If you play the game of mahjong long enough, from time to time, you can hear fellow mahjong player says he/she has an itch or itchy fingers. What they mean is that they are dying to play a round of mahjong.

If the term is uttered by someone who has not played the game for a while, it will not raise any alarms. However, if it is uttered by someone who frequently plays the game and yet expresses a similar itch, then the casual remark becomes worrisome. It becomes troubling when it is repeated frequently. It is a clear indication that mahjong rules that person’s life, and nothing occupy their mind except when is the next game.

You must not have such thoughts in your mind. If you do, you should do “mahjong cold turkey” for a while to “remove” your obsession over the game.

Focus on other things instead of the game. Stay away from the game until it is no longer the only pre-occupation in your mind.

In today’s life’s style, we all have a hectic schedule. At any one time, we are pulled in several directions. For adults with families, we especially have many responsibilities and obligations to fulfill.

Playing mahjong is a recreational activity. It should be an afterthought and indulge in only after completing the more pressing matters in your life.

If the game of mahjong is prioritized over everything, including your children (if you have them), this could be a sign of addiction. You want to be mindful of your thought process and get your priorities right before you head down the road of obsession and disaster.

An occasional prioritization of the game is ok as long as it is not all the time.

Not being able to play the game shouldn’t bother you too much.

If you start feeling awful and grouchy when you cannot play, you are definitely behaving like an addict not getting his/her fix.

The craving is making you feel awful. It gnaws at you day in, day out, insistently calling out to you to fix it, it paralyzes you from doing anything else. Nothing else matters until the fix is satisfied.This is the universal symptom of an addict.

You do not wish to be in this state.

At the end of each mahjong session, you bug the rest to continue playing. You are reluctant to call it a day, even though you have been playing for a while now. You get upset when the other players turn you down.

An occasional game extension request is perfectly alright. However, if the call of extension happens frequently, you are already in a state of addiction.

You want to start acknowledging this behavior for what it is and start seeking some help.

One of the interesting things about addiction is that sometimes the people around you see this behavior much clearer than you would see it yourself.

Being in a state of addiction, you are mentally clouded. You are fixated on the addiction. Other things are secondary and not pressing. So you want to take heed of the words people use to describe you. If two or more people close to you use this word, you would want to have a reality check.

Do not take the matter lightly, especially if the persons uttering those words are mahjong players themselves.

In general, an occasional indulgence in playing the game is fine. We all go have that moment from time to time. However, if the behavior happens frequently and the thought doesn’t go away quietly, trouble is at foot.

If you hang around mahjong players long enough, it is not uncommon to hear the term “mahjong addict”. It describes a person who is ever ready to jump in and play the game of mahjong. I know some players like that.

As a newbie, jumping at each opportunity to learn to play the game is perfectly understandable. After all, the adage of “practice makes perfect”, is never wrong when it comes to learning.

However, the practice of playing too often takes on a different ominous tone once you pass the learning phase.

While there is nothing wrong with doing something you enjoy, it should be balanced with other things going on in your life. As humans, we can be conditioned to things. Playing frequently could conidition us and cultivate an addiction. So you want to be mindful of the frequency of playing the game least you become an addict.

As a rule of thumb, any game that is consistently played more than once a fortnight could lead to an addiction, etc. Consistently playing once every week is threading the fine line of addiction.

Herein in this post, we will go through some symptoms of mahjong addiction.