Forty-one percent of people who play online video games admitted that they played computer games as an escape from the real world.
The same parts of the brain that are activated when craving occur in alcohol and drug addicts are also activated in video game addicts when they see images of computer games.
Although the U.S. is lagging behind countries like South Korea, which boasts more than 100 clinics to treat video game addiction, there are a growing number of treatment options available to American youth.
Online role-playing games (especially multiplayer games or MMOs) are more likely to result in video game addiction than other computer game genres.
In a large study of seven thousand video gamers, close to twelve percent were classified as being addicted to video games.
Video game addiction is often a symptom of an underlying emotional or psychological issue such as depression or anxiety, and sometimes goes hand in hand with defiance, ADHD, and other conditions.