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Got an MMO addiction? Just /shout "LF Counselor!"
Out of the hojillions of World of Warcraft players in the world, there are undoubtedly some that love the game just a little too much. Perhaps some of these addicted players would find it easier to ween themselves off WoW with a bit of professional help from a therapist of some sort. But then again, how the heck is anyone going to convince them to stop playing long enough to go and seek help? According to Dr. Richard Graham, a consultant psychiatrist at the Tavistock Centre in London who was recently interviewed by Telegraph, we shouldn't have to. Why not just treat them right there in-game?Dr. Graham is doing more than simply posing his idea to the psychiatric world; he's kicking this plan into action. "We will be launching this project by the end of the year. I think it's already clear that psychiatrists will have to stay within the parameters of the game. They certainly wouldn't be wandering around the game in white coats and would have to use the same characters available to other players." He has appealed to Blizzard to get discounted or waived fees for his counselors but hasn't heard back from them yet. He also recognizes that while his team might be good therapists, they might not be good gamers. As such, he'd like to get some sort of "peer mentor" system going, with existing WoW players helping out. So, who's in?[Via GamePolitics]
Addiction therapists trying to help addicted in the game
Britain's Telegraph newspaper has news about addiction therapists joining the game themselves, specifically to find and seek out players who might meet the definition of addicted to World of Warcraft. They're actually looking for official Blizzard support, too. I'm not sure how much help you can actually provide by chatting with a player in the game ("Hello, it looks like you've been online for the last 16 hours, are you addicted?"), but they want to do it. Dr. Richard Graham wants to launch a program by the end of the year that includes some in-game outreach, and even he agrees that it'll be tough sell. Then again, maybe the guy just wants to play some WoW for free: "While a psychiatrist may excel in what they do in the real world, they're probably not going to be very good at playing World of Warcraft. We may have to work at that if we are going to get through to those who play this game for hours at end." Right. "Work.".
Virtual Worlds Help In Addiction Therapy
Virtual worlds are all too often spoken of as something you're in danger of becoming addicted to. We've all heard the stories of inertia, bloat, pallor and unemptied cat trays. But Professor Patrick Bordnick, associate of the University of Houston, is using VR to help treat addictions in the course of therapy. As Professor Bordnick points out, imagination alone isn't a particularly powerful tool to recreate the situations in which a recovering addict learns to say 'no': 'As a therapist, I can tell you to pretend my office is a bar, and I can ask you to close your eyes and imagine the environment, but you'll know that it's not real'. Rather than ask the patient to visualise a bar stocked with alcohol or a party where cigarettes are on offer, Bordnick uses a VR helmet along with other components such as olfactory stimulation and actor participation to create a highly plausible and immersive environment. Although the patient consciously knows he is taking part in a VR simulation, the immersion has proven sufficient to build intense cravings, just as if the focus of the addiction had really been present.By supplying an enviroment that is realistic enough to stimulate cravings but remains controlled and safe, Bordnick can gradually train patients in the use of coping skills. As those skills will have been developed in the face of a close analogue of the real thing, the patient is much better equipped to contend with the challenge of the real-world situation.
