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Doiron 1 Shane Doiron Instructor: Malcolm Campbell 1103 04/10/2012 Effects of Online Gaming and Internet Overuse

Have you ever craved a chocolate bar? Imagine opening the wrapper of an almost perfect square made from the most delicious substances known to man. As the smooth combination of sugar and coco touches your tong it seems as if life cannot get any better. For many people this is reality everyday as chocolate is sold by the millions to people around the world. The one thought that many neglect to consider is: besides the temporary satisfaction, what else is this chocolate bar doing to my body? Once this chocolate bar is consumed, many things come into play such as digestion, converting this substance into energy, and pleasure to the mind. This seemingly harmless bar of enjoyment might be at the bottom of your worries, but as we all know, should only be eaten in moderation. Whether or not we think about it, this same concept can be applied to online gaming. Online gaming has many benefits including its ability to improve peoples problem solving skills, but on the other hand, if used out of moderation, can seriously damage personal health and social interactions. But what exactly are the main effects of internet overuse by online gaming? Whenever someone indulges their time into online gaming, physical activity is usually cut back or minimized. This brings out a characteristic of gaming that is widely known to cause problems, a sedentary lifestyle. According to (Livestrong) a sedentary behavior is any activity that does not require physical exertion and is a common public health problem today. If sedentary

Doiron 2 behaviors become normal in someones life and exercise is not included, the risk for some diseases such as obesity and type two diabetes may develop. For example, a case study presented at a conference by the American Heart Association in San Diego, California, was conducted to look at the effects of sedentary behavior based on television use in which online gaming follows the same concept. In this study, over 7,000 women and over 4,000 men were monitored on their television use over a two year period. After this time they were measured by their respective BMI or body mass index, a reliable way to calculate body fat. The results showed a trend in which those who watched more television had an increased amount of body fat compared to the applicants with some exercise and less sedentary activity (AFP). When connecting this study to online gaming there is a pretty straight line, increased sedentary behavior can lead to many health problems especially obesity. Obesity is such a devastating disease because in most situations it can lead to other health complications or even death. Lisa Shives, M.D. describes how sleep apnea is slowly increasing in young children due to increased numbers of childhood obesity. Her diagnosis of OSA (obstructive sleep apnea) primarily consists of enlarged tonsils and adenoids. She states that in patients with OSA, tissues around these organs tend to relax during sleep causing a blockage of airflow to the lungs. According to Shives, common side effects of OSA include loud snoring and significant daytime sleepiness (Shives). All of these health problems can be attributed to the sedentary lifestyle produced from too much online gaming. Roland Sturm, PhD, has a different view on the problem of obesity and has researched obesity on a more general basis. Sturm agrees with the fact that gaming and media use does in fact affect obesity but in a more indirect way. He explains that gaming and media use forces users to change dietary intake and in return increase the chances of obesity (Sturm).

Doiron 3 On the contrary to other research, Sturms research has gone agains what most people think. By carefully examining free time usage in younger kids, has discovered that most kids spend their free time doing other activities such as homework and after school clubs and sports. The time-diary data suggest that children under 12 are now watching less television than they did in the past, a decline of about 23%, or about six hours per week between 1981 and 1997. (Sturm) Says Sturm after carefully analyzing data graphs comparing time usage over the years. He also adds that this trend was shown in adolescents, the common focus for many gaming companies. From this comparison Sturm was able to conclude that media usage including online gaming has decreased and goes against what many other evaluations have shown (Sturm). When dealing with online gaming there are many more aspects on how it affects our bodies including a psychological side. Online gaming is something that can benefit but possibly damage someone psychologically. According to Jane McGonigal, our society as a whole is not playing enough video games. She believes that exercising the act of playing video games or participating in online gaming, could solve many of the worlds problems. As McGonigal was interviewed, her point of view was explained in more detail. A doctor in performance studies at the University of California Berkeley, McGonigal bases her research on playing games herself. McGonial explains that as she attempts in game quests her problem solving skills are tested. She says "I'm getting stronger and I'm getting smarter, and this is obviously meant to model what would happen in real life if you kept tackling an obstacle.(Sydell)" McGonial in her research, goes as far as helping to create a real world simulation game in which an oil shortage was simulated. As a consultant of the game, Mcgonial was able to record reactions to those playing the game for a month period. Over this time the players described in blogs posts as well as video and audio, their trials and tribulations throughout the gameplay. Studies like this may give insight into how gaming can influence our

