Now researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Wuhan have affirmed the notion that people can indeed become addicted to the Internet and that such an addiction causes chemical alterations in their brains that may make it impossible for them to quit. The study indicated that Internet addiction was most likely to involve gaming or social websites such as Facebook and MySpace.

For this new study, Dr. Hao Lei and his colleagues first recruited 18 people ages 14 to 21 years old who had been diagnosed with Internet Addiction Disorder by the psychiatry department of the Shanghai Mental Health Center. Eighteen young people who did not have the diagnosis were matched to the first group by age, gender, and education. Next, the research team used brain imaging technology to scan the brains of all participants, and found "abnormal white matter integrity in brain regions involved in emotional generation and processing, executive attention, decision-making and cognitive control," Dr. Lei said. "The results also suggest that IAD may share psychological and neural mechanisms with other types of substance addiction and impulse control disorders," Dr. Lei said.

The new study, published in the journal Public Library of Science One, noted that the symptoms of Internet Addiction Disorder are excessive use of the Internet even to the neglect of basic drives, such as hunger; withdrawal symptoms when Internet use is stopped; tolerance or the need for better equipment and longer hours of use; and negative consequences such as poor achievement, poor health, and social isolation.

Internet Addiction Disorder, like addictions to sex and shopping, is not recognized in the United States. The only behavioral-based mental disorder officially recognized in the American Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders is pathological gambling.

Scientists across the world were quick to criticize the Chinese study as a small study of only 36 people, and the brain scans of three could not be used. It was also based on self-reported information. Until more research is performed, it is too early to say that an estimated 5% to 10% of the world’s population has an addiction to the Internet.

Now in recovery, when Quinn Pitcock talks about the problem of video game addiction, he warns parents that while it may seem harmless for teens compared to drugs or alcohol, it’s still an isolating, all-consuming addiction that demands attention and help.

Hitting Rock Bottom

Pitcock’s online game addiction came to a peak in 2008. The NFL football player has said in interviews the games became like a drug he would dive into when he felt anxious or depressed. Pitcock also said the online games helped him escape from negative emotions and to set himself apart from stressful situations.

During the most intense periods of his addiction, Pitcock said he could play 18-hour stretches without even noticing, especially during the off-season from NFL football games and practices. The time spent playing online games, says Pitcock, runs together into what almost seems like a continuous, long day that actually spanned several weeks. At its very worst, Pitcock believes the online game addiction could have spanned as much as 12 months.

Gaming Addiction Relapse

Like other addictions, such as substance abuse or alcohol, Pitcock says even with help the relapses still occurred. The addiction was so strong that Pitcock chose to retire from NFL football in order to have more availability for the games. He recalls skipping meals in a story that’s capturing attention for bringing to light the consuming nature of video game addiction.

Now that Quinn Pitcock has returned to professional football on the Detroit Lions’ team, his past addiction story could almost go unnoticed when he takes the field. In reality, the games were a way to cope with the demands of a professional athlete’s life, says Pitcock.

Describing himself as introverted, but having to appear loud, strong and confident in social situations, Pitcock was able to construct an alternate reality through online gaming. Depression soon ensued. The community Pitcock built online also included several others addicted to online gaming from global locations. While the other players were visible on the computer screen, Pitcock could remain alone for hours on end.

A History of Mental Illness

Looking back, the NFL athlete says his depression may have been present even in his teen years. Pitcock also says he received a diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, a disorder many experts believe makes people more vulnerable to overuse of games and technology.

His recovery was prolonged, says Pitcock, because he had a desire to handle the problem himself instead of seeking professional help. Once he began to receive professional help, the recovery process began.

Today, Pitcock has technological tools like a smartphone, but he says the obsessive craving for the video games isn’t there anymore.

Addiction to video games has been compared to compulsive eating disorders because the technology seems avoidable, but each person must monitor his own use and know which cravings to steer clear from. Treatment for teens and adults addicted to video games can include individual and group therapy with a focus on learning healthy coping skills.

A recent article in the Daily Tech talks about the recent death of a 20-year-old boy and his love for Xbox Live, which reportedly led to his untimely death. The father of the boy said he acted strangely the night before his death, mentioning a weird feeling in his upper body and a lowered heart rate.

