(토요모임) [1. June. 2019 ] Saturday meeting topic

[Scarlet]

Howdy ! 

It's me Scarlett !   

This week we will talk about the ' Self-reflection, Air pollution & Gaming addiction '  Do not be obsessed with all the articles too much. Just pick some articles what you have interests and prepare your opinions related to those articles. :) 

◈ Who am I ?

◈ Personal Growth 

-------- Five Tips on Self-Reflection for Personal Growth

◈ Sustainable Development

-------- Our poisonous air is harming our children’s brains

-------- China Now Also Buying Bottled Clean Air From Britain

-------- China finally gets serious about cleaning up : World's biggest polluter turns would-be environmental protector with green tech investments

◈ Technology

-------- Gaming addiction classified as disorder by WHO 

-------- What Is Video Game Addiction?

Hope you enjoy the topics. 

With luv 

Scarlett

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A game of Who am I ?

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<Questions> 

Q1. What is your favorite game? Why?

Q2. How could you describe yourself?

Q3. Do you know any effective way to improve your English skills? Plz share it with us ! ~

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Five Tips on Self-Reflection for Personal Growth
2016, December 13 Silke Morin 

Personal growth can be achieved through self-reflection. As December wraps up, are you considering resolutions for the coming year? Before you resolve to change a habit, take time to engage in self-reflection, which is a valuable tool for personal growth.

How to Use Self-Reflection for Personal Growth
For many people, new year’s resolutions involve some form of self-improvement. We want to lose weight, quit smoking, or start an exercise program. These are all worthwhile goals, but to make the most of the changes you want to create, you should start with some self-reflection.
By definition, self-reflection involves deliberate thinking about your own behavior and beliefs. When you engage in this deliberate kind of thinking, you will develop awareness of your mental and emotional states and awareness of your actions. Developing this awareness is the basis for personal growth (Personal Growth: Flower Where You're Planted).

Five Habits that Enhance Self-Reflection and Personal Growth

1. Be honest with yourself. 

You don’t do yourself any favors if you aren’t 100% honest with yourself about how things are going and how you are behaving.

2. Notice behavior patterns. 

We are all creatures of habit. Some of these habits are helpful and others are not. It’s good to be aware of your habits so you can actively weaken the ones you don’t want and strengthen the ones you do want.

3. Be able to articulate your core values. 

If you don’t know what’s important to you, how can you ever grow and manifest your best self? Take time to consider what’s most important to you so that you can better eval‎uate whether or not you're living those values.

4. Be forgiving. 

Change is hard and old habits are hard to break. Be gentle with yourself when you don’t get it right. It’s okay. We’re all human. We all make mistakes (The Blame Game and Forgiveness).

5. Keep track of your self-reflection. 

Start a journal where you record your observations and monitor your personal growth. This will help you when looking back at your year to remind yourself of where you’ve been and where you want to go.

Top Five Questions for Self-Reflection

■ What are my values?
■ In what ways do my words and actions reflect or fail to reflect my values?
■ What are areas in which I’m doing well and what are areas in which I could improve?
■ How am I caring for myself so that I am mentally and physically at my best?
■ What have I learned about myself today (this week, this month, this year)?

■ If you can engage in self-reflection, you will develop insights about yourself and put yourself in a great position for personal growth.
■ Find Silke on Facebook, Google+, Twitter and on her personal blog.

Tags: self-reflection for personal growth

APA Reference
Morin, S. (2016, December 13). Five Tips on Self-Reflection for Personal Growth, HealthyPlace. Retrieved on 2019, May 29 from https://www.healthyplace.com/blogs/livingablissfullife/2016/12/self-reflection-a-valuable-tool-for-personal-growth 

Article source: https://www.healthyplace.com/blogs/livingablissfullife/2016/12/self-reflection-a-valuable-tool-for-personal-growth

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<Questions> 

Q1. What is self-reflection ? Why do we need it?

