Licking the Razor's Edge (2015)

Addiction #19 – Freedom from VIDEO GAMES
“I saw a news report recently that measured average video game use by American men
between the ages of twenty-five and thirty-five: it was twenty hours per week. Do you
mean the flower of America’s masculinity can’t think of anything more important to do
with twenty hours a week than sit in front of a video screen? Folks, this ain’t normal.
Can’t we unplug already?” ~ Joel Salatin
Yes, over 88% of young people in the United States regularly play video games, and
video gaming is a serious problem facing youths all over the world. A 2010 study found
that the average American child (both 8-to-12 year olds, as well as 13-to-18 year olds)
plays well over 13 hours of video games every week. That equates to two months of
uninterrupted video game playing every year!
In times past, it was assumed that the gaming population was primarily composed of
children under the age of 18, and yet new research chows that video gaming is
surprisingly pervasive. Almost 70% of all American households regularly play video
games, and in fact, there are more people today over the age of 50 who play video games
regularly than there are young people who do so. The average age of a gamer in the
United States is actually 32, and he/she spends on average of over 8 hours a week playing
video games.
Those of you who play video games are already at least vaguely aware of the toll gaming
is taking on your life. And yet the question for gamers & non-gamers alike is the same:
Why? Why do so many people sacrifice so much of their money and their energy and
their time and even their health to video games?
The answer is actually pretty simple:
As it turns out, playing video games is extremely addictive …
HOW THE VIDEO GAME ADDICTION TAKES HOLD
Forty-four percent of the youth polled in a recent study reported that at least one of their
friends is addicted to video games. Indeed, others studies consistently estimate that 10
percent to 15 percent of all gamers exhibit signs that meet the World Health
Organization’s criteria for addiction.
Just like gambling and other compulsive behaviors, players often become so enthralled in
the fantasy world of gaming that they neglect their family, their friends, their jobs or
school, and their own personal health.
So what is it about these games that proves to be so difficult to resist?
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