Video game and Internet Addiction are not actual Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)-IV classifications. Even if it is not officially approved as a diagnosable disorder by the American Medical Association, there is increasing evidence that people of all ages face severe problems associated with overuse of computer games. It has been almost six years since Blizzard Entertainment Company released the most popular game of the modern world, World of Warcraft. In 2010, the total amount of subscribers was 11.5 million and that game still holds the Guinness World Record for the most popular game.

According to Beth LeBreton, lecturer at Purdue (Intro to Psychology) temperament is an important factor for addiction to computer games. There is something called addictive personality meaning that people with such personality can easily become obsessed about doing something over and over again. If such people find something they enjoy so much they would overdo the enjoyable activity.

Here is some symptoms:

• “Preoccupation”.
  

A person who is addicted to a computer game is only interested in computer games.

• “A lack of control and loss of a time”.
  

A gamer loses control of the amount of time he plays computer games. If the gamer plans to spend just a few minutes to play it would last for many hours

• “Negative impact on other areas of life”.
  

For instance, a gamer prefers to play computer games rather than to be with family and friends, to take a shower, and to do homework.

• “Misuse of money”.
  

There are a lot of items which are related to computer games. So, a person who is addicted to computer game attempts to buy them regularly. Sometimes he spends money which is for other bills.

• “Hiding from negative or uncomfortable feelings or situations”.

Gamers usually use it to relax or to hide from problems as others drink alcohol, for example.

Social consequences:

People who are addicted to computer game always talk about experience in computer games. Sometimes it is difficult for those people to be involved in normal conversations discussing regular topics. As a result, they feel stressed because they cannot communicate well with other people. Another example is teenagers. If they do not have social interactions they will not develop necessary social skills. They will not be able to talk to other people, make friends and so on. They will move to a virtual world where they feel comfortable.

In the future: Definitely, people should start consider this problem more seriously as soon as possible. It is likely that video game addiction will be approved officially as a diagnosable disorder. I

Extra Information can be found here:
http://www.ihavenet.com/Health-Game-On-Are-Video-Games-Harmful.html
http://www.liebertonline.com/doi/abs/10.1089/cpb.2009.0079 (study)
http://www.video-game-addiction.org/