Q2. What are your core pursuing values?

Q3. In what ways do your words and actions reflect or fail to reflect your values?
Q4. What are areas in which you're doing well and what are areas in which you could improve?
Q5. How are you caring for yourself so that you are mentally and physically at your best?
Q6. What have you learned about yourself today (this week, this month, this year)?
Q7. If you can engage in self-reflection, you will develop insights about yourself and put yourself in a great position for personal growth.

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Our poisonous air is harming our children’s brains

20 Mar 2019/ Douglas Broom / Senior Writer, Formative Content

The World Health Organisation (WHO) says almost 700,000 children under five die each year as a result of air pollution. Millions more are being condemned to a life of ill health because of the damage it does to their developing brains and bodies.
Which is hardly surprising when you realise nine out of ten of us are breathing polluted air. The WHO says more than 93% of the world’s 1.8 billion children are exposed to toxic air pollution, including 630 million under the age of five.

In the developed world, more than half of children under five are exposed to levels of air pollution above WHO safe limits. But in the developing world that figure rises to a shocking 98%.

Children are more at risk
Children are particularly vulnerable. With each breath, they take in more air per unit of body weight than adults. Fine particulate matter, tiny pollution particles in the air that are thinner than a single human hair, poses a particular threat. They can travel from the lungs to the brain, harming membranes which protect from toxic substances.
The dose of toxic chemicals required to harm a developing brain is much lower than that which would damage an adult. As well as particulates, high levels of magnetite particles, a pollutant associated with neuro-degenerative diseases, have been found in the brains of people living in urban areas.

Dirty cities
Urbanization is a major cause. The World Economic Forum forecasts that by 2050 more than two-thirds of the world’s population will live in cities. While cities are the engines of the global economy, accounting for 80% of GDP, they also produce 75% of global CO2 emissions.
Although CO2 is driving climate change, at ground level it’s pollutants like particulates and nitrous oxide given off by burning fossil fuels that are harming children. Outside cities, domestic open cooking fires are a major cause of ill health in children, even if the air outside the home is cleaner than in a city.

According to the American Lung Association, children are particularly vulnerable to air pollution because their lungs are growing and they are more active outdoors than adults. Playing leads to children breathing in more polluted air as they are closer to the ground.
The majority - 80% - of lung development takes place after birth and continues throughout childhood. Lacking the natural immunity developed by adults over time, children are also more vulnerable to respiratory infection, which in turn increases their susceptibility to air pollution. 

What can be done?
The WHO and Unicef agree that urgent action is needed to cut emissions worldwide, especially in cities. Rapidly urbanizing nations have the opportunity to bypass older polluting technologies and go straight to cleaner zero emission alternatives.
Giving families access to clean cooking fuels would make a massive difference to children in rural areas. More than 40% of the global population does not have access to clean fuels and, although their availability is increasing, the WHO says it is not keeping pace with population growth, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.
Action is becoming increasingly urgent. A 2018 United Nations report said that although child mortality rates have more than halved in the past two decades, poor air quality has led to higher death rates among children in their first year of life. Unless we act now, years of progress on child health could be reversed.

Article source : https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/03/our-poisonous-air-is-harming-our-children-s-brains?fbclid=IwAR0E7D_ytE6204_HR5A7uTgzvBR423NrElvFqjwCPMB1fr9gWBKnuAVQrhs

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China Now Also Buying Bottled Clean Air From Britain

By Louise Chan, Tech Times | February 9, 10:31 AM

There's a group in Britain that call themselves "air farmers," and that's exactly what they do: they harvest clean air from pristine countrysides, bottle it up and sell the bottles online. It may sound absurd, but the bottled clean air from Britain seems to have gotten a good hold on the Chinese market.

China has been struggling with poor air quality for some time now. One of the most affected areas is Beijing, which issued its second red alert for heavy smog in December 2015. It seems the poor air quality may have driven citizens to desperation that many have reportedly bought bottled clean air from the British countryside.

