How To Treat an Among Us Addiction

Among Us burst onto the scene giving gamers a new take on an old social deduction game called Mafia. The game’s success could have largely been attributed to the national lockdowns and pandemics making it the perfect game to socialise with friends safely from a distance. But the Among Us shows no signs of slowing down. The average monthly players on the steam charts read 20,000 average players a month, not including players on iOS and Android, to whom the game is free. Despite all of the internet fame and memes, the game does indeed have a very addictive nature. Hence, in this article, we are going to explain how to overcome your Among Us addiction.

What is Video Game Addiction?

Video game addiction is formally known as Internet Gaming Addiction and has been recognised as an official mental health disorder by the World Health Organisation. The disorder falls under the category of behavioural addictions meaning that the person is addicted to the feel-good sensation of carrying out the behaviour similar to gambling, shopping or binge eating.

There are risk factors that increase the susceptibility of those who are likely to develop video game addiction but the reality of the situation is that it can affect anyone. When we carry out the act of playing video games it releases a surge of dopamine giving us that accomplished feeling, particularly if we are doing well in-game or achieve something. Over long hours of gaming, this repetition leads to us becoming dependent on that dopamine hit. In order for gaming addicts to feel good, they must play more and for longer.

Gaming addiction can have serious consequences if left untreated and many famous celebrities who battled with video game addiction have spoken up on the topic and how it almost impacted their careers.

Symptoms To Look Out For

When dealing with an addiction to video games it can often be difficult for the individual to notice the faults in their own behaviour. Besides playing for long hours some of the symptoms of video game addiction can be quite subtle or mistaken for something else so it’s important to know what to look out for. So, here are some of the major symptoms to be aware of:

Social Isolation and Neglecting Relationships

As we mentioned earlier games like Among Us offer great opportunities to socialise with friends online. However, everything should be done in moderation and gaming is no exception. When someone develops a video game addiction their main activity for the day is to play video games. This activity becomes so much more fun and easier when there are friends by your side.

Online friends though are not the ones at fault, sometimes add extra encouragement to play more video games. Soon addicted gamers begin to prioritise playing Among Us with their online friends as opposed to spending time with their real-life friends and family which usually leads to damaged relationships and social isolation. For some, online socialisation is a safe option to satisfy their needs as they are shy or suffer from social anxiety. Utilising the anonymity and freedom of the internet some find it easier to open up and interact over communication apps such as Discord, Skype and Teamspeak.

Although there is certainly a time and place for online socialising. However, when it becomes your main form of interaction it can be detrimental to a person’s growth. For example, the demographic largely infatuated with the game are young children and adolescents. Face to face interactions are essential for the development of important communication skills that will be used throughout their lives. When talking to their friends and playing with each other becomes solely based around games like Among Us it can often do more harm than good.

Poor Performance at School/Work

Playing video games becomes the number one priority for someone who is addicted. Hence, this leads to them neglecting important responsibilities like completing homework, studying and attending extra-curricular studies. For the older demographic, addicts find themselves, intentionally or unintentionally, ignoring important emails, missing deadlines and such. Obviously, in a professional or learning environment, this is unsustainable behaviour and often leads to a fall in performance.

The problem is that video games offer such a great challenge, fun social stimulation and measurable improvement that trumps working or studying for something that isn’t as enjoyable. Gaming a lot of the time offers that fun hit of instant gratification that people become far too attached to. Tapping into it as and when they please which stunts their motivation to do hard work.

Decline in Mental Health

It makes sense that as our motivation begins to wane coupled with limited social interaction many people suffering from video game addiction begin to feel depressed. Video game addiction although not a direct cause of depression certainly shows some contributing factors and a rather complex relationship with it. When someone lets their addiction go too far without treatment they spend almost all of their time playing video games. Inevitably when addicted gamers are left without video games they start to feel negative thoughts and hopelessness over what they are doing and the situation they are in. Sadly sometimes this exacerbates their desire to play video games and escape their troubles.

Some of the symptoms experienced by those addicted to video games are similar to that of other comorbid conditions such as depression, anxiety and ADHD. Studies have claimed that there are correlations with these comorbidities and contributing to the development of video game addiction. Therefore we always recommend consulting a local medical professional to rule any of these out.

The symptoms of Among Us addiction aren’t always the same in every person experiencing it. Symptoms can vary in both severity and combination so here are some of the others that we should be aware of:

• Excessive playing for long hours
• Decrease in motivation, energy and mood
• Poor sleep quality
• Headaches and eye strain
• Ignoring important responsibilities for gaming
• Obsessive thinking about video games

Why Among Us Is So Addictive

Every addictive video game has its quirks as to what makes it so addictive. Usually, the addictive features follow the same concept but are just utilised in their own unique way. Among Us on the other hand is a rather uncommon genre and is likely the first online social deduction game to make it so big. For the benefit of those who might be suffering from addiction to Among Us or for those who are curious about starting the game, try to be more vigilant to the aspects of the game that might be making you come back for more.

