What's more, just like with many other things we enjoy, such as television and music, computer games are being blamed for many of society's evils, such as teen suicides and school shootings - usually by people who want to avoid the truth. A popular belief among psychologists is that players disconnect themselves from the gruesome acts of violence and they start thinking that pain is not real. Psychologist Megan de Beyer says studies have shown that violence on TV and in games has led to the increase of violence among children. While, according to Seymour, games with high-violence contents are the most popular, a groundbreaking Australian study found there is no evidence that violent computer games result in violent youth. The findings of the four-year research project, Computer Games and Australians Today, shows that just because you enjoy mercilessly blowing the brains out of your computer enemy, there is little proof that you will take that anger into the real world.
Computer gaming is after all just that - gaming.
And like virtually everything in life, you simply have to know where to draw the line. It's a bad thing to be addicted to anything. It means you're neglecting other aspects of your life while concentrating on one activity. You'll know you're addicted to a game when you have a strong drive to play it, and gain relief from playing it. You may even realise that continuously playing that game is bad for you, but can't control your behaviour because the drive to play is so strong.