Tense muscles and clenched jaw Headache or stomachache Increased heart rate Sudden sweating or shaking A dizzy feeling

Call up a friend (or meet with one in person!) Make yourself a meal or snack Clean your room, the kitchen, or the bathroom

To practice deep breathing, count to three as you inhale. Then, hold the breath in your lungs for three more seconds. Then, count to three again as you exhale. Try to focus only on the numbers as you do this. Be sure that each breath in fully fills your lungs, causing your chest and belly to expand. Exhale fully each time, and pause between the exhale and the next inhale. Keep breathing until you feel that you have regained control.

If you experience chronic anger as a result of the games you’re playing, think about taking on a new hobby to replace gaming for a while. If you are not having fun, it’s not worth continuing your “relationship” with certain games.

To deal with this type of anger, try playing a game that you have already mastered for a while and enjoy your success. Or, if you have the option to choose the difficulty in a game, try selecting a lower difficulty level to help prevent yourself from getting angry.

For example, if you have just lost your job or gotten in trouble at school, you may feel frustrated and out of control of your life. Failing to master a new level of a video game on top of the other experiences may lead you to blow up about the video game, even though it is not the primary cause of your feelings of powerlessness.

become angry, violent, or depressed when you do not spend time playing video games[13] X Research source play in secret and lie to others about how much time you spend playing video games[14] X Research source notice that video games have taken over your interest in other hobbies, schoolwork, or your job[15] X Research source consider playing video games more important than spending time with other people in real life[16] X Research source

You think about harming yourself or others[18] X Research source You use physical violence (such as hitting) towards people or objects[19] X Research source The problem is chronic, happening over and over again[20] X Research source Anger towards the game seeps into other areas of your life You have a record of violent or aggressive behaviors at work or towards a loved one[21] X Research source You feel unfulfilled in your life[22] X Research source