COMPUTER AND GAMING ADDICTION IN TEENS: WHEN TO WORRY 

Jerome A. Price, MA, LMFT, LMSW

Yin and Yang. With all of the wonderful benefits of computers and the internet come great difficulties. That which makes our lives easier holds danger. What is normal use of computers, phones and video games and when are our teenagers damaging themselves? As with alcohol for adults, how much is too much?

The following signs of problems were established by Kimberly S. Young-University of Pittsburgh at Bradford from guidelines for gambling addiction. They were intended for adults so I have adapted them further to include teens and their parents. The teens themselves will rarely self-identify any of the problems below so the assessment is usually done by parents and professionals. The word Internet below should be understood to include gaming and cell phones.

--Do you feel preoccupied with the Internet?

--Do you feel the need to use the Internet with increasing amounts of time in order to achieve satisfaction?

--Have you repeatedly made unsuccessful efforts to control, cut back, or stop Internet use?

--Have your parents made attempts to control your usage and failed?

--Do you feel restless, moody, depressed, or irritable when attempting to cut down or stop Internet use? (Or when parents attempt to control your usage.)

--Do you stay on line longer than originally intended?

--Have you jeopardized a career opportunity or risked the loss of a significant relationship, job, or educational opportunity due to your use of the Internet?

--Have you lied to family members, therapist, or others to conceal the extent of your involvement with the Internet?

--Do you use the Internet as a way of escaping from problems or of relieving a dysphoric mood?

The material from this article was excerpted from Jerome Price's presentation at the Michigan Association for Marriage and Family Therapy Annual Conference earlier this month.

Moving from elementary school to middle school brings new developmental challenges.   Students learn to navigate a new environment that includes learning to function more independently in a less structured and a more social school environment.    

Increased social pressure to adapt and conform to group expectations often leads to increased stress. Literature of middle school students points to this period of time as being important to the development of coping skills.

Developmentally, the range between students' social development can be immense.  Some students enter middle school with the ability to negotiate social issues with little stress.  Social nuances easily recognized, these students seem to lead the way and form social groups seemingly easily.  They often create the social expectations for the entire group. 

Most students, however, require support.  These students don't see the social nuances much less know the social rules.  With increased academic demands coupled with social pressures, there is little room for learning the social rules.  These students want to participate and want friendships.  They just don't understand social rules.  Instead, due to frustration and/or stress, they develop behaviors that serve to alienate them from other students.

Social skills, once learned can be life-long tools.  It takes time for students to learn the skills, but with support the skills become important tools for coping and mastering social situations.  Groups help students learn social skills.  Interestingly, students listen and learn from their peers.  Often, when I teach social skills individually, students nod, role play successfully, and feel they mastered the social lesson.  Once put in an actual stressful social situation, they freeze. 

In a group setting, students learn they are not alone, develop relationships, and listen to each other.  Groups have a way of creating trust.  Students learn together how to identify and respond when confronted by students at school.  The support they receive in group becomes reinforcing.  All students want friends.  Most students do not have the skills to develop friendships and cannot figure out the rules to make and keep friends.  Social groups help students learn.  A safe environment becomes the backdrop for beginning and developing friendships.