By: Elliott Chu

Gamers that play video games on and on for hours are at risk of a disorder that causes them to hallucinate images or sounds from the games they play in real life. It is known as Gaming Transfer Phenomenon or GTP. Reports of it include gamers seeing health bars above other people.

A recent meeting of Australian and New Zealand psychiatrists discussed the condition. Psychiatrist Kavita Seth said the problems get so serious that the gamers prioritize it over sleeping, having meals, going to school, completing school homework, and socializing.

Psychologist Dr Angelica Ortiz de Gortari, who conducted a study about the phenomenon, noted on 17-year-old who experienced hallucinations. The gamer said, “I started to see health bars above people’s heads. 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 head,” the gamer said.

Another gamer, Daniel Owens, described his experience with insomnia when playing Portal 2. 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.” He added, “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.”

Another gamer, Jesse Singal, experience his own experience with GTP when stopped playing with Portal 2. When he stopped playing at night, and tried to sleep, he would always imagine himself moving around in the game’s corridors and rooms. He recalls that sleep was almost impossible. Singal says that if you just make sure your children manage their time playing video games, they will not experience GTP.

Source:

https://kotaku.com/study-of-game-transfer-phenomena-examines-why-some-get-5801951