You’re just playing your favourite game, right? It’s helping you relax and escape for a while.

But are you playing it too much?

Videogame addiction is a real mental health condition and can have a strong impact on your life. Games can be great fun. There is a social aspect to them when you play with your friends. And there are even studies that suggest that videogames can help improve things like your creativity.

But you need to balance playing them with other things. It isn’t about stopping playing games. It’s about making sure that you do it in combination with other things.

What Changes?

Being addicted to gaming means playing games for a really long time. And maybe not realising how long you have been playing for. But it isn’t just about how much time it takes up. It can affect you in other ways too.

Because if you are playing games, that means you aren’t being social. You might be playing with your friends, but that’s not the same as speaking to someone in person.

Gaming for too long can leave you feeling depressed, and your mood might change very quickly. You might find that you get angry quicker than you used to, or feel frustration.

You’re also more likely to snack, eating unhealthy foods that are quick and easy, and give you a short energy boost.

Even when you are not gaming, you probably aren’t sleeping very well. And sleep is really important to both your physical and mental health.

You might even find that you are spending all the money that you have on buying games or extra items in your favourite game. Or asking someone to buy them for you.

Take A Time Out

There are millions of gamers all around the world, playing on their phones, consoles and computers. And most don’t have a gaming addiction.

But it is still good for you to put the controller down and do something different. Get outside, do some exercise, or listen to music.

Set yourself a time limit as to how long you are going to play each day. It will help you focus on what you want to play, and what you are going to do in your game. But it will also make sure that you don’t game more than you should.

Or why not set yourself a challenge and reward yourself with gaming if you manage it? You could decide you are going to do half an hour of exercise, and if you complete it, you get half an hour of gaming time, for example.