What is Video Game Addiction? Is it Real?

This is a testimony that was recently submitted to our offices. We are excited to share this young person’s story of victory with you.

By the time I was 10 years old, I was into basic witchcraft.  It started very innocently–with magic tricks, sleight of hand, and acts of illusion.  Then I became aware that my public school library had a witchcraft section, and I dove into it.  I wanted power, and the ability to change my life.  Ironically, witchcraft didn’t give me any power or recognition, but it definitely changed my life, for the worse.

So as a teenager, I was disturbed and very much a self-made outcast.  Although I looked like I didn’t want any friends, or even want anyone near me, I desperately wanted to feel loved.  As many do, I looked for endless things to fulfill that need, and that lent to several suicide attempts.  The many therapists and psychiatrists that followed gave me countless medications and eventually diagnosed me with schizophrenia.

I practiced witchcraft for 9 years while also referring to myself as a Christian.  I saw no conflict between witchcraft and Catholicism because the witchcraft books said you could be both, a witch, and a Christian. In fact, one witchcraft book had a whole section of prayers to the Catholic saints. The mystical had drawn me in and intrigued me, but more so, it began to frighten me terribly.  I don’t want to go into the things that I did while practicing (because I don’t want to glorify Satan), but it was terrible. I am still suffering the consequences for my involvement in witchcraft.

While in college, I was invited to go to a Bible study.  I knew I was probably going to Hell, but I didn’t think there was anything I could do about it. I was a Catholic and felt that I could never be as holy as Mary and the saints.  I knew that my nature was evil and selfish, but I also knew I couldn’t change that fact.  I could behave well, but I could not be right on the inside.

The Lord was merciful in having someone share the Gospel with me, and there was no hesitating in my mind. I accepted Christ and got baptized.

This church had an RU program, but I thought it was just another 12 step program.  The more I heard about it, the more I was convinced it was some kind of false religion.  Then I found out that the church was led by a Pastor, who also taught at my college, so I knew it had to be okay.

Joining RU was one of the best things I ever did.

I have been on all sorts of psychiatric medications for 23 years.  They never solved my problems. The anti-psychotics never stopped me from seeing the demons, and the mood stabilizers and anti-depressants never prevented me from becoming depressed.  Witchcraft caused my psychosis. My schizophrenia was caused by my years in the occult. My depression was caused by feelings of being rejected and unloved all my life, but the psychiatric world answers everything with medicine. They see it all as a chemical imbalance of the brain, and maybe it is sometimes, but all the shrinks and their medications are not making this world a better, happier place.

All glory goes to God for revealing the real “cure” to all my problems! Now I seek to tell others just to stop looking beyond the Cross!

*We want to caution our students to seek counseling with their RU Director, Pastor, and Primary Physician before making any changes to medication.

Additional Articles

Depression

How to Make Right Choices

Overcoming Self-Medicating and Addiction

Is there a Cure for Addiction? It has been 10 yrs ago when I first heard about RU, and I was in a very bad place in my life.

Up until I was 25 years old, I was living an alcohol & drug-filled life. Then I got saved and Jesus Christ transformed my life. I was very grateful to the Lord, but I stopped doing the things that are essential for a Christian to grow –reading the word of God & going to church. It went downhill from there.

So again, I returned to the old lifestyle of drugs & alcohol. I was 43 years old when I heard about RU on the radio, in Clyde Ohio. I know that RU was an answer to a specific prayer because a week earlier, I had desperately asked God why there was no help for people like me– Christians who lost their way and stepped out of God’s will and into addiction!?

As I said, God answered & mightily! I was at RU the very next night, and never looked back!

RU was the evidence of God’s mercy and grace. The program became the vehicle that gave me a personal relationship with my Lord and Savior. Through the word of God and the RU discipleship books, my life has been further transformed.

Now God is allowing me to serve in many ministries, including an RU men’s group leader.

The RU curriculum, the accountability with others there, and the Love of God have made my life a joyous & prosperous one.

As I have learned to love God, in turn, He has shown me how to love others!! And the key to all of this is the local church, or “family” as I refer to it. Praise the Lord that RU is part of that!!! Is there a Cure for Addiction? YES!

You may also be interested in reading Do Faith-Based Addiction Recovery Programs Work?

Faith-Based Recovery For America®

ROCKFORD, IL – RU Recovery Ministries recently during its annual Recovery Banquet to raise awareness for Faith-Based Recovery recently received a commendation. The commendation was signed by Ohio State Representative Ron Young of Ohio’s 61st District. A Letter of Commendation was presented by his assistant Bob Reed to RU Recovery Ministries. Receiving the Letter of Commendation on behalf of RU Recovery Ministries was Benjamin Burks International Director of RU Recovery Ministries. The Commendation recognizes the work of RU Recovery Ministries bringing hope to the addicted through proven faith-based methods. It is a recognition not only of the work that takes place at the headquarters of RU in Rockford, IL but also the valiant efforts of volunteers and staff that work in local RU Chapters all across Ohio and the United State. Below is a download of that Letter of Commendation for you to read, print, or share.

