Are you an Internet / Online Game Addict?

This is an 8-item questionnaire to provide a screening instrument for Internet addiction Disorder:

1. Do you feel preoccupied with the Internet (think about previous on-line activity or anticipate next on-line session)? (Salience)
2. Do you feel the need to use the Internet with increasing amounts of time in order to achieve satisfaction? (Tolerance)
3. Have you repeatedly made unsuccessful efforts to control, cut back, or stop Internet use? (Relapse)
4. Do you feel restless, moody, depressed, or irritable when attempting to cut down or stop Internet use? (Withdrawal symptoms)
5. Do you stay on-line longer than originally intended? (Tolerance)
6. Have you jeopardized or risked the loss of significant relationship, job, educational or career opportunity because of the Internet? (Conflict)
7. Have you lied to family members, therapist, or others to conceal the extent of involvement with the Internet? (Conflict)
8. Do you use the Internet as a way of escaping from problems or of relieving a dysphonic mood, e.g., feelings of helplessness, guilt, anxiety, and depression? (Mood modification)

When people devote themselves to and persevere in doing certain activities, the symptoms of addiction occur.


Taking Internet addiction Disorder as an example, it causes damages in aspects of family, school, or career: 1. In the aspect of family, the addicted spouse could cause his partner becoming a Cyberwidow or Cyberwidower, even the Cybersex or Cyberaffairs could cause disputes that leads to divorce. Internet addicted adults neglect taking care of children; Internet addicted children confront with adults.

2. In the aspect of vocation, more and more managers are concerning about their Internet addicted vassals working without vigor; they use Internet monitoring software to prevent staff from Internet resources abusing or to do anything not connected with their work.

Otherwise, Internet addiction causes those abusers physical or mental damages, such as carpal tunnel syndrome, back strain, eyestrain, headache, shoulder ache, even the excessive fatigue caused by lacking of sleep may decrease their immune system. By exposing under the violent contents for a long period of time, young men could easily commit crimes.

The arguments above mentioned are usually used to criticize game addiction. Of course, most video gamers defend video game by addressing its advantages, for example, visible benefits of video gaming are its artistic and entertainment contributions. In his book, Everything Bad Is Good For You, Steven Johnson argues that video games in fact demand far more from a player than traditional games. To experience the game, the player must first determine the objectives, as well as how to complete them. They must then learn the game controls and how the human-machine interface works. This requires a lot of time before mastering the game.

Under a more extensive definition of addiction, one could find that human being is technologically addicted. Addiction towards any technical product: computer addiction, television-viewing addiction, Internet addiction, video game addiction, are all examples of the entirety. Some heavy users, who used to chat through mobile phones, would be uneasy if they cannot use mobile phones for couples of days.

Computer games allows gamers to immerse in it and to elaborate their abilities freely but all these behaviors have nothing to do with material benefits. Gaming, like sacrifice, could be sovereign.

If comparing features of video games and sovereignty, one would find the one of sovereignty is the representation of the gamer who immersed in game. No wonder why video games such as RPG or Sims would be so popular, highly skilled gamer almost plays the role of god in the game.