
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