DOWNLOAD: Letter of Commendation from the Ohio State Legislator

Below is the text of the letter.

The General Assembly of the State of Ohio

House of Representatives

HONORING RU RECOVERY MINISTRIES ROCKFORD, IL

I am pleased to pay tribute to RU Recovery Ministries during their 2018 Recovery Conference in Rockford, Illinois.

President Trump has declared our country to be in a state of emergency, and the work of RU Recovery Ministries is more imperative now than ever.

Since its establishment in 1996 under the leadership of Steve Curington and Pastor Paul Kingsbury, RU Recovery has provided a pathway to freedom from the bondage of addiction for thousands across the country. As a proven faith-based addiction-recovery ministry, this fine organization fills a need that local governments and communities cannot fulfill, and with over 50 chapters in the State of Ohio, it has touched the lives of many Ohioans from every walk of life.

All those associated with RU Recovery Ministries have consistently ministered to the spirit of the individual, and they are to be commended for their foresight, dedication, and selfless donations of time, energy, and ability far beyond what was required or expected. These fine people have earned the respect and admiration of many and have set an example of concerned and responsible citizenship that is worthy of emulation.

Thus, with sincere applause, I show my gratitude to RU Recovery Ministries and extend best wishes for the years to come.

Honorable Ron Young
State Representative Ohio’s 61st House District

Read More About Faith-Based Recovery For America HERE.

In full disclosure, the author of this blog post does play video games from time to time. As a gamer, I can see the potential to overindulge in video games if it becomes a priority in your life. However, I can also see the benefits of some games and the obvious evil in other video games. In this article, I am not going to go over specific games, but rather address the issue of video game addiction at its core.

In my personal life, I see video games as a pastime not too un-similar to fishing, golfing, and other entertainment that many people indulge in from time to time for a little R&R. It is something that is a low priority, but it is something that I enjoy. However, my relationship with God and my family tops the priority list in my life.

Is Video Game Addiction Real?

Many splashy headlines have warned parents that their kids were being turned into junkies because video games release dopamine into the brain the same way heroin or other illicit drugs do.

However, more recent studies show that video gaming raises dopamine levels in the brain to about the same degree that eating a slice of pepperoni pizza or dish of ice cream does (without the calories). That is, it raises dopamine to roughly double its normal resting level, whereas drugs like heroin, cocaine, or amphetamine raise dopamine by roughly ten times that much.

Dopamine is the brains reaction to pleasure. The only way to avoid it would be to devoid your entire life of anything pleasurable. But this is not to say that video game addiction isn’t real. It is real.

What is Video Game Addiction?

Video game addiction can be put into the same category as food addiction. It is a behavioral issue that is often spurred by underlying mental and behavioral problems. For example, when a video game is used as a coping mechanism to avoid the responsibilities or rigors of life, or as self-medication for depression, then it is not just for “a little R&R”. The video games can become an obsessive behavior that is overindulged in. This is when it becomes an addiction.

From God’s perspective, anything that comes between you and your relationship with Him is a sin and a stumbling block. This could be anything from video games to sports, to golf, to other types of recreational activities.

Can video games be redeemed for good?

Absolutely! From a mental and physical standpoint, gaming can increase spatial memory, visual acuity, and attention, navigation, executive functioning, including the ability to solve problems and make reasoned decisions, along with a whole list of cognitive abilities. Your brain is, in this sense, like a muscle that you are exercising.

Video games can be educational and they can be used to teach lessons. A recent article published by USA Today showed a group of adult Minecraft gamers that used the game to video blog about theology and the things of God as well as building Bible-themed creations.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2018/02/06/if-you-build-they-pray-constructing-religious-worlds-minecraft/312030002/

Video games can be used for good.

What is the cure for video game addiction?

As with any behavior, it begins in your spirit. Is your spirit in communication and under the direction of the Holy Spirit? Are you allowing God to control every area of your life? God isn’t against us having leisure, but He wants to be first in our lives. Making that personal connection with God every day and walking with Him is a priority. That is how you avoid any behavior (good or bad) from taking over your life and becoming a stronghold of addiction. When it does become a stronghold, then it is time to starve that appetite. As a parent, you can help your child with an overeating addiction by limiting their consumption. The same is true with video games. If the game is controlling them, you have to teach them to allow God to control that appetite. It is the same for adults. If you have a video game addiction, seek help. Accountability is necessary. And, most importantly, seek God’s face. You do not have to seek comfort by escaping reality; instead, you can find comfort in the Comforter!