Does video game addiction really impact a child's mental health?

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We're all wired these days, constantly playing with our electronic gadgets. Since you're an adult, you don't have to worry about your own habits, but you do worry a lot about the possibility of your children contracting harmful side effects.

Today's devices were unimaginable when you were a child. According to experts at Jagruti rehabilitation centre, the best mental hospital in Delhi, 97 percent of teens aged 12 to 17 play digital games.

According to the WHO, simply enjoying video games and playing them on and off, or quickly being engrossed in them for hours on end before turning off and returning to other activities, does not indicate gaming disorder or addiction. When technology begins to interfere with one's intimate, family, or social health, it is considered an "issue" that can lead to other negative consequences.

As a parent, look for the following signs of video game addiction (suggested by a psychiatric hospital in Mumbai)

• Lack of control over gaming (e.g., intensity, duration)

• Gaming's importance is being elevated to the point that it is displacing other desires and everyday activities.

• Gaming that continues or escalates amid negative consequences

When video game use becomes excessive and becomes video game addiction, the person who is playing is unable to quit even when the game is causing negative consequences. This level of gaming can have several negative effects on mental, emotional, and physical health, including:

• A sedentary lifestyle and lack of exercise increase the risk of obesity, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and high cholesterol.

• Problems with focus and attention due to the quick movements and fast-paced action of video games

• Neglected social skills due to lack of interaction with others outside of an electronic environment

• Seizures and repetitive stress injuries from flickering graphics, lighting, and colours that can cause episodes in epilepsy patients

• Increased aggression or violent behaviour due to the content of some types of video games

As video games and technology become more mainstream, they have been shown to have a significant effect on both children and adults' cultural ideas, psychological growth, and lifestyle habits. It's important to remember, however, that only a small percentage of people play video games to the point where they're diagnosed with a gaming disorder or video game addiction, as described by the World Health Organization. Jagruti rehabilitation centre, the best rehabilitation centre in Delhi warns on this after dealing with several such cases.

Drug addiction and gaming have a lot in common.

A psychiatrist at the  best psychiatrist hospital in Delhi has made the following observation. Aside from the fact that video game addiction often coexists with drug abuse, both addictions cause similar brain circuits. The amygdala in the brain is stimulated in people with gaming disorders. The amygdala is a part of the brain's "reward" system that is also triggered in people who struggle with addiction. Importantly, the same study discovered that children with gaming disorders' brains changed in ways that could predispose them to addictive behaviours later in life.

Support is available, at Jagruti rehabilitation centre, the best mental hospital in Delhi, if you or a loved one is suffering from an unresolved video game addiction and a co- occurring drug use disorder. Jagruti rehabilitation centre, a de-addiction centre in Mumbai and Pune, has treatment facilities that provide comprehensive approaches to mental health and drug use disorders. Get in touch with a representative at Jagruti rehabilitation centre right now.

We have treatment facilities that provide comprehensive approaches to mental health and drug use disorders. Get in touch with our representative right now.