Assumption

Because the MMORPG addiction phenomenon is so widespread, psychological and social factors are probably the underlying cause to excessive online game playing. Social factors include peer pressure and social relationships that affect the need for people to play. Loneliness and faulty relationships may lead to clinical psychological disorders such as depression and anxiety. Clinical depression may cause patients to channel their emotions and energy to an interest, such as computer games that cannot further hurt their self-esteem. People also get adrenaline rushes as a result of achieving a goal in a game, which they will put themselves to their psychological limits to stimulate more adrenaline production. This production of adrenaline is both psychologically activated and a contributing factor to addiction.

Hypothesis

Because MMORPGs allow a player to disembody himself from the real world, people who become addicted to MMORPGs must be dissatisfied with life or socially awkward.

Method

To get more information on this topic, I researched scholarly sources on online gaming and other substance addictions. Interviews of potentially addicted MMORPG players were used to compare their symptoms to the descriptions of addiction by experts.

Importance

This research is important in helping increase the awareness of online gaming addictions, which can be just as dangerous as substance addiction and abuse. There have been many online sites dedicated to people seeking help with online gaming addictions.