Matthew Sidran

It is fully possibly for a video game to be addicting. In Amsterdam the issue of video game addiction is being taken seriously and is being treated as another addiction would be. The rationale behind this is that video game addiction meets the same criteria as other additions, such as substance abuse problems. (Rauh) In studies conducted by in the United States, addiction and aggression have been proved to be caused by video games proving video gaming’s ability to change the psychological state of gamers. (Grüsser) Addiction research suggests addicting behavior such as gambling and playing video games elevates one’s dopamine levels making a psychological addiction to playing video games entirely possible. (Carnagey) As one has probably seen or heard about, there are those kids who spend the majority of their time engulfed in a fantasy world of video games. The evidence supporting video game addiction is overwhelming and personally we all know someone who spends all of their time playing isolating video games. One of the most popular games is World or Warcraft and it is safe to say many people are addicted to playing it

Carnagey, N., & Anderson, C. (2005, November). The Effects of Reward and Punishment in Violent Video Games on Aggressive Affect, Cognition, and Behavior. Psychological Science, 16(11), 882-889. Retrieved March 25, 2009, doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2005.01632.x

Grüsser, S. M., Thalemann, R., and M. D. Griffiths. "Excessive computer game playing: Evidence for addiction and aggression?." CyberPsychology & Behavior 10, no. 2 (April 2007): 290-292. PsycINFO, EBSCOhost (accessed March 25, 2009).

Rauh, Sherry. "Detox For Video Game Addiction?." CBS News 3 June 2006 25 Mar 2009 .