By: Sammy Wang
In the last ten years, the video game industry has grown greatly, capturing billions of people with its appeal. However, this increase doesn’t come without consequences; a recent study shows that some gamers experience hallucinations from gaming for too long.
Gaming Transfer Phenomenon (GTP) is a condition in which gamers see and hear things that aren’t there, such as “health bars” or hearing a narrator.
Researchers concluded that GTP is related to video game addiction or gaming disorder (GD), where gamers cannot stop playing video games which causes them to skip meals and sleep.
AustraIian Psychiatrist Kavita Seth from Perth’s Fiona Stanley Hospital (FSH) said that problems happen when gamers cannot control themselves and limit their screen time.
“They [gamers] prioritize it over sleep, over having meals, going to school, completing school homework, completing social activities,” Seth said.
Around ten percent of young people have GD, according to The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP).
An article published in PubMed Central states that there was a 16-year patient convinced that his neighbors were planning to kill him, and a 15-year-old patient hallucinated devices watching her every movement. They spent around 14 hours gaming, resulting in only three to four hours of sleep.
Another gamer, Daniel Owens, described how gaming had disrupted his sleepschedule.
“It was to the point that it interrupted my sleeping patterns,” he said. “It felt as if my body went to sleep, but my mind was still working. It seems to happen in games with frequent sidekick interaction or a narrator.
“I remember specifically on another occasion, after Super Mario Sunshine came out, that I could not sleep for a full night for nearly a week after playing it. That was the worst.” Owens continued.
A 17-year-old gamer featured in a study in 2010 said that they saw “health bars” in real life.
“When I really was a hardcore player in WoW (World of Warcraft), when I got my adrenaline pumping, I started seeing health bars above people’s heads,” the gamer said.
Many people of all ages find gaming as a fun, nice way to relax and releasestress, but it’s important to know when to stop and take a break.
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