Most women just don’t get it: she keeps walking through the family room as she finishes up the work for the night and she studies him as she goes by. He’s sitting on the edge of his seat, elbows on his knees, controller in his hand with his thumbs flying from analog stick to buttons. His eyes are wild and every now and then he yells at the television or throws up his hands in exasperation.

A new study says there is a reason why women “just don’t get it.” While the above scenario is common, some men repeat an evening like this until they begin to experience a breakdown in other areas of life. Pathological video gaming can cause ruptures in social and family life and affect academic and professional performance.

Researchers have known for a long time that women are generally not affected by video games the same way men are. Women do not tend to organize gaming events for a girls’ night out, nor are they likely to fall asleep on the couch trying to get to the next level of a game.

While it is interesting to think about why women and men respond differently to video games, it is critical to understand why men are more susceptible to video game addictions that can crush them in other areas of life. Pathological video game use looks similar to other types of addictions: when men get addicted to video games, other areas of life suffer.

Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine studied the brain imagery of 22 adults. They examined 11 men and 11 women while they were participating in a simple computer game in which gaining territory was the objective.

The study was published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research. The results indicated that while both men and women showed activity in the parts of the brain that are associated with addiction and reward, the activity was much more pronounced in men.

In addition, the study’s results showed that as men gained more territory in the game, the activity in the brain increased. The same increase was not shown in females as they gained territory.

The men were also found to be more aggressive while playing the game, and quicker to gain territory. The researchers, led by Dr. Allen Reiss believe that these findings may indicate why men are initially more attracted to video games and are more easily addicted to playing them.

While a woman may still be stunned at the strange person who occupies the body of her husband when he plays video games, this research may help her understand why she’s not jumping in to play alongside him.
 

Video games started out as a popular entertainment option for the slightly computer savvy, as early as the 1970s. Today, they are even more popular than ever, even to the point of what some call harmful addictions for thousands of “gamers” – though varying definitions of game addiction exist.

The issue is drawing more attention, with rising numbers of teens and younger children becoming immersed in the sedentary habit of video gaming. Experts estimate close to 9 percent of youth aged 8 to 18 years are addicted to video games in the U.S. Furthermore, a 2007 poll directed by the Harris research company reports that nearly 25 percent of gamers think they may be addicted.

Psychologists and mental health experts continue to debate whether video gaming is a true addiction like compulsive gambling and other game-based habits. The answer to the addiction question may lie in the nature of gamers’ compulsive playing, strong urges for the games, and experiences of game withdrawal.

The subject of addictive gaming has been the source of reports published both by the American Psychiatric Association and LiveScience. According to the American Psychiatric Association, a 2007 vote did not list video gaming as an officially-diagnosed addiction in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, often referred to as the “bible” of addictions. Video game addiction may be up for consideration, however, in the 2012 edition.

By a less scientific explanation, video game addiction may be real if the addict uses games to a point where their life is disrupted. A gamer may be labeled pathological if games are played at levels reaching 24 hours each week; if the person has trouble concentrating in school; if grades suffer; or if relationships in the real world are damaged.

Perhaps the most addictive style of gaming is Multi-Player Online Role Playing Games, which allow a player to interact with players from across the globe. The games typically use high-end graphics, contributing to their ability to get players “hooked.”

If a gamer becomes too obsessed with the habit, reality can blur and meld into the fantasy world of video games. Strong relational ties can be generated toward players people have never met, and they may neglect work or sell possessions to acquire more games and game time. Some players may lose weight, ignore social relationships, and stay up all night to play. Even more dangerous is the risk that players will associate their game success with their identity and value as a person.

Withdrawal from addictive video gaming can resemble withdrawal from other compulsive behavior disorders. Psychiatrist Dr. Hilarie Cash founded a 45-day program to help game addicts recover. The program, based in Falls City, Washington, is one of the country’s first dedicated to gamers and offers inpatient therapy.

Debate continues as to whether video gaming is a true addiction, but many mental health experts agree people who fall into compulsive video gaming may also be more likely to turn to addictions like alcohol or drugs. For this reason, parents and therapists are urged to take video gaming habits seriously, especially among teens and young people.
 

Parents and kids alike are aware that video games are a big part of the American youth culture. Some parents insist that their kids are, in fact, addicted to video games. Is this simply parents complaining about their kids’ hobbies that they may or may not appreciate, or is there scientific support for pathological video game use among a significant number of American children and teenagers?

A recent study by Douglas Gentile with Iowa State University and the National Institute on Media and the Family, (Minneapolis, Minnesota), sought to study the behaviors of children and adolescents regarding video games.

An addiction indicates not that the subject engages in a behavior frequently or even for long periods of time, but that the behavior damages multiple levels of functioning. Some examples would be damage to family, social, school, occupational and psychological functioning.

The study sampled 1,178 U.S. residents aged 8 through 18. The research measured video game use based on 11 criteria based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). The criteria were similar to those used to identify pathological gambling. Subjects that exhibited at least half, or 6, of the symptoms were identified as pathological video gamers.

The symptoms used to define pathology included salience (the activity dominates the person’s life), euphoria or relief, (the activity provides a “high”), tolerance, withdrawal symptoms, conflict (the activity leads to conflict with persons close to the participant), and relapse.

In addition to pathological indicators, the study also assessed the participants’ video game habits. They measured weekly amount of video game play, knowledge of game ratings, household rules for game use, school performance, attention difficulties, and other indicators.

In the national sample of 8- to 18-year-olds, 8.5% of participants showed a pathological pattern, indicating a rating of at least 6 out of 11 indicators were exhibited.

Pathological gamers spent twice as much time as non-pathological gamers playing video games, were more likely to have a video game system in their rooms, had lower academic performance, and were more likely to feel that they were addicted to video games.

The results indicate that 88% of American youth between the ages of 8 and 18 at least occasionally play video games. Though video game usage seemed to yield a similar pattern relative to age that television viewing exhibits, with video game frequency playing decreasing in high school, the study found that adolescents play video games with less frequency as they get older, but with longer playing time per session.

Overall, only about half of the participants indicated that their homes had rules about video games, and a large percentage of the youth owned M-rated games.

The core limitation for this study is that it does not provide evidence for the possible causal relationships among the variables studied. For instance, it may be possible that pathological gaming causes low academic performance, or it could be as probable that children that have poor school performance seek out video games as a respite from the demands of academic and social pressures.