According to a witness’ report, the coroner said that the boy leaned over to pick up something and a blood clot made its way to his brain. The young man collapsed in seizures. His friend called 911, but they were not able to save him.

The coroner’s exam showed a pulmonary embolism, known also as a blood clot. Although, rarely seen, except with passengers on long international airline flights and often the elderly, the condition is known as deep vein thrombosis. Sometimes this occurs in individuals who have a genetic predisposition, but in this case the coroners believe it was due to his regular marathon Xbox sessions.

One medical expert, Brian Colvin, says these games are fun and when children start playing them it’s hard to stop. Such gaming addictions may cause other issues, such as children skipping the bathroom when they feel the urge, leading to urinary problems. While blood clots are rare, they are caused from sitting in one spot for long periods of time and can result in death.

The report is rather shocking to most in North America and Europe, as gaming deaths are rarely reported, however this boy’s father hopes to make it his mission to educate other parents about the dangers of spending too much time gaming without breaks.

Researchers from Yale University School of Medicine’s Department of Psychology have found that most teenagers who engage in video gaming do not become addicted. However the 5% of teens that do develop addictive behavior towards gaming are likely to also have such problem behaviors as drug use, alcohol use, smoking, and violence. Typically, studies on problem gaming have identified a strong link between addictive video game use and aggression; the new study, however, takes the investigation a step further by considering other health correlates related to problem gaming and their prevalence.

Lead researcher and associate professor of psychiatry and public health Rani Desai and colleagues surveyed a total of 4,028 high school students from the Connecticut area by using an anonymous questionnaire which asked participants to describe their gaming behavior and other activities that relate to their psychological health. About half of teenagers (51.2%) reported playing video games recreationally (less than seven hours of play per week), with 76.3% being male and 29.2% being female.

For these students, the researchers found no association between video game use and problem behavior, especially among boys. In fact, the majority of video gamers were male and were not likely to engage in hazardous behaviors such as drinking alcohol, using marijuana, or smoking, and were more likely to have a high grade point average. Overall, recreational use of video gaming was considered to be normal among high school boys as it was closely related with healthy behaviors.

The same could not be said among female players, however. Although a much smaller percentage of video gamers were female, high school girls who play video games were more likely than girls who don’t to report violent behavior, such as carrying a weapon to school or getting into fights. The researchers suggest that this trend might indicate that aggressive girls are more likely to play video games, rather than the act of gaming itself is the cause of their aggression. This result may also show that females who play video games are more likely to externalize their aggression rather than internalize their symptoms. For example, girls who reported playing video games were actually less likely to show signs of depression than girls who do not play. Both male and female gamers reported consuming caffeine on a regular basis, but female gamers reported higher average rates of consumption (three or more caffeinated beverages per day for girls vs. one to two beverages for boys).

Another 11% of teenagers reported playing video games for 20 hours or more per week. Among all the teenagers surveyed, 4.9% were classified as exhibiting problem gaming behavior, based on the presence of three main criteria: having made attempts to reduce time spent on gaming but failing to do so, feeling an irresistible impulse to play, and feeling tension that only gaming could relieve. Boys were more likely than girls to experience problem gaming (5.8% vs. 3.0%). The significant difference between problem gamers and other teenagers was the propensity toward problem behavior. Although these teenagers composed a small percentage of the entire population, they were most likely to exhibit multiple behavioral problems including higher rates of smoking, drug use, violence, and depression.

Current research investigating the causes and effects of problematic gaming have produced conflicting results, as the disordered behavior has only become prevalent with recent years. The researchers’ newest study contributes to the existing body of evidence that shows correlates to problem behaviors, yet does not identify their initial causes. Further research will be needed in order to identify whether problem gaming perhaps causes negative behaviors, or if problem gaming is more likely a symptom of other behavioral problems. Also, more research would be needed in order to identify safe levels of gaming among teenagers and to develop reliable forms of intervention and preventive techniques for parents. The study was published online on November 15 in the scientific journal Pediatrics.