Aethaer collects clean air from British countrysides and sells it in glass jars for $115 each. 

Get to know more about Aethaer's bottled clean air, which is becoming a hit in the Chinese market.

The bottled air is a product of Leo de Watts and his company Aethaer, pronounced eath-air. Aethaer supposedly harvests clean air from different locations in Britain and puts it in 580-milliliter (19.6 fluid once) glass jars. The 27-year-old de Watts sells the bottled clean air for a whopping £80 ($115) a jar. For the Chinese New Year, the company is giving a special 25 percent discount on a 15-jar set, bringing the original price of £1,200 ($1,725) down to £888 ($1,277).

"The AETHAER project provides clean, fresh and pure natural air in bottled form. The process involves traveling to some of the most beautiful, pristine areas of countryside, far away from industrial pollutants, motorways and impurities, in search of the most immaculate quality of air," the company explains.

Aethaer's bottled air is harvested from Dorset, Somerset, Wales, Wiltshire and Yorkshire. The company's air farmers can also take special requests to harvest air from other areas of Britain.

"There's really a market for this ... We've just started, but have already sold 100 jars to a factory in China," de Watts says. "[This] is a way of highlighting an issue with pollution and so on."

Many people would wonder how the company even does what it claims to do but, according to Aethaer, harvesting air is not an easy process. The de Watts family gets up early in the morning with the special jars to drive to specific locations and collect the cool breeze with special harvesting nests. Check out the video and see whether you would consider buying a jar or 15.

Article source : http://www.techtimes.com/articles/131909/20160209/china-now-also-buying-bottled-clean-air-from-britain.htm

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<Questions> 

Q1. If poisonous air is harming our children’s brains, how would you react to it?

Q2. What is the biggest changes to our lives due to the degraded air quality?

Q3. How does air pollution affect the brain?

Q4. Do you think yellow dust is a serious problem in Korea?

Q5. Do you have any ways to enhance your brain functioning? 

Q6. Have you ever thought about moving to other counties due to your children's health? 

Q7. How do you think about the 'Air farming' concept? 

Q8. Do you buy bottled water? Why do you drink bottled water instead of tap water? 

Q9. Almost 20 year's ago, there was no one who imagined that bottled water would be selling like those days. How about you? Did you imagine those situation in the past?

Q10. Do you have any intention to buy the bottled clean air for better brain functioning? 

Q11. If you can buy the bottled clean air from one region, which counties' air would you take?

Q12. Do you agree with the concept of privatization of public goods? 

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China finally gets serious about cleaning up
World's biggest polluter turns would-be environmental protector with green tech investments

DOMINIC FAULDER, Associate editor, Nikkei Asian Review
May 08, 2019 16:33 JST 

BANGKOK/NAIROBI -- Business is booming for Max Craipeau. The Hong Kong-based entrepreneur has seen his company transform over the past 18 months: His number of employees has increased sixfold, and he expects his 2019 revenue to "easily double" from last year. His good fortune is largely thanks to China's decision in January 2018 to ban the import of most types of solid waste for recycling.

China's disruptive move led Craipeau, founder and CEO of Maxco Industries, to shift from trading rubber and metal scrap to running plastic-waste recycling plants in Indonesia and Poland -- with one more on the way, possibly in Japan. China's ban, according to the France-born Craipeau, created "a new order" in the global plastic-waste business and was a "huge opportunity" for him.

Established players in the industry who simply bought plastic scrap overseas and shipped it straight to China were suddenly "lost." But Craipeau, familiar with the more complicated logistics of processing rubber and metal, had a network of contacts that allowed him to establish centers to refine plastic waste. His biggest customer for the plastic pellets they produce? China.