Simple & Satisfying

One thing that Among Us does really well is that it is accessible by all. The game is not very intensive so all laptops and PC’s can easily run the game. As we mentioned the game is completely free on mobile so anyone with a smartphone can jump on and play. The ease of accessibility makes the game that much more addictive as it has what we call a low barrier to entry. Among Us is as simple as loading up the app, clicking play and being taken into a game. Considering that games typically last 3-5 minutes depending on the number of people in the lobby it’s the perfect game to kill time on during lunch breaks or waiting for the bus.

Despite the inner workings of the game being heavily dependent on psychology and persuasion the actual learning curve and gameplay are super simple. This makes the game that much more appealing to younger generations and even older generations who don’t necessarily have the time to sit down and remember confusing controls and concepts. Having good mechanical skill with controls and reaction time is not required so players of all skill levels have a good chance at winning. This is important if we want to keep players happy and continuing to play.

Some people explain that “it’s really satisfying to kill people as the imposter” which is likely not a coincidence as developers spend lots of time on creating satisfying audio bites, visual cues and animations for this very reason. Small details like the fun and satisfying tasks that crewmates must complete while onboard the ship help to condition us to carry out the behaviour over and over again. As silly as it might sound to be drawn to a minuscule detail like this, it’s all part of the user experience that is designed to make the game more fun to play.

Social Interaction

As we mentioned earlier players jump on to play and interact with friends. The nature of the game requires communication between team members in order to discover who the imposters are. Playing in moderation this game can be a barrel of laughs but this social interaction for many video game addicts is one of the factors fueling their addiction. The game is rarely played alone, hence this social interaction for some is all that they have. Those who play video games know how easy it is when a friend says, “just one more game” the element of comradery can certainly influence the amount that users play.

Relaxation & Escapism

Video games at the end of the day can be a way for people to relax and unwind at the end of the day. Often when playing video games we get immersed and don’t really think about much else except for the game. Although this property of gaming is precisely what makes it so good at taking our mind off things it can sometimes pose problems when done excessively.

Sadly gaming is used as a vice sometimes to escape negative situations, thoughts and emotions that people could be feeling. Video games do a great job of distracting us from our problems but they also don’t help us to overcome them. A lot of time when people use video games for escapism it traps them in the cycle of addiction. Our problems and emotions become all the more overwhelming when we continue to run from them, so we continue to run away through video games.

There have been links to gamers that suffer from anxiety and can sometimes have increased feelings of anxiety when they are away from video games and left to their own thoughts. However, no one is doomed to feel this way forever and there are solutions to overcome this aspect of gaming addiction. If you are interested in the most effective methods used to treat video game addiction then keep on reading.

Among Us Addiction Treatments

Despite more people becoming aware of video game addiction and its implications there are limited resources on how people can treat their addiction particular for those who cannot afford expensive therapy sessions. So, we thought we would share with you some of the most effective clinically proven methods to overcome your addiction to video games, in this instance, Among Us.

CBT For Video Game Addiction

CBT is short for Cognitive Behavioural Therapy which is one of the main forms of therapy used to treat video game addiction. During video game addiction therapy patients will talk through the problems in their life surrounding their addiction with a therapist. From there the therapist will work to identify, educate and prescribe treatments in the form of exercises and meditations. These will be specific to the modes of thinking that the person is suffering with at the root of their addiction.

CBT exercises primarily work by changing the negative and unhealthy thinking patterns that lead to our addiction for more healthy and sustainable ones. CBT is built on the principle that our thoughts and actions are all intimately linked therefore by improving our thoughts we can improve our addictive behaviour.

Most of the time therapists well set CBT practises as work to be done outside of therapy sessions to eventually become self-sufficient in dealing with our addiction no matter what your goals are in quitting or cutting down.

Conditions such as depression, anxiety, OCD, Insomnia and many other behavioural addictions are successfully treated using CBT so its effects are far-reaching.

Mindfulness For Video Game Addiction

Mindfulness is recommended to help ground us when we start to feel overwhelmed without video games. Overcoming your addiction to Among Us will mean time away from the game so we need to ensure that you can function optimally without it.

Mindfulness is concerned with bringing our attention into the present moment away from any negative thoughts or feelings we might be having. We can get into the present moment by focusing on our breath, our senses and the environment around us. Although this might sound wishy-washy to some. Mindfulness practises are incorporated into all modern courses of CBT and are proven to decrease feelings of anxiety and boost positive emotions like gratitude.

Mindfulness is primarily practised through meditations which can be guided by an audio instructor or on your own once you’re confident enough. Remember that mindfulness is a skill so the better we get at it the better the results we can expect.

If you feel like you’ve been playing a bit too much Among Us lately or want to change your relationship with gaming, The Mindful Gamer is always here to help.