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Addiction to video games is becoming a bigger problem as a each generation is born into this age of technology. With the rise of popularity of online games can be even more addictive according to some experts due to their built in chat systems, social components and a game play story and goals that never end. People in the grips of video game addiction and online game addiction have lost relationships, jobs, feel behind in financial obligations and in some cases have even lost their children due to neglect.

You may be asking why some people become addicted to video games. A online game addiction or a video game addiction is similar to any other addiction in the way it gives the addict a way to escape reality. With drug addiction or gambling addiction they use their addiction of choose to escape into a fantasy world where they will not have to deal with their emotions or their current life. It is not physical addiction but carries with it some of the same compulsive behavior such as alcoholism and sex addiction. But what are some of the signs of video game addiction?

Questions to ask if you think you of someone you love is addicted to video games.

Are you having trouble staying on top of your job or studies?

My video games addicts report staying up all night, even days at a time trying to beat a certain level or completing some event inside a game. Online games especially have a social aspect where the player needs to stay with a certain group for long periods of time. This can lead to over sleeping and being late to work or not going to class at all.

Are you neglectful of relationships with friends, family, or lovers?

Online video games have a community made up of other gamers. Sometimes video game addicts will use this to replace real life relationships. The addict can withdraw from the real world into the fantasy of the video game world leaving other people in their life behind.

Have you lied about your playing video games or been talk to by someone close because they where concerned about playing too much?

Denial and anger is one of the first signs of any addiction. If you are lying about your use of games then you could be in the grips of video game addiction. Normal use of anything will not make a person feel the need to lie. If someone close to you has approached you about playing to much perhaps they see something you don’t. Denial keeps a addict from seeing the problems their addiction is causing.

Does your video game playing cause you to feel angry or depressed when you are not playing. Do you find yourself obsessing about when you are going to play again? Do you neglect eating, sleeping and bathing often?

The addict uses the game to replace missing part of them. When they are away from that then they may start to withdrawal or crave it. These are all common signs for most addictions. Ask yourself if this is normal behavior.

What can an online game addict do?

There is help for any addict including video game addicts. Your first step is to quit now. There is no recovery for any addict as long as they are still using. Next checking into a rehab or a detoxification is a good way to force you off of the games. There are now special rehabs and detoxification facilities just for video game addicts. There are a lot of great treatment centers available but if they are too far or too expensive in your area reaching out to a church, local recovery meeting, or someone close to you about your problem is a good first step. Any video game addict can live a productive happy life but the first step is to quit now!

How to quit

An addict will not see their addiction as simply playing a video game for hours on end. For them it is broken down into numerous tasks. So instead of seeing 5 playing they see 2 hours in a guild raid, 1 hour of daily quests, 1.5 hours of battlegrounds and 30 minutes of buying and selling items. Each task they perform is quite different from the rest thereby creating the illusion of diversity and balance within their life.

There are two primary methods to break any addiction; immediately or slowly.

Immediately
- Cold Turkey
- User has an epiphany

Psychologically good if you delete all items, gold, professions and take the character back to the starting point to delete them.

Slowly
- Find outside activities to become involved with
- Usage will generally drop over time

Even if the user has broken the addiction there are still many other MMPORG's in the market place to take it's place. Ultimately it comes down to the player wanting to limit the time spent online gaming while devoting more time to other activities. This is the key. If there are no outside activities that are fulfilling then why would they want to quit?

Conclusion

If you are thinking of quitting an online game or know some who is wanting to quit then remember the following message:

"No game lasts forever. Eventually the servers will be switched off and your characters, your achievements, the work you put into them and the entire gaming world that you came to know as a second home will cease to exist."