Craipeau's business success is a silver lining in China's waste ban, and it may not be the only one. At first, the ban caused the filthiest business on earth to migrate elsewhere, resulting in an influx of trash into less-developed Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand and Myanmar -- helped by unscrupulous companies, smugglers and corrupt officials. But Craipeau said this inflow has forced most of these countries to develop their own regulations, and that apart from a few "cowboys," their waste-processing industries are now cleaner than before the ban; in fact, Thailand, like China, plans to end its imports of plastic waste from 2021.

Kakuko Nagatani-Yoshida, the United Nations Environment Program's regional coordinator in Bangkok for chemicals, waste and air quality, said: "I am really happy that China did this -- it is wonderful. This has been a wake-up call to the entire recycling industry, not just China's."

Indeed, the ban may be just one more way in which China's efforts to go green are setting an example for other countries. After 40 years of unbridled economic growth, it is making great strides cleaning up its environment and has taken a global leadership role on climate change: Since the U.S. walked out, Chinese President Xi Jinping has become the de facto protector of the Paris Agreement to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and accelerate efforts toward a low-carbon future. It is also the world's biggest investor in renewable energy technology. Some believe this once confirmed sinner on the environment could yet emerge as a savior, to counter the existential risks it has created for itself at home -- including the danger of political unrest -- and partly in a play for greater soft power.

"China is leading on a number of environmental issues," said Joyce Msuya, acting executive director of U.N. Environment Program, who played a lead role at its fourth assembly in Nairobi, Kenya, in March, where plastic waste was a key issue on the agenda. "They've made unparalleled steps to combat climate change and air and water pollution ... and accelerated the global uptake of renewable energy," Msuya told the Nikkei Asian Review. "When countries as large and as influential as China move on an issue like the environment, others take note and follow."

When it comes to what China is doing well, experts also point to its model afforestation, and soil and water improvement projects. Beijing and its environs are touted as a particular success story in terms of improved air quality. China is also in the vanguard developing electric vehicles and battery technology. Indeed, Greenpeace, a nongovernmental environmental organization, reported in March that only five of the 30 most air-polluted cities in the world are in China, while 22 are in India -- the worst being Gurugram, which is 30 km southwest of the capital, Delhi. Bangladesh and Pakistan are also gagging on urbanization and the downside of old-fashioned economic development.

Cuts both ways
But China also remains the world's biggest polluter in terms of carbon dioxide emissions, and increased both coal power generation and coal mining capacity last year; its plastic-waste ban has played havoc in some less-developed nations; and its Belt and Road Initiative is a double-edged sword. The massive infrastructure project, launched by President Xi in 2013, aims to create a modern-day Silk Road that links Asia with Europe, Africa and beyond. The program has helped to spread green technology, but China has also attracted censure from abroad, partly because of environmental damage in Africa and elsewhere.

Its damming of the Mekong, and a proposal to blow up the great river's rapids to ease navigation, have been widely condemned. Chinese hydropower projects in Cambodia have overestimated water flows, prompting regular blackouts in Phnom Penh -- a problem only exacerbated by heavy power demand from Chinese construction projects. And renewed Chinese pressure to complete the $3.6 billion Myitsone hydropower project on a stretch of the Irrawaddy River in Myanmar's Kachin state has caused demonstrations and widespread resentment, particularly as most of the power produced by the project would be for export to China; work begun in 2009 was suspended in 2011. In Thailand, a proposed 800-megawatt Thai-Chinese coal-fired power project in the southern province of Krabi along a relatively pristine stretch of coast has been stalled by strong public opposition.

But there are some pluses on the BRI balance sheet. "Top of the list undoubtedly is the way China has rolled out renewable energy," said Paul Ekins, professor of resources and environmental policy at University College London, speaking at the U.N. Environment Assembly in Nairobi. "The Chinese deployment of renewable energy has meant that Africa is getting solar power at a tiny fraction of the cost that it would have been 10 years ago," he said.

