Recently there has been a flurry of articles about addiction to Candy Crush and concerns surrounding this. There are some people that have become worried about being addicted to the game as a result. However, addiction to computer games is a condition that only affects very few people and there have been no officially reported cases linked in with Candy Crush, although there are a lot of people who say they are addicted. However, many people say this without actually meaning addicted, just that it is their game of choice.
If you spend all of your spare time playing Candy Crush and chat to your friends about it, then this is not addiction. If you spend that time watching television and talking to your friends about it, you would not be worried so this should not be a concern to you.
It is when Candy Crush is interrupting your life on a regular basis that you should start to feel concerned. If you skip meals because you cannot stop playing, you stop doing your chores, miss sleep, are late for work or think about the game a lot, then you could be on verge of a problem. Most people would notice at this stage that things were getting out of hand. They may decide to stop playing for a bit or limit how much they play. The fact that a new life is only awarded every 30 minutes should slow you down a bit with regards to how much you play, as long as you do not buy new lives or use a cheat method to get more. Think twice before you do this if you know that the game is having a big impact of your life.
You know when you are really addicted when you are spending money on the game to get through the levels that you cannot afford to spend. There is nothing wrong with paying money to buy helpful items for the game, although it is not necessary of course, but as long as you can afford to do it, then that is fine. This has been likened to gambling in a way, except the difference being that you do not have a chance to win back the money that you pay out. Once you start using money you should be saving to pay bills, just to get through the levels of the game, then this can be a sign of addiction.
Another sign is when you use time that you should be using for other things. Perhaps time you should be spending working or sleeping. If you are losing a significant amount of sleep, for example or not keeping on top of the chores because you cannot stop playing the game. If you are playing at work or late for work because you are playing, this could be a bad sign as well.
If you are worried that you are playing too much, then simply stop for a while or limit how long you play each day. You could, for example play your five lives in the morning and then five in the evening and leave it at that. You could set yourself the target of getting all of your chores done and then playing. You could play once every half an hour, when you get a new life as a reward if you have worked hard for the last 25 minutes.
If it is the money that is the worry, then challenge yourself to complete the levels without paying money. You do not need to buy lives as there are plenty of free ways to get a constant supply (such as creating Facebook accounts and sending from there or changing the clock on your mobile device). If it is boosters that you need to complete a level, then spin the wheel each day to try to win what you need. Each level is possible without them look at walkthrough videos or read tips in order to help you pass them.
