One of the common activities that you will find children and teenagers doing is playing video games. With the various devices that are present today, it is more convenient for anyone to play their favorite game at any place.
However, parents and guardians need to be careful because there is a thin line between being invested and addicted to video games. Here are some of the signs that could mean that your children or teenagers are addicted to video games.
No interest in other activities
You can tell that a teenager is addicted to video games when they are no longer interested in activities that they previously enjoyed. They might give different excuses for not wanting to engage themselves in those activities. Rather, they will prefer to spend most of their time playing video games without the feeling of exhaustion.
Drop in academic performance
There might also be a decline in academic performance when a teenager is struggling with video game addiction.
The teenager will become less interested in their academics because they are more focused on their video games. Hence, they are likely to even play games when they have tests or assignments.
Withdrawal symptoms
Just like substance addiction, people addicted to behaviors might also experience withdrawal symptoms when they are unable to engage in their addictive behaviors.
When the teenager is unable to play video games for a period, they might become anxious, irritable, restless, angry, unable to sleep, etc.
Inability to reduce playing time
Addicted teenagers may find it easy to cut down on their playing time when it comes to video games. Even when their parents try to put some measures in place to control their playing time, they will find a way to keep playing the video games.
Using video games to manage negative emotions
Another sign of video game addiction is when your child uses it to escape from a painful reality or to treat negative emotions. Hence, if they are feeling uneasy, depressed, sad, etc, their inability to get better depends on gaming.