Doiron 4 decision making and the way we critically think (Sydell). As well as thinking critically, online gaming has also shown to decrease depression levels. An article in the Washington Post explains about a woman, dragged down by depression, who looks towards online gaming for a possible solution. Shankar Vedantam describes how this woman was kept up at night due to serious depression and for relief starts playing an online game called Bejeweled (Vedantam). But how did this game affect this woman so much that the seemingly incurable side effects of depression were momentarily put to rest? The overly joyed woman contacted the makers of this online game describing what it had done for her. Stunned by her response, the company called PopCap set out to figure out what was going on here. Carmen Russoniello, a director of the psychophysiology lab at East Carolina University conducted the research and came to a conclusion: while playing some games, patients experience activation to the parasympathetic nervous system, which can reduce the heightened tension that is a natural response to stress (Vedantam). He explains that certain games in which a challenge is presented, helps occupy our attention levels and puts people into a virtual trance in which effects stress levels. As studied in the case above, online gaming was tested for its psychological effects and revealed something interesting. Online gaming is a stress reliever because of the way it stimulates parts of your body but can this activity become addictive? According to Kimberly Young, a PsyD who directs the Center for On-Line Addiction, this is a very real problem. For example, patients at her center are evaluated on behaviors such as playing online games for prolonged periods of time and becoming less social due to more time spent on the games. Other warning signs include gaming to escape from real-life problems, anxiety, or depression (Rauh). This relates back to PopCap and the results uncovered by the woman with severe depression. She used online gaming to relieve the pain from depression and real-world problems but according to Young, this may be a

Doiron 5 serious addiction. Young gives insight into what parents should do if their child may have an internet addiction. The first step Young advises is to keep a log of the time spent online for the child. She also explains that whenever an addiction is there, limiting gaming periods may cause irritability and even anger. To monitor this, parents should observe how the child reacts to a time limit on gaming. To combat this addiction a treatment center set up in Amsterdam is used to help teens with their addiction to online gaming. Patients face their addiction head on with the first step of admitting to the addiction. Keith Bakker, director of this facility says that online gaming is stunting normal social development by taking kids away from normal activities such as playing a sport or hanging out with friends. He inquires that this lack of development in early years could down the road damage many needed social skills necessary for a successful lifestyle (Rauh). Even though online gaming has shown to intervene with social interactions, Marko Siitonen writes that online gaming can help build strong relationships. Siitonen writes in his doctoral thesis of speech communication online multiplayer gaming is a playground which can give us clues about the future of social and technological developments (ScienceDaily). His first point being made that some online games force users to communicate in order to successfully accomplish in game tasks. Online players form relationships to gain knowledge in their online world and use this communication for their benefit. The better the relationship ultimately means the better you will do online. Secondly Siitonen points out that the more relationships you develop online; the sense of community will grow. He believes that the ongoing interactions online help players learn each others values and goals which in turn helps with the foundation of a community. In these virtual communities, real-world characteristics such as: age, sex, and appearance are eliminated and gamers can work even better as a team (ScienceDaily).

Doiron 6 Based upon all the research of online gaming so far there seems to be both positive and negative effects of online gaming. So what should be done for the negatives and how are the positives changing? From learning about a sedentary lifestyle due to online gaming, the only possible response is to increase physical activity. On the internet there are many health websites focused on healthy living, one particular Livestrong.com. Livestrongs main focus is that of healthy living and has many key elements including: exercise, diet, and community (Livestrong). On this website people can actively read about new and innovative health plans as well as the types of exercise that produce the best results. Just like Sittonen suggests, an online community who shares same values can benefit users (ScienceDaily), Livestrong gives its users a community to hold reliable (Livestrong). As well as the negative health effects of online gaming, the possibly harming addiction is a problem as well (Rauh). To combat an addiction to online gaming, parents must closely monitor their children or teens from excessive gaming and is also their job to know the warning signs of a potential addiction. Treatment centers can be used to treat a possible addiction if necessary. Upon initial research possible positive effects of online gaming included a temporary solution to depression and expanded to the idea that online gaming has not had a great impact upon obesity due to the fact that kids are becoming more active. Some research even showed that we as a society are not playing enough online games which ultimately define how we think and process information. With changing technology, online gaming is ever present and harder to avoid, so we must learn to live with it.

Works Cited

Doiron 7 Rauh, Sherry. Video Game Addiction no Fun. webmd.com, WebMD. n.d. Web. 24 February. 2012. Sturm, Roland. Childhood Obesity What We Can Learn From Existing Data on Societal Trends, Part 1. Preventing Chronic Disease n.d. Web. 20 February. 2012. Sydell, Laura. How To Save The World, One Video Game At A Time. npr.com. 2011. National Public Radio. February 20. 2012.Web. ScienceDaily. How Does Online Gaming Affect Social Interactions?. ScienceDaily.com. April 9. Web. Vedantam, Shankar. Researchers Explore Mental Health Benefits of Video Games. Washingtonpost.com. August 18. 2009. The Washington Post. 20 Feb. 2012. Livestrong. Lance Armstrong Foundation, nd. Web. 20 Feb. 2012. AFP. Sedentary life amplifies obesity genes: US study yahoonews.com. n.d. Yahoo. Web. 20 Feb. 2012. Shives, Lisa. Vicious cycle of sleep apnea and obesity in kids. cnn.com. 17 Feb. 2012. CNN Health. Web. 20 Feb. 2012.

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