information addict

In a study of more than 1300 adult video gamers (age 18 to 43), Andrew Przybylski and his colleagues at the University of Rochester found that a small percentage of them, who played many hours per day, described themselves as obsessively engaged—they felt that they didn’t just “want” to play, but “needed” to play.[7] These players, when they stopped a session of playing, did not feel refreshed and energized as other players did, but felt tense and unhappy. The extensive questionnaires used in this study also revealed that these “obsessed” player were, in general, those whose basic psychological needs—their needs for freedom, competence, and social relationships—were not being met in real life.

So, if your child or another loved one seems obsessed about video games and unhappy outside of the games, don’t jump to the conclusion that the games are cause of the unhappiness. Instead, talk with your loved one and try to find out what might be missing or wrong in other aspects of his or her life and whether or not you can help to solve that problem.

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Video Game Addiction: Does It Occur? If So, Why? | Psychology Today

I know so many people, including myself, that this has applied to at one point or another. Not just with video games, but with the internet in general. It’s not a cause; it’s a symptom.