Indeed, some economists believe Africa could virtually rid itself of fossil fuels and yet have more clean energy than it needs in the foreseeable future. China leads the world in renewable energy and is the biggest producer, exporter and installer of solar panels and wind turbines. The benefits of its dive into the green economy go well beyond Africa, with its inexpensive solar panels and lighting sold across Southeast Asia, Japan and the Middle East.

Officials at the environment conference in Nairobi were often positive on redemptive possibilities. "When we talk about economic growth, it usually means more pressure on the environment and more use of natural resources," said Siim Kiisler, Estonia's minister of the environment and president of the fourth U.N. Environment Assembly. "But it doesn't have to be that way. We can change the economics by using innovation and honest, comparable economic data, and we can decouple economic growth from resource use and environmental degradation."

"The difference with China is that it has a leadership role by dint of being the biggest polluter," Leo Horn-Phathanothai, director for international cooperation at the World Resources Institute, a global research organization, told the Nikkei Asian Review. "I think the Chinese are very aware that all eyes are upon them. There is intense scrutiny, and I would say that is a good thing."

Meanwhile, many peg China's de facto assumption of a global environmental leadership role to Jan. 17, 2017, when President Xi attended the World Economic Forum in Davos -- the first Chinese president to do so. His appearance came three days ahead of the presidential inauguration in Washington of Donald Trump, whose climate-change denials had already been well-flagged. (Trump pulled out of the Paris Agreement five months into his presidency.)

Speaking to the forum, Xi memorably alluded to Charles Dickens' "A Tale of Two Cities," his famous novel about "the best of times [and] the worst of times," set in late 18th century France and England around the time of the First Industrial Revolution and the French Revolution. Xi's main points covered global trade, growth, multilateralism and leadership, but he also touched firmly on the environment four times. "The Paris Agreement is a hard-won achievement which is in keeping with the underlying trend of global development. All signatories should stick to it instead of walking away from it, as this is a responsibility we must assume for future generations," Xi said.

But in the same speech, Xi promised to send 700 million Chinese tourists abroad in the next five years, making no mention of the staggering carbon footprint this would involve. Indeed, tourism provides evidence that virtually whatever China does has significant economic and environmental impact. A quarter of all visitors to Thailand arrive by air from China, generating an estimated 4% of the kingdom's gross domestic product.

However, Chinese arrivals in Thailand fell more than 12% year on year in February and nearly 2% in March.

Ironically, one reason is thought to be exceptionally severe air pollution, particularly in the north, where Chiang Mai has recorded some of the highest readings of PM2.5 -- or fine-particle air pollution -- in the world this year. A significant contributor to the pollution has been the unregulated burning of forest floors to facilitate the collection of wild mushrooms, demand for which is insatiable among China's increasingly affluent middle class. Major suppliers in Yunnan Province cannot meet demand from inside the country, where there are fines for lighting forest fires, and pay cash for imported black market forest products. As a result, Thailand's environment is damaged along with its tourism prospects -- and China figures on both sides of the equation.

Tough love

At home, China is taking the issue of a clean environment seriously. In March, Premier Li Keqiang addressed the 13th National People's Congress in Beijing on the continuing struggle to build China into "a great and modern socialist country." He outlined 10 "weighty" priorities for 2019, the seventh of which was to "strengthen pollution prevention and control, enhance ecological improvement, and make big advances in green development."

Li spoke of reducing sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions by 3%; cutting PM2.5 concentrations in key areas, including the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and the Yangtze River delta; and tackling the three major sources of pollution: industrial production, coal used as fuel, and motor vehicles. Soil, water, and all aspects of waste management were also on the agenda. "We will intensify efforts to achieve major scientific and technological breakthroughs in pollution prevention and control," he promised.

When officials fail to meet these aspirations, there are increasingly grim consequences. In April, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment reported that more than 12,000 people had been punished for environmental violations and shortcomings since 2015. In the latest round, 1,035 officials from eight provincial regions were called to account. The party chief of Liaoyuan was fired outright for the polluted state of the city's river.

