Video Games

Gaming is fascinating and entertaining. However, playing video games every day and for hours can also be dangerous. 66 percent of young people in German-speaking Switzerland between the ages of 12 and 19 play video games. At least 5 percent of the gamers have a problematic - and at least 1 percent an addictive - use. Boys are clearly more often affected than girls. Teenagers also seem to be more at risk compared to adults. The most common games are first-person shooters, action adventures and sports games.

Typical symptoms of a game addiction are poorer school grades, change of priorities (hobbies and friends are suddenly no longer as important), changed mood and behaviour.

Excessive use of video games should first be understood as a symptom. People, especially adolescents, who have difficulties at work, at school, in the family or among friends, take refuge in the parallel world in which they can better regulate their tensions and emotions. At the same time, however, intensive gaming can also prevent those affected from facing up to their own problems and developing further as a result.

Excessive gaming stimulates similar regions in the brain as the consumption of substance-related addictive substances: the dopamine and serotonin systems. Typically, the gamer is rewarded at short intervals by successes, points or objects. This means that hormones related to happiness are released in the brain every few seconds, giving the player a good feeling and encouraging him or her to continue playing. Getting used to this constant release of happy hormones can, in extreme cases, end in a gambling addiction.

If you would like to critically question your gaming behaviour or are worried about your teenager at home who prefers to spend his free time in front of the console, we are happy to be there for you.