Psychology Behind Gaming Addiction
Mental Triggers of Gaming Addiction
The Game Beings:
There is a day in your life when your friend suggests a game, or you install it from any online platform. You start playing the game for the first time, you easily tackle it, and feel like this was easy. You feel like this is over hyped and it’s not difficult. At that time, the game is intentionally making you feel confident. You put your guard down. This is the phase when you are letting the game control your emotions. But this is a very dangerous throne because in the next phase, you will be tied with a chain. This is not a coincidence that every time it’s the same process. It’s a trap. Psychology behind gaming addiction.
Bruised Ego:
It’s basic human nature that when they underestimate something, they would consider themselves superior, and they won’t ever let themselves down from that thing. Now, since you underestimated it and you start the second game. Initially, it makes you feel that you are in control, but later, all of a sudden, bots are replaced by real players, and they suddenly defeat you. Now your ego is bruised. You want revenge, and the game knows this very well. And the third phase begins.
Empty Revenge:
In the third game, you want revenge by outsmarting other players and keeping your guard up. But this time you will have revenge, but still you will feel empty. Because this time, there would be no players, but all bots. You will win the game, but from inside, you will know that this is not the level where you got trapped and defeated. Your ego won’t be healed, but your self-doubt will be fed by this.
Bounce Back:
To fix this problem, you will start a game again and play it passionately, and you will end up having a dopamine rush from winning the game. Your mind will think that you made progress, and that was very easy progress, by just playing a few games. You didn’t lose any energy. You just played and won. Your brain will crave this easy way to get dopamine again and again.
Bird in the cage:
You are successfully trapped. You will play again and repeat the cycle. If you try to uninstall and leave it, you won’t have enough stimulation, and you will feel empty. This is the psychology of gaming addiction. Now you are trapped, and it’s not easy to get out of this hell. But obviously, there are ways to make the path a little bit easier.
Ways to make a way out of it:
To get out of his I am not gonna tell you steps, because steps are meant to be taken, not told. But I can show you the way of awareness where you can walk and take steps yourself.
Environment:
It’s an old but very wise saying, “the nature of a human reflects his environment”. If you stay with those who talk about games and play games, I guarantee that you can’t escape gaming addiction. So, stay away from gamers and don’t watch gaming-related content.
Schedule:
If you want to leave games, don’t try to ’em. What you have to do is fill your time with productive things. Start sleeping at a time and make a schedule that doesn’t allow you to spend time thinking about what to do. Because when you think what to day, your brain says “gaming”. Why? Because it’s an easy and rewarding process, and you can do it any time. But if you have a schedule in which you talk to your friends, your family, and study if you are a student, in such cases, you won’t have enough time to waste on this so-called rewarding process.
Purpose:
You spend time in games because they show you progress, but you are more attracted to them because your progress is very fast. You get something for every game. But in real life, it’s a bit slower, but still, it’s the most effective thing to leave gaming. Just decide what you want to do, maybe get a good physique, or get full marks, or become a good father. It can be anything, but give yourself a compliment for every step you take. It won’t make you crazy working overnight for work, but it will help you to stay on track.
Hope:
Let me teach you this final and very important concept through research. Scientists took two mice and left them in a big jar of water with no edge. Mice started struggling, and after 30 minutes, they gave up and died, drowning. Then, in another experiment, they took mice of the same breed and same physical conditions. This time, when mice were about to drown, scientists got them out for a while and then threw them back in the jar. But this time, mice had a hope that they would be taken outside, so they kept swimming, not for a day or two but for sixty hours straight. So give yourself hope that when you leave the game, you will have a better life and better relationships. The time you die is not when you die, but when you stop trying and leave the hope. If you need a better environment and don’t have then you can change your environment through books, videos, and podcasts, or with Mind In Beta xyz. It’s not about how you will change your environment, but it’s about when you will change your environment. Best regards from me.