Is there a real explanation for the video game phenomenon?

How many times have we heard that video games generate dopamine in the brain and that, therefore, are addictive!

In the same way, we have all also heard about risk factors and protective factors in the face of addictive symptoms. If I have friends who encourage me to consume, they are a risk factor, while if I have social circles that do not consume, they prevent it. But beyond these patterns when describing a problem of this kind, it is necessary understand the tendency to play video games too much as a product of a certain way of confrontation with the world.

• Related article: "Eight important psychological aspects in video games"

Beyond the reductionist perspective on the excessive use of video games

With the risk and protection factors we can make a list, from the hereditary elements to the psychological integrity of the person (with all his repertoire of attributes such as self-esteem, resilience, impulsivity, etc.), family, friends, affective-sexual relationships and the academic work context, among others.

But... What if the perception of reward of our young people in order to participate in this world were a factor that led them to play video games? And this does not justify it, nor does it seem correct to me if this were the case, but to some extent it can put on top of the table one more factor that explains the problematic use, which we have to visualize together with the others already exposed.

• You may be interested in: "Brain Reward System: What Is It and How Does It Work?"

The effects of uncertainty on dependency

So that, the way we narrate reality can influence the perception of reward. We all know the experiment of skinner's pigeon, but perhaps not many know that, after the fact, when the reward of hitting the lever and receiving food was very delayed in time, so remote and negligible, in this situation, even giving a variable reward, it was so insignificant that the animals stopped hitting the lever.

This may well be happening with our young people during their passage through the educational system; a phenomenon that, in recent years, may have been hampered by the uncertainty that is spreading throughout the world. In 2020 Victoria Fugariu and collaborators published an experiment in which they subjected four groups of rats to four degrees of uncertainty respectively, while the members of a fifth group were made addicted to amphetamine.

The researchers observed that the brains of the group with the highest degree of uncertainty and that of the rats addicted to methamphetamine, showed the same desire to use methamphetamine, the same degree of risk-taking in decision-making (impulsivity), and similar numbers of drug receptors dopamine. That is, it seemed to be observed that uncertainty makes individuals more susceptible to addictive stimuli.

• Related article: "The 7 keys to managing anticipatory anxiety in times of uncertainty"

Understand the dynamics of gaming to understand a part of the world

Along these lines, the book "Video Games: The Last Black Mirror"talks about all the concerns that an adolescent may have in their confrontation with the world, validates and focuses them on the right path, thus achieving a better and healthier perspective to face the reality.

The content of this work is halfway between deep reflections and personal experiences as a psychologist and gamer, all based on scientific references.

Whether you like to play video games or not, the phenomenon of gaming has more and more social reach and it is important to know its fundamentals; We all have a close friend who plays a lot. And as psychologists, it is essential to understand these game dynamics to understand this new generation of gaming and content creation. This book brings a different approach to what you already know (dopamine, variable reward systems, social validation of gaming by the great stars creators of content ...).

It is obvious that this generation comes from a comfort zone of well-being and that compared to others it has hardly had to overcome adversity; However, if there is no longer a comfort or well-being zone, we will have to change that point in the narrative of reality to generate resilience.

It should be reiterated that the act of validating the confrontation with the world in an appropriate way will be much more beneficial than pointing the carrot in front of the donkey for its own sake. Let's go into this world, take reflections and fundamentals, and we will see how to awaken the motivation of this generation really by feeling much more emotionally validated.