On the day the popular video game Halo 3 was released, Adam Ducoing and his friends spent the entire day glued to the television screen. While being $50 poorer and falling behind on a few school assignments seemed to be the least of their worries, the increasing prevalence of video game addictions is becoming a main concern for parents and teachers, according to a study posted April 18 by Psychological Science. Researcher Douglas Gentile of the University of Iowa surveyed 1,178 youths about their video gaming habits to obtain diagnostic criteria for “pathological” video gaming. Gentile found that 8.5 percent of video game-playing 8- to 18-year-olds exhibit symptoms of behavioral addictions.Gentile identified 11 symptoms of video game addictions, including spending a large amount of money and time on video games and getting irritable or agitated when playing is restrained, disregarding chores and other commitments, using video games as an escape, experiencing a decrease grades and poor academic performance and lying about how much time is spent playing video games.Youths who exhibit six or more of the 11 symptoms were diagnosed as “pathological” gamers.While Ducoing, kinesiology sophomore, admits to exhibiting many of these symptoms, he believes negative connotation the term “addiction” gives to this popular pastime is inaccurate. “People say ‘addiction’ like it’s a bad thing,” Ducoing said. “Video games are … a stress reliever. I’m an avid athlete, so it’s nice to be able to do something for fun that doesn’t involve getting worn out.”John Depp, a secondary education sophomore who works at Gameware on College Drive, agrees not all video gaming is bad but has seen the negative effects of a video game addiction first-hand.”Playing video games was pretty much all my old roommate did,” Depp said. “Hence why he flunked out of college. [Gameware] also sees a lot of regular customers, and the people who come in everyday … or at least three times a week … I would definitely say have an addiction.”Because he only plays Halo, Ducoing only goes to video game stores once or twice a year. But he said knows many University students who let their gaming addiction negatively affect their lives.For those who don’t, the symptoms aren’t the only downside to the gaming addiction. Those who show signs of pathological gaming are twice as likely to have ADHD, develop hand and wrist problems from constant playing and have lower self-esteem, according to the study.This behavioral addiction also affects gamers’ personal relationships. Arguments between addicted video gamers and parents, teachers and friends are directly related, while school grades and the amount of time spent playing video games are inversely related, proving the more time a person spends playing video games, the lower their school grades are.Children who show pathological gaming symptoms are also more likely to carry this addiction into college and adulthood.Depp also admits to being an avid video gamer but isn’t sure about whether he considers himself an addict. “I play a lot, but it’s not my life,” Depp said. “I get studying done. I go to class. It’s a healthy way to escape if you don’t abuse it.”—-Contact Natalie Roy at [email protected]