Video Game Addiction

Recently, I took my son and four of his friends fishing in the Bahamas. We had a fishing boat at our disposal, a beautiful beach and great weather, and I thought we’d all really enjoy our vacation in this exotic environment.

But, two of the boys are addicted to video games. They brought the games with them and played them the entire time. They never left the hotel room on our five-day fishing trip. I was very concerned and told them so, but it’s a work in progress. Family members need to come together and confront their loved one who is addicted to video games – tell him or her, “Enough is enough. You are losing control of your reality. You are running from the world.”

We all know people who are in this boat…

With adolescents that I’ve treated it starts out innocently enough. The video game is just a form of entertainment. The most common ones I’ve dealt with are “Call of Duty,” “Gears of War,” and “Call of Duty Black Ops.”

What happens, though, is that these games start to take over, and the young people start playing them more and more. They stop going outside, meeting with their friends, leaving their rooms. (more…)