WHEN LITTLE boys play video games, they sit cross-legged about six inches from the TV screen with a glazed look in their eyes, a control pad in their hands, and their mother's voice in the background telling them not to strain their eyes.
When big boys play video games, they sit six inches from a computer screen in a college dorm room. It's really no different, except that big boys have trouble sitting on the floor and in college, it's a different woman yelling at them to stop playing their games.
At Brigham Young University in Utah, this computer game craze has reached such a noticeable height that it's creating a sub-culture of nonstop gamers ("Video gaming may be too addictive for some BYU students," The Daily Universe, Sept 25). Although some may dismiss this problem as more prevalent on a dry campus like BYU where kids have fun by "learning" and "praying" and "hiking," we all know, even though we may not want to admit it, that computer addiction occurs here at the University as well.
Scientific tests in the last year show evidence that video games have physiologically addictive qualities.
In January 1999, a team of British scientists published a report that traced the level of dopamine released in the brain during video game play. The chemical upsurge is roughly equal to the increase caused by illegal amphetamines such as speed. It is also found in a prescription dose of the anti-hyperactivity medicine, Ritalin. So basically, rather than engaging in physical activity, students are tricking their minds into an adrenaline rush by substituting running on a track with running from a simulated enemy.
We've all heard of the dorm suites where boys configure their computers in order to simultaneously play games with 10 or 20 other guys. The halls that sound like World War III with the yelling, the explosions and the gun shots coming from the computer monitors. What we didn't realize in our first-year heyday is that many of these boys may suffer from "Computer Addiction Syndrome."
According to the Computer Addiction Center (yes, it's a real place) at the Mclean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts, "people with computer addiction usually turn to the Internet or play computer games in an attempt to overcome anxiety, deal with depression, reduce isolation or loneliness, or distract themselves from overwhelming problems. The elderly, as well as children and adolescents, are particularly vulnerable because they may not realize the extent of their dependency."(http://www.mclean.harvard.edu/brochures/br-compu_outpt.htm)
Thy symptoms can be severe. Computer addicts feel preoccupied with computers by thinking about the experience, planning a return to the computer or buying the newest and latest hardware or software. They may engage in computer activities to experience pleasure, gratification or relief.
Sufferers may lie to family members, co-workers, fellow-students, therapists and others about the amount of time spent on the computer and fail at repeated efforts to control computer activities. Some show physical symptoms such as carpal tunnel syndrome, backaches, dry eyes, neglect of personal hygiene or eating irregularities.
Is this for real? How do you gauge whether kids are choosing their computer games over spending time with people or whether they just have nothing better to do? College students are the masters of wasting time, so why can't computer games just be another way to procrastinate, similar to a Rubix cube or a gripping game of Connect Four?
The difference is, these games are another example of how technology is being abused because it is not being used in moderation. Just like Web-surfing or TV-watching, game-playing is fine if it isn't overdone. It's admirable that some students want to find alternatives to going to a noisy drunken party, but sitting alone in front of a glowing screen in a dark room on a Saturday night is unhealthy, too. The problem is, computer games are so embedded in college culture that we don't stop to ask whether people we know are just playing "Quake III" and "Diablo II" for fun, or whether they are using these games as an excuse not to do work, make friends or take a shower.
Computer games are fun, quick fixes, and with the advent of Internet sharing, they also have become very inexpensive. But they can be destructive, unhealthy and attention-deficit-endorsing when they're used too much. There aren't any seven-step programs to cure this addiction, no places to stand up in front of fellow fiends and mumble, "Hi, I'm Jerry and I'm a computer game addict" and receive a chorus of "Hi, Jerry" in response. All that can be offered is friend and family intervention -- a firm hand that leads the computer-crazed out of their rooms and into the blazing sunlight. And if that doesn't work, you can always check them in to the Mclean Hospital, since they provide "inpatient care, partial hospitalization, residency and respite."
(Diya Gullapalli is a Cavalier Daily associate editor.)
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