"They have unleashed the court system onto the issue," said the World Resources Institute's Horn-Phathanothai. "The central government ... cannot possibly enforce all the regulations that have been passed down. ... They are using the judiciary to prosecute environmental offenders in a bottom-up fashion. There have been hundreds of these courts set up to address environmental offenses."

In this way, environmental awareness, effectively, is being dictated to the masses, who have no way of having any say. Maya Wang, senior China researcher with U.S.-based Human Rights Watch, said that environmental activists still seem to have a little room to operate, compared with others. "However, the bar is really low in China under President Xi Jinping, who has severely limited the space for civil society ... through enacting draconian laws ... and through imprisoning and harassing activists."

While the Chinese may feel their voices are constrained, outside environmental organizations say they have good access to officials. "It is interesting that on this issue the door remains very much open; they want to remain engaged in dialogue, in learning," said one foreign observer, adding, "It is through constructive engagement that we are going to help them ramp up their action ... not by shaming them for where they are falling short."

Despite its authoritarian nature, the Chinese government does face an element of accountability: Underlying popular sentiment can never be safely ignored. African swine fever has in recent months swept across China, largely through small unregulated and unsanitary pig farms. The Chinese are the world's most voracious pork eaters, and while the fever does not affect human health directly, it kills pigs without fail and carries significant political risk in terms of possible unrest.

"They see environmental pollution now as a political risk," said Nagatani-Yoshida, the U.N. Environment Program regional coordinator in Bangkok. "Contamination affects everyone, but often the less-developed [groups] are affected more and they can become very discontented. You would never have had high-level officials ... saying this so openly 10 years ago. They say it now, no hesitation: Environmental contamination affects political contamination."

Nikkei staff writer CK Tan in Shanghai contributed to this report.

Article source : https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Cover-Story/China-finally-gets-serious-about-cleaning-up

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<Questions> 

Q1. How much percentage of polluted air comes from other countries in Korea? 

Q2. Do you think we make enough efforts to decrease the level of air pollution in Korea?  

Q3. How did you change your behaviors to decrease pollution in your daily routine?

Q4. If some of the nations do not abide the regulations in terms of air quality, which affects  citizen's health in other countries, how could we monitor it and react to it?

Q5. China is ranked in 2nd place as one of the large portion of air pollution emitters, what do you think of it? How could we make them emit less pollutuion?

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Gaming addiction classified as disorder by WHO
By Jane Wakefield / Technology reporter / 2 January 2018

Gaming addiction is to be listed as a mental health condition for the first time by the World Health Organization.
Its 11th International Classification of Diseases (ICD) will include the condition "gaming disorder".
The draft document describes it as a pattern of persistent or recurrent gaming behaviour so severe that it takes "precedence over other life interests".
Some countries had already identified it as a major public health issue.
Many, including the UK, have private addiction clinics to "treat" the condition.
 

The last version of the ICD was completed in 1992, with the new guide due to be published in 2018.
The guide contains codes for diseases, signs and symptoms and is used by doctors and researchers to track and diagnose disease.
It will suggest that abnormal gaming behaviour should be in evidence over a period of at least 12 months "for a diagnosis to be assigned" but added that period might be shortened "if symptoms are severe".

Symptoms include:
- impaired control over gaming (frequency, intensity, duration)
- increased priority given to gaming
- continuation or escalation of gaming despite negative consequences

