IMPORTANT:

Where Does Gaming Disorder Come In?

Gaming Disorder is both very similar and very different from an addiction to substances. The similarity comes from the underlying driving force of escapism. The presence of certain risk factors, and missing protective factors would drive someone into an activity that helps them feel like their lives are improved or at least normal for a while. This is where the similarity largely stops. A drug addict isn’t going to be able to argue very successfully for the benefits of illicit drugs and how they can contribute to the fulfillment and intrinsic motivators… At least, not relative to the harms of those drugs. However, a gamer will successfully be able to reel off many benefits across many different ways to play video games. When considering the problematic gamer,  It’ll come down to the nuance of what drives them and the quality of their experiences to understand why the line between healthy and unhealthy gaming becomes so blurred. It’s also possible to be overindulging in video games without the drive to escape, and while those scenarios can be problematic, they will not reach the level of a gaming disorder.

The issue is complicated further with Esports(which only applies to some genres of games and need to fulfill certain criteria). Esports can mimic the benefits of traditional sports when structured properly, but the drive to compete in esports can also become problematic in the overindulgent sense when out of balance.

Gaming presents so many opportunities and problems at the same time, especially with young people who are learning how to manage their emotions and impulses.  To be able to help those who play video games in a healthy way,  it comes down to understanding the intrinsic and extrinsic motivations of gamers and how this links with their choice of game and whether these motivators are being met in real life or not. 

This short course will explore these deeply and provide you with the insights necessary to connect better with clients who are gamers and truly understand where they are coming from. 

Gamers helping gamers – why it’s important

The importance of using video games in the process of re-framing gaming

• It takes one to know one. Authenticity is very important to gamers because they are often told that their passion is a waste of time, leading them to put their defences up. Being an experienced gamer is incredibly helpful for getting our gamer’s buy-in. The more we understand about gaming the more productive each session can be.
• If you are standing in the way of their passion without understanding it, you’ll see a lot of “the backfire effect”