Video games becoming a serious addiction?

A new research has revealed that one in every 10 American children is badly addicted to video games, much like people are addicted to drugs or gambling.

The study, posted online by the journal Psychological Science, says that a fraction of American youths aged between 8 and 18 are diseased by video gaming. The so-called "pathological gamers" are glued to video games for 24 hours a week and they show multiple signs of behavioral addiction.

"For some kids, they play in such a way that it becomes out of balance. And they're damaging other areas of their lives, and it isn't just one area, its many areas," said researcher Douglas Gentile, a psychologist and assistant professor at the Iowa State University.

The obsessive gamers are also prone to excessive thinking about playing games and planning the next opportunity to play, trying to play less but in vain, restlessness or irritability when trying to reduce or stop playing, lying about how much they play, stealing a game or stealing money to buy a game.

The study involved nearly 1,200 children, who were surveyed for Gentile's study. 8.5 percent of the children exhibited at least six of 11 addiction symptoms, calling for a serious check.

Almost 50 percent of them said their parents only allowed them a limited access to the games.

"One of the things we know from other addictions is that a major risk factor is access," said Gentile.

Most of them are likely to be boys and could suffer from attention problems such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, besides being poor at school and disinclined towards outdoor sports.

Previous studies have linked video games to bad, mostly violent, behavior in children but the seriousness of addiction has taken many by surprise.

"I started with this idea that parents just weren't part of the video game generation and didn't understand it," said Doug Gentile. "This seems to be a real problem for a lot of kids. I think parents probably have been right."

According to Gentile, the video games trigger the "reward centers” in the brain, which bring the type of rush that drug addicts feel. The urge to play is like pathological gambling.

"It is behavior pattern, and it gets out of balance with the rest of your life," he said.

The problem is not limited to the United States. Some of the more tech-savvy countries have long discovered the problem and are already working on its management. South Korea has put up more than 100 clinics to treat video-game addiction among the youngsters, researchers said.