Source: Health Day, Video Games Not Harmful to Most Teens: Study, November 15, 2010

Before the early 1990s, parents weren’t concerned about potential gaming addiction—instead they focused on preventing their children from experimenting with alcohol and drugs. There are many outward signs and symptoms of alcohol and drug addiction, severe depression and anxiety, or eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia, but compulsive behaviors such as shopping, gambling, and video or computer gaming can be more difficult to spot. But just like drug addicts, those who are addicted to playing games are escaping into fantasy worlds in an attempt to numb their feelings about real life. Today, an increasing amount of young people are trying to manage their emotional and social deficiencies by escaping into the alternate realities of video games.

Since 1995, Dr. Kimberly Young’s Center for Internet Addiction has been assisting individuals who experience obsessions or compulsions involving the Internet including online gaming addiction. Director Keith Bakker at the Smith & Jones Addiction Consultants in Amsterdam, Netherlands created the world’s first detoxification rehabilitation program to treat video gaming addiction at his facility in order to meet the needs of a rising social problem that mostly affects male adolescents and young adults. This year, Dr. Richard Graham opened a new clinic providing gaming addiction intervention and therapy for teens at London’s Capio Nightingale Hospital.

Online gaming addiction has raised international concerns since recent news of the South Korean couple who allowed their premature infant to starve to death while they spent 12 hours per day raising a virtual child at a local cybercafé. A 24-year-old man also died after collapsing inside a cybercafé from playing online for 86 hours straight.

Gaming addiction is unlike alcohol or drug abuse disorders in that it does not involve a substance being ingested into the body and neurophysiologically affecting the brain and vital bodily systems. Substance abuse disorders are characterized by the development of a chemical dependency within the body as well as the brain rewiring its reward mechanisms which alters the abuser’s behavior—such as resorting to alcohol or a drug to feel good about oneself when depressed. These addictions are both chemical and behavioral disorders; a gaming addiction, however, is a distinct impulse control disorder that is more closely associated with such behavioral disorders as gambling addiction or shopping addiction. The gamers develop an altered physiological reward mechanism when engaging in video games. For gamers with low self-esteem, playing complex, exciting games heightens adrenaline, ignites stimulation, and fills the deep need to feel successful, loved, gifted, or meaningful. Individuals who believe they are inept in everyday social contexts might find fulfillment through video games and replace normal, healthy social and physical activities altogether. The illusion of conquering difficult tasks, completing assignments, and—especially in cyber role-playing games—taking on a more powerful identity provides gamers with an idealized existence that they would rather engage themselves in than real life. This emotional provision from gaming is parallel to the way substances might make an addict feel when using their drug of choice as a means of escape or coping mechanism. Reality becomes escapable, and a more seemingly rewarding world is available at the touch of a button.

When habitual gaming teaches the brain to rewire its reward mechanism, the brain changes its motivation stimulus. The brain releases dopamine to reward the individual for a beneficial activity—such as natural habits like eating, sex, and pumping adrenaline, or habits like injecting a chemical substance or participating in a stimulating behavior like gambling or Internet shopping. Healthy forms of reward or entertainment, such as reading or watching a film, have normal breaking points that allow individuals to return to reality and engage in the real world. Many video and cyber games however, do not have any such breaking points and often seem “more real” to gamers. Gamers can become so absorbed in this secondary world that their brains forget how to relate to real world occurrences; the game is no longer a form of entertainment but a replacement for their primary life.

“This is called a motivational monopoly” writes Neils Clark in his book Game Addiction: The Experience and the Effects. “The person has lost the taste for other things, because they simply don’t provide as much excitement, relaxation, or satisfaction as the one domineering behavior.” Reality becomes less significant and more illogical to addicted gamers.

Like other behavioral addictions, gaming addiction is characterized by compulsive behavior, lack of interest in other activities, and certain physical and mental symptoms when attempting to stop (i.e., withdrawal symptoms). Signs of gaming dependency include nonparticipation in social activities, slipping grades in school, association mainly with other gaming addicts, stealing money to continue game play or purchase new games, engaging in delinquent activity, truancy, aggressiveness, irritability and annoyance when denied play, and engaging in increasingly longer periods of play.

