If you or a loved one has suffered due to excessively playing video games, you should be aware that you may have legal options to demand accountability in the gaming industry. Video game addiction lawsuits are ongoing and filing with the help of an experienced team of lawyers like the one at Phillips Law Group may be the right option for you.
What is Video Game Addiction?
Video game addiction is essentially a compulsive engagement in gaming regardless of negative repercussions. According to the Cleveland Clinic, “Video game addiction (internet gaming disorder) is characterized by severely reduced control over gaming habits, resulting in negative impacts on daily functioning, including personal, social, educational and occupational responsibilities.”
Interestingly, “Video game addiction can affect children, teens, and adults, although adults are most likely to have this condition,” the medical center reports. “People assigned male at birth are more likely to have video game addiction than people assigned female at birth.”
Symptoms of Addiction
Some symptoms of video game addiction, also sometimes referred to as internet gaming disorder, include:
- Poor performance in educational, professional, or household responsibilities because of excessive video game playing
- Withdrawal symptoms like anxiety or irritability when gaming isn’t possible
- Abandoning previously enjoyed activities besides playing video games and/or social relationships due to gaming
- Being unable to decrease playing time
- Unsuccessful attempts to quit gaming entirely
- Dishonesty toward loved ones regarding the amount of time spent playing video games
- Decline in personal hygiene or grooming due to uncontrolled video gaming
- Using video games as a way to escape stress or conflict or to relieve negative emotions
It can also potentially lead to physical issues such as gamer’s thumb, carpal tunnel syndrome, or tennis elbow, as well as mental and emotional concerns like anxiety and depression.
How Are Video Games Addictive?
According to the Mayo Clinic, “The reward center in the brain releases dopamine in response to a pleasurable experience or hyperarousal. If a person experiences hyperarousal while playing video games, the brain associates the activity with dopamine. The person develops a strong drive to seek out that same pleasure again and again.”
In fact, some research shows comparability in the brains of people with video game addiction and those with substance use disorders.
Some lawsuits regarding video game addiction are based on the idea that manufacturers and developers designed their products to exploit the lack of ability of vulnerable players, like adolescents, to appreciate risk. Allegations that video game developers worked with experts to maximize the addictive nature of their games are also involved in these cases.
Video Game Addiction Cases
Individuals who have suffered due to video game addiction, along with the families of adolescents who have been harmed by internet gaming disorder, are now filing lawsuits against video game manufacturers and developers. Holding video game companies accountable and seeking justice for those who have been hurt is the goal, and Phillips Law Group may be able to help.
If you started gaming as a minor and are now dealing with video game addiction, or if you’re an adult currently managing the impact of it, you may be eligible to join a lawsuit to force accountability from video game manufacturers. While these cases are still very new, we are confident in our ability to pursue justice for you or your loved one.
Reach Out to Phillips Law Group
Please reach out to Phillips Law Group at 602-222-2222 to speak to a member of our team today about your legal options. We offer a free, no-obligation consultation to discuss your unique circumstances and to determine the best way for you to move forward.
If you have suffered as a result of video game addiction or you want to seek justice on behalf of a loved one, we want to help. Contact our firm today to learn more!
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