ALTERED STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS IN GAMBLING AND INTERNET GAMING DISORDERS AS A RISK FACTOR FOR ADDICTION

"In GD and IGD, both at the preclinical level of problem game and at the clinical level of pathological game, altered states of consciousness are observed during the game and shortly before. In the scientific literature, they are called flow-state, dark flow, game trance, game intoxication, and so on. During these states, the person loses touch with reality, the real life situation completely detached from life's problems and concerns, and associated emotional experiences and is transformed into the space of the game. Self-identification is disrupted, as a result of which the player identifies with the game character, the avatar-hero of the game, or with the network character. In addition, the perception of time and memory of events during the game is disrupted. These states themselves become very desirable and attractive to players and contribute to the emergence of a pathological desire to constantly participate in the game in order to repeat an unusual experience. In this review of research, based on the materials of numerous researches and own clinical practice, it is demonstrated that such altered states of consciousness can contribute to the formation of addiction, lead to negative psychosocial consequences and comorbid psychopathology. It also shows how the game industry induces such states with certain psychotechnical methods. Materials from clinical and neurobiological studies were used for the analysis. Electronic literature search was conducted using PubMed, PsychINFO, ScienceDirect, Web of Science and Google Scholar."