Parenting in the age of PUBG: How gaming addiction affects children, adolescents

Myra (name changed) is an 18-year-old girl who goes to a Liberal Arts college. She has a huge family gathering to attend for her grandmothers 80^th birthday and is irritated by all the people around, each with their own, constant needs. She would much rather retreat to her room and play some PUBG.Myra was an adolescent who was engaged with her family, her friends — everyone called her a "peoples person". Now, there are constant fights and arguments at home with her parents. Every day, it's, "Myra, get off your phone!", "Myra, come for dinner!", "Would you stop playing games on your computer, please?"In response, Myra yells at her mother, stomps off and shuts the door to her room. She doesn’t want to talk to anyone or socialize. She just wants to be left alone to play PUBG. Myra says her head is occupied only with Player’s Unknown Battlegrounds and the "winner winner chicken dinner" chant. This is the chant in an adolescent's head, with the eventual goal being to win.Does this story sound familiar?[caption id="attachment_6336091" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Representational image. University of Surrey[/caption]Why do girls and boys like Myra, who were seemingly normal, become difficult to handle after developing a gaming habit?Video games engage a child’s attention completely to the point where players become a part of the script. A growing body of evidence shows that video gaming can cause changes in various areas of the brain. The brain's limbic system is what causes it to seek an automatic reward. When playing video games, an adolescent's brain becomes hyperactive, their nervous system goes into high-alert and levels of the feel-good neurotransmitter 'dopamine' start rising. In the middle of a game, this rush lets them sustain their attention and elevate their mood. The intense visual stimulation that goes along with gaming prompts the brain to shut off other parts that it deems non-essential.An adolescent's mood can become irritable. They may throw a tantrum, not concentrate on their studies, lie to parents and caregivers, carry their phones to schools when it is forbidden, and get into multiple conflicts relating to their gaming addiction.[caption id="attachment_4275853" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Representational image.[/caption]

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