Get out of the game mode, world needs real people

Are you obsessed with video games? Do you resort to them to escape anxiety or guilt? Have you lost interest in other life activities? If your answer is in the affirmative, chances are you suffer from a mental health condition called “gaming disorder” as per the latest edition of International Classification of Diseases of the World Health Organization. The document describes it as a pattern of persistent or recurrent gaming behaviour so severe that it takes “precedence over other life interests”. Hence, it’s imperative you come out of the habit. Compulsive gaming can jeopardise jobs and relationships among adults, while youngsters can shirk homework and find it inconvenient to socialise. The lure of a fantasy world can be attractive to an unpopular, misbehaved child who does not have ‘real’ friends. There is a massive thrill factor resulting in the release of dopamine, a brain chemical that makes people ‘happy’. Video games activate the same brain regions as in gamblers or drug addicts. Hence every game they win results in the release of dopamine thus pulling them back into the game. Suddenly, the virtual life becomes more appealing than real life. It’s people with poor self-esteem who prefer to live in such virtual space, and the earlier they come out of it, the better.

Addiction is not a disease but a choice on which we have complete control. It may not be easy as gamers can’t just look the other way when they see a PC — computers are now part of people’s daily lives. The key is to use them responsibly. And it’s time parents woke up to this menace which may seem harmless. For, the world does not need people who live in isolation, it needs people who are connected, real time; it does not need emotionally weak and inept people, it needs intelligent people with high social skills; it does not need people who are dependent on a device, instead it needs people who can think freely; it does not need people who live in a fantasy world without problem solving abilities, rather it needs people who live real lives dealing with life situations. The world needs an intelligent and wholesome generation, not a set of sluggish people with zero life skills.