Dr Richard Graham, lead technology addiction specialist at the Nightingale Hospital in London, welcomed the decision to recognise the condition.
"It is significant because it creates the opportunity for more specialised services. It puts it on the map as something to take seriously."
But he added that he would have sympathy for those who do not think the condition should be medicalised.
"It could lead to confused parents whose children are just enthusiastic gamers."
He said he sees about 50 new cases of digital addiction each year and his criteria is based on whether the activity is affecting basic things such as sleep, eating, socialising and education.
He said one question he asked himself was: "Is the addiction taking up neurological real-estate, dominating thinking and preoccupation?"
Many psychiatrists refer to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), the fifth edition of which was published in 2013.
In that, internet gaming disorder is listed as a "condition for further study", meaning it is not officially recognised.
Lots of countries are grappling with the issue and in South Korea the government has introduced a law banning access for children under 16 from online games between midnight and 06:00.
In Japan, players are alerted if they spend more than a certain amount of time each month playing games and in China, internet giant Tencent has limited the hours that children can play its most popular games.
A recent study from the University of Oxford suggested that, although children spend a lot of time on their screens, they generally managed to intertwine their digital pastimes with daily life.
The research - looking at children aged eight to 18 - found that boys spent longer playing video games than girls.
Researcher Killian Mullan said: "People think that children are addicted to technology and in front of these screens 24/7, to the exclusion of other activities - and we now know that is not the case."
"Our findings show that technology is being used with and in some cases perhaps to support other activities, like homework for instance, and not pushing them out," he added.
"Just like we adults do, children spread their digital tech use throughout the day, while doing other things."

Article source : https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-42541404

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What Is Video Game Addiction?
Video game addiction is a real mental health condition affecting millions of people around the world.
The World Health Organization recognizes it as “Gaming Disorder” in their International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) as “a pattern of persistent or recurrent gaming behaviour, which may be online or offline, manifested by impaired control over gaming, increasing priority given to gaming to the extent that gaming takes precedence over other life interests and daily activities and continuation or escalation of gaming despite the occurrence of negative consequences.”

Although billions of people play video games, the majority of them do not have an addiction, and the World Health Organization estimates the number of those who do struggle with an addiction is 3-4%. The difference between a healthy fun gaming hobby and an addiction is the negative impact the activity is having in your life.

Typically an addict will have a level of severity resulting in “significant impairment in personal, family, social, educational, occupational or other important areas of functioning,” and the pattern of gaming behavior is “normally evident over a period of at least 12 months in order for a diagnosis to be assigned, although the required duration may be shortened if all diagnostic requirements are met and symptoms are severe.”

■ What Causes Video Game Addiction?
Video games are intentionally designed using state-of-the-art behavior psychology to keep you hooked. Games are immersive experiences that provide you with a high amount of dopamine, and overexposure to this level of stimulation can cause structural changes to your brain.

You begin to live in a world where you expect instant gratification. Games are so immersive that it’s easy to play for hours and hours without even noticing that a minute has gone by. They allow you to escape and see measurable progress. They are social, and create an environment where you feel safe and in control.

Game developers also deploy manipulative game design features such as in-app purchases, micro-transactions, and loot boxes that some governments have declared illegal – because they are a form of gambling. Video game addiction exists because game companies are billion dollar industries and the more people they have hooked on games, the more money they make.
What Are the Signs of Video Game Addiction?
The American Psychiatric Association has identified nine warning signs to watch for when it comes to video game addiction. Although these can be helpful to better understand the severity of your own situation, it’s important to always seek the advice of a professional.

1. Preoccupation with video games. 

The individual thinks about previous gaming activity or anticipates playing the next game; Gaming becomes the dominant activity in daily life.

2. Withdrawal symptoms when gaming is taken away. 

These symptoms are typically described as irritability, anxiety, boredom, cravings, or sadness.

3. Tolerance – the need to spend increasing amounts of time engaged in video games. 

This may be motivated by a need for completion of increasingly intricate, time-consuming, or difficult goals to achieve satisfaction and/or reduce fears of missing out.

4. Unsuccessful attempts to control the participation in video games.

5. Loss of interests in previous hobbies and entertainment as a result of, and with the exception of, video games.

6. Continued excessive use of games despite knowledge of psychosocial problems. 

The individual continues to play despite negative impact.

