Narrative Therapy For Treating Video Game Addiction By Joseph M.

Common addictions amongst teenagers and young adults include meth, cocaine, gambling, even candy, but video games never peeked the interest of scientists and psychologists until it became apparent that the action of gaming can also be a source of addiction. This essay will discuss the overall concept of addiction to and in video games regarding how it affects the human brain, the treatments in place to suppress addiction leading towards total eradication, and also the ethical responsibility that developers have while focusing on how the global view of addiction, in regards to then not related to video games. Although many people consider video games to strictly be a source of entertainment, others might consider their entertainment as more

The concept of gaming overdose includes the subconscious desire to always be playing specific games that reflect one’s view of the world. Although these addictions can be suppressed and eradicated, the process of “narrative therapy” comes to mind when treating patients with this addiction in Joseph M. Graham Jr’s journal article entitled Narrative Therapy for Treating Video Game Addiction. This treatment involves many stages of narrative which firmly describe the process of recognizing one’s problem, acting upon it, and to finally be able to differentiate the real from the virtual. In the case of Sammy in this article, the narrative therapy helped him realize that the problem was not his assumption that he was an “addict”, but that he simply lacked control (Graham 706). This lack of control was therefore seen as a positive act rather than an addiction as the word “addiction” created a barrier between the reality of a person’s conscious and the virtual world of someone that does not know better. Although not apparent at first, the narrative therapy helped Sammy understand that his behaviour was solely linked to his lack of “control”. It was shown that in order to eradicate the problem, one must see their issues not as a problem but as a means to understand themselves in their own virtual reality to then link their

As discussed in several humanities courses, it is observed that the more violent and graphic a game is, the more it will drive people—in general— to attachment. This attachment can be seen as an addiction which contradicts theories such as the duty theory which describes the underlying reasons for which someone should follow in order to fit in society which becomes completely irrelevant while playing games such as Call of Duty because the storyline of the game itself contradicts this theory. By also considering the Golden Rule, gaming might not have caused addictions because as the golden rule states that it is imperative to treat others the way you would want to be treated. A game like Grand Theft Auto where people would kill pedestrians is completely out of the norm and should be considered by game developers because it shows the gamer that treating people inhumanly is normal, as long as you do not get caught in the process (McKay