More serious physical side effects video game addiction include auditory hallucinations, peripheral neuropathy, joint pain, tenosynovitis, enuresis, encopresis, obesity, photo-sensitive epilepsy, cardiovascular problems, and increased risk of acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Treatment for these symptoms, as well as behavioral dependency, is simply to quit playing the games; however, convincing the gamer to quit requires rehabilitation that involves reintroduction to the elements of social and physical lifestyles.
 

“Sometimes I want to run away, too,” Mejia said, breaking down into tears. “I have support from my church, but I’m alone. I want to help my son, but I can’t find a way.”

Laurel J. Sweet and Marie Szanislo of the Boston Herald write that Mejia is among thousands of parents struggling with today’s video-game obsessed youth. The Entertainment Software Association reports that 42 percent of adults are intending to give or receive videogames for Christmas.

An argument ensued as Mejia unplugged her son’s PlayStation. Then, she dialed 911. Police responded and managed to talk the boy into shutting off the game and going to sleep.

“They (police) were just like, ‘Chill out. Go to bed,’” the boy told the Herald.
Mejia said she approves of athletic-themed videos, but as for “Grand Theft Auto,” she said, “I would never buy that kind of video. No way. I called (police) because if you don’t respect your mother, what are you going to do in your life?”

Mejia, a cafeteria cashier at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Jamaica Plain, said the two officers who responded “were surprised” there was more involved than putting the lid on a simmering family feud.

Lawrence Kutner, former co-director of the Center for Mental Health and Media at Massachusetts General Hospital and Emmy Award-winning documentarian, is the author of “Grand Theft Childhood: The Surprising Truth About Violent Video Games and What Parents Can Do.”

“Clearly, it’s a very, very rare situation for someone to call the cops. That she went to the extreme of calling the police tells me more about her level of frustration than anything else,” Kutner said.

“Adults tend to view video games as isolating experiences,” Kutner said. “Kids view them as social experiences. It’s a way in part—especially for boys—of gaining social acceptance.”
 

Youth Care Foundation official Sven Rollenhagen said his group received scores of e-mails and telephone calls from around the globe after it compared the video game "World of Warcraft" to cocaine in a February report, The Local reported Wednesday.

"This is a huge hidden problem in a lot of countries and it doesn’t get the same kind of attention because it takes place largely behind closed doors rather than out in public," Rollenhagen said.

Rollenhagen said the Youth Care Foundation is currently helping create the Center of Computer Game Addiction, a network of organizations and professionals focused on increasing public knowledge about the threat of video game addiction.

"Generally we’re talking about boys and young men who end up playing games so much that other aspects of their lives like family, work, school, relationships all fall by the wayside," Rollenhagen told the Local.

Studies from researchers Craig Anderson and Douglas Gentile of Iowa State University have shown that one in ten youth between the ages of 8 and 18 are addicted to video games (addiction being defined as playing for 24 hours or more per week, which results in functional damage such as increased health problems, attention deficit disorders, poor grades, and aggression). Children addicted to video games were also twice as likely to have ADD or ADHD.

Although some researchers suggest that video games decrease aggression by satisfying basic urges, many researchers such as Anderson and Gentile strongly disagree, having shown a correlation between the violence rating of the game and aggression, lack of forgiveness, and desensitization towards aggression exhibited by the child.

Surprisingly, the blood and gore were not really the problem, as violence was demonstrated to cause aggression according to the level of intentional harm done to characters in the game by the player, even if format was cartoonlike with happy music.

In 2008, Swedish researchers found that after playing violent video games, heart rate was increased during sleep, even though the youth in the study were not aware of sleeping poorly. In 2009, however, a study from the University of Arkansas showed that children who play video games for 7 hours or more a week showed increased sleepiness.

In 2009, Brigham Young University researchers found a correlation between video game playing and reduced quality of social relationships, as well as several other negative behaviors such as drug abuse and low self-esteem in female players.

There are some positive sides to playing video games, though, as long as play is limited: Researchers from Rochester University in 2009 showed that video games help develop better contrast vision, and scientists from the University of Michigan found that games that promote positive behavior instead of violence produced helpfulness in children.
 

