How To Treat A Skyrim Addiction

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim the fifth and most recent instalment of the franchise was released back in 2011. It’s safe to say that for a game that came out over a decade ago to still have loyal and dedicated players it likely has some addictive qualities. During Skyrim’s hay day in 2014, they had an estimated 19 million active players which have now dwindled down to about 4000 average players a month. Considering the age of the game this is still impressive as many games this old would have usually died out or been outshone by a sequel.

However, for those still struggling with an addiction to Skyrim keep on reading as we work through the best ways to break your addictive gaming habits.

What Makes Skyrim So Addictive?

Before we jump straight into the best ways to treat an addiction to Skyrim it’s important to understand what makes the game so addictive in the first place. The addictive features of video games aren’t usually innovative new concepts. They are typically principles that can be found in most popular video games but just applied in their own way in the context of their video game.

The benefit of understanding the addictive qualities of Skyrim is to better prepare you for what to look out for. Knowledge is power and it can help us to detach ourselves from the overwhelming urge to play sometimes. Furthermore, knowing what features of video games you find to be most addictive, can prevent you from falling into the same traps with other video games in the future. So let’s take a look at why Skyrim is so addictive.

Mod Packs

Anyone playing Skyrim to this day is very likely to be dabbling in mods. Although it was a massive hit on release it’s a stretch to say that gamers are playing the same vanilla game for the past 11 years. Savvy and dedicated developers spend their time creating mod packs that enhance the game visually and create content that the fans always dreamed of. Mod creators are only bound by their imagination and coding skills so often times they have the freedom to create whatever they want. The modding community in Skyrim is huge and enable players to do things like play on multiplayer servers together, something that the game was never intended to do.

With this in mind, mod packs give players essentially endless content which makes the game that much more addictive. The desire to achieve things is a deep-rooted mechanism in our psychology. Everyone loves to work towards something to feel the satisfaction and reward of accomplishing goals. In this instance, the mod packs create a wealth of opportunities and new things to achieve.

Many gamers become addicted to the desire to accomplish things within the game in order to feel good about themselves. While this is a fun recreational way to spend your time and play in moderation. Those who suffer from video game addiction are dependent on accomplishing these in-game goals.

Escapism

One major addictive feature of video game addiction is escapism. RPGs such as Skyrim often facilitate escaping and immersing the player in a fantasy world. In which, players can control the actions and decisions of an avatar that they wish to exist as. Escaping into a fantasy world is a fun release to forget about troubles for the day. However, when this is done excessively it often leads to video game addiction.

Sadly many people who suffer from video game addiction can often have developed it due to contributing factors. The use of video games to avoid negative situations like stress, depression, bullying, anxiety and much more, is one reason. When someone escapes through the medium of video games they do not acknowledge or feel the negative sensations that burden them. Video games distract them and studies have also shown that they reduce the impact of negative emotions.

Although this might prove to be therapeutic in the short term, it has serious consequences in the long term. For one, individuals become dependent on escaping their problems through video games. And secondly, they do not learn how to healthily deal with their problems, often leading to these feelings being more overwhelming in the absence of video games. Hence, some gamers will run back to gaming and away from their problems.

The Completionist Mentality

One thing that we don’t often address is people’s motivations for playing video games. Sometimes people’s intentions to play video games can lead to addictive and excessive use. In relation to Skyrim people who play with a completionist attitude can sometimes develop an addiction to the game.

Skyrim has a main quest which on average takes 15-30 hours of in-game time to complete depending on their character’s level. However, if a player wishes to reach full completion in the game we are looking at roughly 231 hours of in-game time. Lest we forget mod packs make for new achievements, quests, gear and the likes. Meaning players can invest more time into the game and set more goals.

The problem with the completionist mentality is that it is more goal-based than it is using video games as a recreational activity. It’s quite common for this to carry on onto other games one the player feels satisfied or bored with their previous game. For healthy use, video games should be used for fun as opposed to setting and completing goals.

Often times those with video game addiction struggle with motivation when it comes to accomplishing difficult tasks outside of gaming. Playing video games offer instant gratification which often shunts people’s desire to work towards long term goals.

Celebrities that suffered from video game addiction like Joe Rogan, explain that gaming can distract from the magic and intensity that comes from real life.

Contributing Factors To Skyrim Addiction

With conditions such as addiction, certain people are more predisposed to developing them than others. It’s important to be aware of some of the contributing factors to understand whether you or anyone you know could be at risk.

Personality

Studies have shown that some personality traits correlate with video game addiction. Individuals who test high for neuroticism, a disposition to experience negative emotions such as anger, emotional instability, self-consciousness, anxiety and depression. Have been said to be more at risk of developing an addiction to video games. This could possibly be linked to escapism that we discussed previously, but further investigations into personality and gaming will tell us more.