7. Has deceived family members, therapists, or others regarding their gaming.

8. Use of video games to escape or relieve a negative mood (e.g., feelings of helplessness, guilt, anxiety).

9. Has jeopardized or lost a significant relationship, job, educational, or career opportunity because of participation in video games.

If you meet five (or more) of the following warning signs in a 12-month period, you may have an addiction and should seek the help of a professional immediately.

■ Effects of Video Game Addiction
Video game addiction is a compulsive mental health disorder that can cause severe damage in one’s life. It’s common for a video game addict to spend over 10 hours a day gaming, usually well into the night, and many suffer from sleep deprivation. Immersed in their experience, gamers are known to have poor diets consisting mainly of energy drinks full of caffeine and sugar. Many are dehydrated and malnourished.

In more severe cases, gaming addicts report agoraphobia – a type of anxiety disorder in which they fear leaving the house – and others identify with hikikomori — a term popularized in Japan as reclusive adolescents or adults who withdraw from social life.

Gaming addicts tend to be moody and irritable, depressed, physically aggressive, and refuse to go to school or work due to gaming. To be a gaming addict is to experience functional impairment in multiple areas of your life, and the long-term effects can be devastating. Gaming addicts fail out of college. They get divorced. And they struggle with unemployment.

■ Video Game Addiction Self-Assessment
If you would like to screen yourself for a video game addiction, read the nine warning signs and symptoms above, or take our short quiz here.

If you are concerned about your gaming use, we recommend to seek help immediately, and you can also begin by starting a 90 day detox.

■ Video Game Addiction or Underlying Mental Health Problem?
In the debate around video game addiction you often here the objection that gaming is better understood as a coping mechanism for underlying mental health problems such as anxiety, depression, or attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and not a disorder in its own right. Is this true?

No. It is widely established in the addiction field that comorbidity – the simultaneous presence of two chronic diseases or conditions in a patient — is common, and gaming disorder is no exception. For some, gaming excessively will be a form of coping with another condition and may progress to a gaming disorder, comparable to the behavior of substance-related disorders, and for others gaming excessively will be a function of impairment.

Whether problematic gaming came first, or as a result of underlying mental health problems, therapeutic goals should include treatment of the gaming disorder itself because this disorder can be the underlying agent of functional impairment, and its treatment might be a prerequisite for effective treatment of comorbid conditions.

■ Video Game Addiction Treatment Options

The good news is that help is available for someone struggling with a video game addiction. Game Quitters is an online peer support community with hundreds of free videos, a community forum, and a very affordable program for both gamers and for parents.

For more severe cases you may want to seek the help of a treatment facility who specializes in video game addiction. There are also professionals around the world available to provide therapy and counseling. If you are struggling with a video game addiction, seek help immediately. It can change your life.

Article source: https://gamequitters.com/video-game-addiction-signs-symptoms-causes-and-effects/

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<Questions> 

Q1. What is the gaming addiction?

Video game addiction is a real mental health condition affecting millions of people around the world.

The World Health Organization recognizes it as “Gaming Disorder” in their International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) as “a pattern of persistent or recurrent gaming behaviour, which may be online or offline, manifested by impaired control over gaming, increasing priority given to gaming to the extent that gaming takes precedence over other life interests and daily activities and continuation or escalation of gaming despite the occurrence of negative consequences.”

Q2. WHO has classified gaming addiction as disorder. How do you think about it?  

Q3. What is your favorite game? 

Q4. Do violent video games make children more aggressive?

Q5. Do you think violent games have something to do with cruel crime in the society? 

Q6. If your kids have gaming addiction disorder how would you react to it? 

Q7. If your boyfriend or girlfriend has gaming addiction disorder would you get marry to him or her? 

Q8. How many hours a week do you play game ?

Q9. What is your hobby? Why do you like it?

Q10. What is the merits and the demerits of playing games?

Q11. What is your priority in your daily life?