A mental health therapist in the City of Lincoln said many of his cases involve young men with gaming use disorder. That’s where someone can play too many video games and end up having a hard time making a living. “I would say one-third to half of my clients have problematic addictive behaviors,” said Jeremy Eberle of Alternative His Avenue Therapy. Read more: Alternative Avenue Therapy EVAL is a graduate school that studies the commonalities between people with gambling problems and people with gaming problems. He says gaming becomes a problem when it interferes with work, socializing, and being a part of the family. Eberle said various studies have shown that 6 to 10 percent of people who play games are addicted. “Is it causing stress or harm?” Eberle said that often gamers stay up for hours at night, neglect self-care, and see gaming as their only outlet, so families offer them help. I often say that I encourage you to seek out. “If you are a youth, do you get bad grades? Does it affect your social life? Do you have a lot of relationship problems? Do your family and friends say, ‘You’re having a great time,'” Eberle said. He said games often allow you to take in all your emotions and feelings. People may play games when they are stressed, happy, or in a good mood. “I want to relax. I want to relax. The reality is that everyone needs a lot of activity and entertainment to live a healthy and balanced life. Some people liken games to a pacifier. “You’re in a game, you’re in control of something.” He helps some of his clients find ways to connect with other people, such as running, exercising, board games or art. “This is definitely very treatable,” Eberle said. “There are often co-occurring issues in the background, such as anxiety, depression, and ADHD. Identifying these issues and their root causes.” It’s a lot of work, but it’s worth it, Eberle says. Eberle says that what people really need and crave is face-to-face relationships, so it’s important to understand that people’s social Expanding your circle can help as well. Gamers often talk to people all over the country and consider these games their friends. “There’s a certain intimacy to that relationship, but you don’t get much if you meet in person. It doesn’t meet the oxytocin levels and connection needs that would otherwise occur,” Eberle said. Tyler Wilson, a 23-year-old Omaha-based gamer, said he played on two of his esports teams during college and built his circle of friends through gaming. Wilson, who describes himself as an “introvert,” has been able to maintain balance for most of his life, he said, except for one period in college when he played too many games. He never asked for help and said he was able to recognize the problem on his own. “You can trick people in a funny way. It’s sociable, it feels like a hobby, it feels like you’re making progress on something,” Wilson said. Wilson currently has two jobs, one of which is in media relations. So he puts to use the editing skills he honed early in the game. He still plays his online games as a hobby, but he said he has no desire or “need” to play. “I haven’t played in two weeks,” he said. He also said he grew a group of friends through gaming and met his girlfriend in a gamer group chat a few years ago. They met virtually 1,300 miles apart, but then decided to meet in person over the past two years. Last week, Ashley moved to Omaha to attend college and be closer to Wilson. I think the game was great for bringing us together,” Wilson said.
A mental health therapist in the City of Lincoln said many of his cases involve young men with gaming use disorder. This is where someone can play too many video games and end up having a hard time making a living.
“I would say one-third to half of my clients have problematic addictive behaviors,” Jeremy said.
Hébert, Alternative Avenue Therapy.
Read more: Alternative Therapy Therapy
In graduate school, Eberle wrote a paper about the similarities between people with gambling problems and people with gaming problems. He says gaming becomes a problem when it interferes with work, socializing, and being a part of the family. Eberle said various studies have shown that 6 to 10 percent of people who play games are addicted.
“Is it causing stress or harm?” Ebell said.
He said families often encourage frequent gamers to seek help because they are up for hours at night, neglect self-care, and see gaming as their only outlet.
“If you are a youth, do you get bad grades? Does it affect your social life? Do you have a lot of relationship problems? Do your family and friends say, “You’re having a great time,” Hebert said.
Eberle said games often become inclusive of a whole range of emotions and feelings. People may play games when they are stressed, happy, or want to relax. He said the reality is that everyone needs lots of activity and entertainment to live a healthy and balanced life. He likens the game to a pacifier for some people. Games are the answer to all kinds of tensions in life because you are in the game and in control of something.
To help those who have trouble gaming, Eberle helps them reduce stress, find connections with friends, and discover that there are other ways to feel better. He said some of his clients have taken up running, exercise, board games and art. He encourages them to look for ways to connect with other people.
“It’s definitely very treatable,” Eberle said.
He often talked about co-occurring underlying issues such as anxiety, depression, and ADHD that contributed to his gaming behavior. Identifying these issues and their root causes can be a daunting task, but it’s worth it, Eberle says.
Expanding a person’s social circle can help as well, since Eberle says what people really need and crave is face-to-face relationships. Gamers often talk to people from all over the country and consider these games their friends.
“There’s a certain level of intimacy in that relationship, but it doesn’t meet the oxytocin levels or the need for connection that you would get if you met in real life,” Ebert said.
Tyler Wilson, a 23-year-old gamer from Omaha, played on two esports teams in college and said he built a circle of friends through gaming. Wilson, who describes himself as an “introvert,” said he has been able to maintain balance for most of his life, except for a period in college when he played too many games. He never asked for help and was able to recognize the problem on his own, he said.
“It’s a fun way to trick people. It feels like it’s social, it feels like a hobby, it feels like you’re making progress on something,” Wilson said.
Wilson currently has two jobs, one in media, where he uses the editing skills he honed early in the game. He still plays his online games as a hobby, but he said he has no desire or “need” to play.
“I haven’t played in two weeks,” he said.
He also said that he has grown a group of friends through gaming, and that he met his girlfriend in a gamer group chat several years ago. They met virtually 1,300 miles apart, but then decided to meet in person over the past two years. Last week, Ashley moved to Omaha to continue college and be closer to Wilson.
“If we both lived in Omaha, I wonder if we would have walked in on each other or done things like that. I think the game would have been great for bringing us together,” Wilson said.