ReSTART Internet Addiction Recovery Program offers treatment services for Internet, gaming, texting, and video game abuse. Their website lists several signs and symptoms of addiction, such as spending increasing amounts of time on computer and Internet activities; craving more time on the computer and Internet; and physical changes such as weight gain or loss, backaches, headaches, and carpal tunnel syndrome.

NorthWest Cable News tells the story of reSTART’s first patient, 19-year-old Ben Alexander, who was addicted to the online multiplayer fantasy game World of Warcraft. He played so much that it started affecting his schoolwork. “I’d have all these rationalizations of, well, it’s not a big deal to just miss this one class," he said. One class turned into several and he eventually dropped out of college.

His parents struggled to find appropriate help. Initially, he went to a substance and alcohol abuse program, but he didn’t find the help he needed there. Then his parents found reSTART, which sprawls over 5 acres of land.

Co-founder Cosette Rae saw the need for such a treatment center in her job as a social worker. "Concerns like their children would be gaming 16, 17 hours a day; that they stopped bathing; that they would just eat at the computer," said Rae.

Rae launched the new six-bed facility with Dr. Hilarie Cash, who specializes in Internet addiction. The reSTART Center offers individualized plans to treat a number of Internet issues.

Alexander was once interested in biology and animals, so now he helps with taking care of the goats, chickens, and other animals on the reSTART property. Cross country running is also something Alexander used to enjoy, so it is again part of his daily routine at reSTART.

"I’m not able to say, oh, I’m never going to be online ever again," Alexander said. "But at this point I’m not really worried about it."
 

About a month later, Daniel used his father’s key to open the box and removed both the game and the gun. Daniel then came up behind his parents, who were sitting on the couch, and said, “Would you guys close your eyes? I have a surprise for you.” Then he shot both of his parents in the head. His mother, Susan Petric, died instantly with wounds to her head, arms, and chest, and Mark Petric survived to tell the tragic tale.

After the shooting, Daniel placed the gun in his father’s hand and said, “Hey Dad, here’s your gun. Take it.” Shortly after, Daniel’s sister, Heidi, and her husband arrived at the house to watch an Indians game, and Mark heard his son tell them they shouldn’t come in because their parents had a big argument. Heidi testified that she heard moans coming from inside the house so they pushed their way through the door and called 911.

Mark Petric managed to tell Heidi that his son had shot him, while Daniel tried to blame his father. Daniel then fled the scene, taking the videogame with him, and was caught by police a short time later.

This week, Daniel was sentenced to life in prison with eligibility for parole in 23 years. His father asked for leniency because his son is remorseful. “I can’t count the number of times that he said, ‘Dad, I miss Mom,’” Petric said.

Judge James Burge appeared to place more blame on the videogame than on Daniel, noting that he believes Daniel was obsessed to the point that he couldn’t understand that death was real. When asked the motivation for the killing, Daniel himself didn’t understand why he shot his parents. “I firmly believe that Daniel Petric had no idea at the time he hatched this plot that if he killed his parents that they would be dead forever,” the judge said. “I think that was his state of mind when this occurred.”

Burge said Daniel’s addiction to the game altered his brain in the same way an addiction to drugs would. Daniel played the game as much as 18 hours a day at friends’ houses when he could. Daniel’s sister also testified that he was homebound for a year due to a snowboarding accident that led to a severe staph infection, and that he didn’t have much to do besides watch television and play videogames. It was during that time that he became fascinated with the Halo series, but his father forbade the games, saying that they were too violent and sexually explicit.

Daniel showed little emotion through the trial except when his mother’s autopsy photos were displayed. He bowed his head and stared at his hands for about 20 minutes while the photos were discussed. Mark Petric said that when he visited his son in jail over the past year, he apologized. “Dad, I’m so sorry for what I did to Mom, to you, and to the family. I’m so glad you are alive,” Daniel allegedly said. Mark Petric said Daniel and his wife has a very close relationship. “He was always her little boy,” he said.

Source: Stage Select, “Halo 3 Killer” Daniel Petric Gets 23 Years (to Life) in Prison, June 16, 2009