Emily Elsa John, who has keen interest in online gaming, started playing PUBG last year. For the final-year MSW student of Rajagiri College,Kochi the most interesting factor about the game was that she could play it with her friends who were away. Sometimes, even in the midst of busy schedule, if she took the phone she would be tempted to play the game. Being an MSW student, she then realised the deleterious effects of online gaming.
Online multiplayer game PUBG (PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds) is the rage among youngsters as well as gaming enthusiasts today. It is an awe-inspiring game in many ways, but getting addicted to it can lead to severe mental and health-related problems. Currently, more than 50 million users have downloaded PUBG and the number increases day by day. Significantly, most of the PUBG lovers are from Asia. Says Thiruvananthapuram based psychiatrist Arun B. Nair, “PUBG is a multilevel online game in which people residing in various parts of the world can simultaneously participate. PUBG produces addiction in the sense that people who start playing the game have difficulty in managing the time they spend gaming, and this phenomenon leads to behavioural addiction.”
Behavioural addiction is a condition in which you do a particular act again and again for a longer period of time and gradually you start ignoring other things that entertain you. Researchs show that online games like PUBG cause behavioural addiction. The condition is commonly seen in adolescent children as well as young adults. High school, higher secondary school and college students and even people who are employed are said to be addicted to the game, therefore leading to behavioural addiction.
The major health hazards associated with online game addictions is that one loses the sense of time while engaging in these games without even keeping a track of day and night. The time spent of doing the daily routines is taken over by PUBG. Sleep and food deprivation leads to a phenomenon called Delayed Sleep-wake Phase Disorder – wherein one sleeps very late, by 3 am or 4 am, and wakes up very late as well. However, as school or college-going students are forced to wake up at 6 am. Not getting the right amount of sleep in long run may lead to brain damage, according to Arun.
“Many people even refuse to take phone calls while playing PUBG. I think this can lead to major chaos when something important remains unconveyed,” says Dooniya Mary Jose, a student of Marian College, Kuttikana, Idukki.
Experts also say that prolonged addiction to the game can make the player hyper active and depressed. There is also a possibility to have suicidal tendencies. Brain changes in adolescents who have behavioural addiction are very similar to brain changes in alcoholics. .
Exposure to online games is not a issue, but spending time on any particular game to the extent that it disturbs one’s sleep and all other activities is harmful to the brain. Restricting the time that you spend playing such games will take care of entertainment in addition to not affecting the health.
The most interesting part about PUBG is that I could play it with my friends who are in any part of the world. Emily Elsa John
Many people even refuse to take phone calls while playing PUBG. I think this can lead to major chaos – Dooniya Mary Jose
People who start playing the game have difficulty in managing the time they spend gaming – Arun.B Nair.
