BENGALURU: The horrific case of murder, in which a 21-year-old from Belagavi is accused of murdering and dismembering his father’s body for not allowing him to play the ‘battle royale’ game PUBG, has left many psychologists in the city baffled.
Speaking to The New Indian Express, doctors in the city discussed how games like Dota 2, CounterStrike and Fortnite were trending even before PUBG became wildly popular, leading to many children and adults being addicted to the game.
Even the simple message at the end of winning a round, ‘winner winner, chicken dinner’ has a subliminal message and causes a lot of damage to players, psychologists said.
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“One really gets addicted to gaming. While the game in question is all about winning, that will be the only goal on the person’s mind. They want to win in any situation and will not want to accept defeat. This feeling extends to beyond when they are playing as well. If a parent stops the child from doing anything, it feels like a defeat. They become impulsive and disturbed, leading to such acts,” said Dr Sugami Ramesh, Senior Consultant, Clinical Psychology, Apollo Hospitals, Bannerghatta road, Bengaluru.
“Apart from this, they will forget about everything needed to have a healthy lifestyle or a connection with their parents,” Dr. Ramesh added.
According to Dr Manoj Sharma, Professor of clinical psychology at SHUT clinic in National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), another reason for the possibility of violence is the attention players get from their peers.
“For gamers, the game is their life. They start interacting with online players more than their family at home. They feel recognised. When parents try to stop them from playing, they get scared that they will lose out on all interactions, making them take such steps,” he said.
“When we are kids, we get the appreciation even for little things from our parents, but when we start growing up, it is often ignored. When the child starts growing up, they feel big and have anger inside which leads them to attack. The solution is to teach emotional regulation to children,” said Dr. Shubha Madhusudhan- Clinical Psychologist- Fortis hospital, Bangalore