by John Toscano

Created on: May 30, 2008   Last Updated: November 18, 2010

The issue under discussion here is whether addiction to video games is harmful but there is also an underlying and perhaps more fundamental question, which is whether such an addiction can actually exist. In my mind, there has never been any doubt that addiction to gaming is a real phenomenon but it seems there are wide differences of opinion on this. What is surely undeniable is that many people play games to the extent that this behavior can be described as compulsive, even pathological and destructive in the wider context of their lives. However, this does not necessarily represent addiction, which has been defined as "A primary, chronic disease, characterized by impaired control over the use of a psychoactive substance and/or behavior." (Schlimme, 2002) Like other types of addiction, behavioral addictions are generally regarded as having a physiological as well as a psychological basis and the underlying neurophysiology has now been quite well studied, particularly in people addicted to gambling.

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter released in the brain and thought to be responsible for the sensation of pleasure that provides the reward we get for all sorts of things, including eating, having sex and taking narcotic drugs, these all being activities that can trigger a release of dopamine. There are various theories about the precise link between dopamine in the brain and addictive behavioral patterns but these seem to share a lot of common ground. It is widely accepted that people playing video games can experience the increased levels of dopamine that have long been observed in drug addicts. We need to be cautious in interpreting this; whilst it could be taken as evidence that repeatedly playing the game leads to addiction, it also simply mean that playing the game gives a person a pleasurable and perfectly healthy high. After all, most people are familiar with the adrenaline rush caused by exciting activities and would hardly call this either harmful or addictive; perhaps the dopamine rush brought on by gaming could be seen in the same light.

There does, however, seem to be a sinister aspect to the effects of dopamine and the key to understanding this may lie in the hypothesis that some people are much more susceptible to the effects of dopamine and also that some people have naturally low levels of dopamine in the brain. If individuals of either group are exposed to a drug such as cocaine, they may have unusually strong feelings of pleasure and euphoria and

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