Gaming apps can hijack brain reward system, caution experts

Lucknow: While winning the jackpot has changed the life of Mangal Prasad, experts have a word of caution for those playing the game. Mental health experts at Lucknow's King George's Medical University (KGMU) have warned that fantasy gaming apps can hijack a person's brain reward system, leading to addiction-like behaviour and dangerous financial consequences.
Psychiatrist Prof Pawan Kumar Gupta, who regularly treats patients affected by such disorders, said that even one-time wins can deeply impact the brain by giving a "high" so strong that future losses fail to register as significant.
"When someone wins a huge amount — say Rs 4 crore from a Rs 400 investment — it triggers a powerful reward response in the brain. This illusion of control creates a false sense of skill, while the reality is that these games largely rely on chance," said Prof Pawan Kumar.
The experts also revealed that many young users fall into the trap of "chasing losses," taking loans and playing repeatedly in the hope of recovering lost money. Over time, this leads to deep debt, guilt, insomnia, and even suicidal thoughts.
"We have had patients who bought term insurance with the plan to die by suicide later, hoping their family would at least get compensation," said Prof Adarsh Tripathi, another faculty at KGMU's psychiatry department.
In several cases, children from poor families, often using smartphones given to them by uneducated parents, end up spending small amounts like Rs10, but the damage is not financial alone — it's neurological.
"The brain's core reward circuit — including the medulla, hippocampus, and nucleus accumbens — gets hijacked. This is not about losing Rs 10. It's about losing vital brain functions," said Prof Kumar.