People who demonstrate avoidant personalities are also more likely to develop video game addiction. By avoidant, we are referring to people who find it difficult to socialise and who avoid social situations. Individuals with this personality have a tendency to isolate themselves which can be detrimental to their mental health as we are social creatures. Hence it is said that video games provide an alternative and safe means of socialising through the anonymity of online gaming. Despite this being positive in some sense, when online communication become the replacement for face to face interaction it will hinder the individual’s ability to communicate in person.

Lastly, people who experience high levels of aggression and hostility are also more likely to develop an addiction to video games. For a long time, there has been a stigma that violent video games inspire the youth to act aggressively towards others with the potential risk of them becoming violent criminals. This evidence suggests that it only appeared this way as those who play video games excessively are inherently aggressive by nature.

Comorbid Mental Health Conditions

Having an underlying mental health condition can largely contribute to the development of video game addiction. Hence, we always recommend consulting a local medical professional in order to rule out any of these underlying issues that may be exacerbating your addiction to video games.

Anxiety – Those who suffer from generalised anxiety are at a higher risk of developing an addiction to Skyrim and video games as a whole. Gaming does a great job of distracting from the negative thoughts that a person with anxiety experiences and in some sense soothes their worry. This becomes problematic when the individual becomes dependent on video games to run from their thoughts as opposed to developing healthier methods of dealing with them.

They create a cycle of addiction as their anxiety becomes more overwhelming without video games causing them to run from it and play more video games. It’s not proven that anxiety is a direct cause of video game addiction but it certainly shares a complex relationship with gaming addiction.

ADHD – Scientific investigations over the last decade have indicated that those with attention deficit hyperactive disorder have a higher likelihood of developing video game addiction. ADHD is a condition that affects their attention span, causes impulsiveness and restlessness. Video games can be very appealing to someone with ADHD. The bright flashing lights, fast-paced action requiring quick reaction times, create an environment in which someone with ADHD can better focus.

Video games allow ADHD sufferers to enter a state of hyperfocus where they are only preoccupied with the game and oblivious to everything else around them. Having your attention and thoughts scattered all the time can be exhausting so gaming can often provide some relief from this.

Skyrim Addiction Treatments

Beating an addiction to Skyrim is not something that can expect to happen overnight. We have to be pragmatic in our approach using the methods that have shown the best results. When it comes to treating behavioural addictions such as video game addiction psychological treatment methods have been proven to be the most effective so let’s go through a couple of them.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy 

CBT is by and large the most effective way to treat video game addiction. CBT is concerned with altering our thoughts at the root of a particular behaviour, in order to produce a more desirable outcome. Video game addicts often have problematic thoughts and beliefs that lead to their excessive playing which have to be addressed in order to sustainably overcome their addiction.

Some cognitions consist of:

• No amount of time spent gaming is “long enough” this feeds into the completionist mentality
• Heightened excitement and emotional responses to in-game rewards which influence players to seek out more gaming challenges
• Gaining power and status through in-game success
• The need to escape their current situation and the real world

By using meditations and thought exercises CBT will teach us to change these into healthier thinking patterns and thus removing a lot of the power the addiction has over them. Hence CBT is popularly used in video game addiction self help programs

Mindfulness

Mindfulness is a technique that helps bring the individual’s attention into the present moment and away from whatever else they may have been thinking about. Most modern courses of CBT or in-person therapy will recommend the use of mindfulness, based on its far-reaching benefits.

Mindfulness in the context of gaming addiction treatment is used to help ground the person when they are feeling overwhelmed by their negative thoughts or desire to play video games. By using mindfulness techniques such as meditations they can bring their attention to their breath, body, sensations they are feeling and the environment around them to distract from their addictive behaviours.

When someone is addicted to video games they also tend to show symptoms such as:

• Decline in mental health
• Neglecting relationships with friends and family
• Ignoring important responsibilities in order to play video games
• Loss of interest in previous hobbies

Mindfulness generally helps to increase our compassion, patience and gratitude towards ourselves and others. This helps to overall lift their quality of life which has taken a dive amidst a serious gaming addiction.

The best thing about mindfulness and CBT is that they can be used anywhere at any time. Of course, some of these exercises do require guidance and practice at the start but once you get good enough you will be completely self-sufficient. Essentially, that is the goal of treating video game addiction. Learning the skills to beat your addiction no matter what life throws at you.

If you think that you’ve been playing too much Skyrim or video games in general. The Mindful Gamer is always here to help.