Internet Gaming Disorder; The Rise of a Ubiquitous Threat

Asiket Singh Dhillon

Games such as Starcraft and World of Warcraft among others, involve a series of complex tasks and goals which the player must accomplish to progress. Trivial as these games may seem, they have amassed a large following across the globe especially among adolescents and young adults.

The phenomena of ubiquitous gaming led to the rise of E-Sports (electronic sports) wherein professional gamers battle it out against each other to be proclaimed champions. A noble pursuit, no doubt, however the hours of practice that lead up to these events have led to discomfort among many. Does playing internet games for a better half of one’s day make them into screen craving addicts?

Being exposed to hours of screen time with randomized reward systems has led to what some have begun to call Internet Gaming Disorder in some individuals. The phenomenon was first noticed in south-east Asian countries, particularly in South Korea where the proliferation of the internet has ensured thousands of its citizens with access to the internet. The situation is so dire, that public policy in South Korea restricts children under the age of 16 accessing games after midnight.

Deaths caused due to continuous gaming to the point of starvation and fatigue have sparked outcry in affected nations. This has led to attention from the medical industry.

DSM V has added Internet Gaming Disorder as a phenomenon which requires more research. I wondered how exactly does playing a game online cause so much distress as to be put in the same bracket as substance abuse and gambling addiction.

Even without any intake of chemicals that could alter brain states, individuals that exhibited symptoms of IGD showed similar brain activation in the reward system as gambling addiction elicits. Furthermore, IGD affected individuals were found to have found reduction in the Basal Ganglia and the prefrontal cortex. This does not mean that playing video games causes these adverse effects. Action video games have been found to increase plasticity in the cerebellum, right hippocampus and the right prefrontal cortex. This has effects on an individual’s spatial navigation, planning and fine motor skills.

A meta-analysis by Kuss et al.  found that there is enough evidence throughout studies to provide neurological backing for Internet Gaming Disorder to be classified as a medical condition requiring remedy, strengthening the DSM V’s stance.

The studies that were looked in Kuss et al. literature review used different kinds of neuroimaging such as fMRI’s, PET scans and EEG studies. This allowed researches to look at the effect of games at the level of individual neurons and localized brain areas. The conclusions reached in the multitude of these papers lead to concurring results. Dopamine levels were reported to be similar to people with substance addictions. Even with no obvious intake of substances that could possibly alter brain states and structure there was evident change in neurochemical balances. Furthermore, Internet Gaming Addicts showed increased reward sensitivity and decreased loss sensitivity.

As Internet and Internet Gaming have only recently found their way into the mass populace, experimental studies are sparse. Furthermore, longitudinal studies looking at long term effects of games are lacking. This means that the finer nuances of what the exact mechanism of games which causes the symptoms to manifest is relatively unexplored. There are two sides to internet gaming and video games in general. The dexterity required to excel along with the pace at which decisions need to be made and carried out increase cognitive performance in individuals that regulate the amount of practice that they get. However, an uncontrolled level of playing videogames to the point that it impairs daily functioning and deteriorates one’s health qualify Internet Gaming Disorder to be included under the purview of the Substance Abuse Disorder and Gambling Addiction.