Published in Psychiatry Research
Thank you for taking this quiz.
My name is Cam Adair and I’m the founder of Game Quitters.
I understand how you feel because I was once addicted to playing video games. My addiction caused me to drop out of high school and while my friends were going off to college I was living in my parents basement playing video games up to 16 hours a day. I even pretended to have jobs.
This story might sound familiar, but it does have a happy ending and I’ve been off video games for over seven years.
Since overcoming my addiction, I have been working with thousands of families to help them and their families overcome it as well.
“One of Canada’s 150 Leading Canadians in Mental Health”
– Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH)
Should you be worried?
Your score did not meet criteria for a severe gaming problem. You may be playing games for several hours a day but your life is generally in order. You play games as a hobby, but you’re not sacrificing your life for gaming.
You will still fulfill your responsibilities for the day, whether that’s going to school or going to work, or other chores or basic necessities you may have. You probably still engage at home, have friends you hang out with in the physical world, other hobbies and interests, and take care of your basic hygiene.
You may want to play more… but being irritable or moody when you can’t play is not common. Gaming isn’t impacting your ability to function as a normal human being. You may feel like you are not reaching your full potential, but as long you keep gaming in control it doesn’t have to be a bad thing.
Watch out for these red flags:
If this sounds accurate than just be mindful to watch out for these red flags:
Being irritable or moody when they can’t play
Constantly needing to play more and more (“it’s never enough”)
Losing interest in other activities (e.g. sports, exercise)
Being deceptive (e.g. stealing money to buy things in game)
Jeopardizing school, work, and/or relationships (in order to game)
These are important red flags to be aware of and if you begin to notice them appearing more regularly you will want to take action sooner than later.
Prevent the problem from getting worse:
Here are two resources I want to gift you…
1. If you want to learn more about the difference between a healthy gamer and an unhealthy gamer read this article.
2. Here is a checklist on what you can do to prevent gaming from becoming a problem.
Worried you actually do have a gaming problem? Then click here to learn more about what you can do to turn your situation around.
In the meantime, keep an eye on your email for those resources and more to come soon.
I hope you have found this helpful.
– Cam
