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Amateur documentary tackles online game addiction
Countless documentaries have investigated gaming addiction and the supposed dangers lurking in massively multiplayer titles, but it's not often that someone who's experienced an addiction talks about it himself. Third year film student and ex World of Warcraft junkie Anthony Rosner looks back on his six years in the game in a new short documentary on the effects of MMO addiction. With help from friends Dave Novis and Arron Amo, Anthony produced, directed, wrote, and edited the film himself, ensuring that he had the opportunity to tell his whole story and tell it from his own perspective. Titled IRL - In Real Life, the film takes a largely light-hearted look at Anthony's past but still manages to tackle the big issues. "I used to wake up early, log on, play all day, and then go to sleep," Anthony recalls, adding the sobering note that this was his routine "for over 400 days of my life." Most of us can sympathise with people who feel isolated in the most social type of game there is, or who feel like running a guild is a full-time job. Anthony tackles these issues and talks about how he dragged himself out of them. The film's high production quality and authentic voice offer a glimpse into a world to which we can all relate. Check out the full video after the cut.
Shocker! Media addicts suffer withdrawal symptoms, just like real addicts
...and we're all media addicts, aren't we? A recent study conducted by the International Center for Media & the Public Agenda (ICMPA) certainly seems to indicate that this is indeed the case. The premise was pretty straightforward: students at twelve universities around the world were instructed to abstain from using all media for twenty-four hours. The results were somewhat predictable: across the board, going without television was somewhat easy to do, while abstaining from text messaging and instant messaging brought on withdrawal symptoms: "When I did not have those two luxuries," wrote one student, "I felt quite alone and secluded from my life. Although I go to a school with thousands of students, the fact that I was not able to communicate with anyone via technology was almost unbearable." According to Dr. Roman Gerodimos of the University of Portsmouth both psychological and physical symptoms were reported by the young techno-junkies.
Study claims internet addicted teens more likely to suffer depression (sigh)
1,041 Chinese teenagers got a clean bill of health; nine months later, 84 were diagnosed with depression. The cause? Why, internet addiction, of course. Dr. Lawrence Lam of the Sydney School of Medicine points the finger at "pathological use of the internet" as a major risk factor for depression, stating that those teens whose eyeballs were most glued to the screen were 2.5 times more likely to suffer from mental health problems. While Lam did guess the actual injuries were sustained from a lack of sleep due to late-night surfing and the ever-popular scapegoat online gaming rather than the direct effect of Hypnotoad, the good doctor reportedly didn't hesitate to call for school screenings and subsequent treatment for internet overuse as a result. It's perhaps worth noting this study comes from the same man who claimed (in 2009) that internet addicts were twice as likely to maim themselves.
New UK Internet Addiction clinic offers in-patient therapy to 'screenagers'
Internet addiction, as you know, is a growing worldwide concern. Recently, the UK opened its first rehab clinic for Internet Addiction (the provocatively named Broadway Lounge), but that was only the beginning. Capio Nightingale Hospital in London has announced its own plan to get gets out of the World of Warcraft and into the real world through an intensive in-patient, day care, or group therapy environment. The program is aimed at 15 to 17-year-olds, although kids as young as 12 could participate. A hospital spokesman said that the service hopes to "address the underlying causes of this addiction to transform screenagers back into teenagers." And if you thought we were running this because we wanted to use the word "screenagers," you might be on to something.
Chinese game addicts seek help in progressive Internet addiction centers
As the Chinese race ahead to catch up with the West, they do so with the intent of creating better lives for themselves. The past several years have been characterized by rapid progression, but all those perks of modernization come with a price, which some of China's citizens are beginning to pay. As incomes rise, so does the prevalence of the various maladies of modernization we've come to know well -- not limited to obesity, substance abuse, and addiction. While an addiction to a substance has a physiological aspect to it and is rarely disputed as a true addiction, non-material addictions to work, sex, and even shopping are on the rise in China. Such issues have been difficult to officially label as actual mental illnesses in the country. Others, like Internet addiction, have only recently been classified as such in China.
You know you play too much WoW if...
I admit it. I play too much WoW. That's alright, if you're visiting this site, you probably do, too. I have found it interesting how WoWisms have made it into my everyday life. I'm not talking about weird things like naming a kid Onyxia or getting plastic surgery to look like a Blood Elf. Some WoW habits just become normal. So here goes, you might play too much WoW if:...words like gank, pwn, and aggro have made it into your regular vocabulary.... you find yourself hitting your push-to-talk key to the person next to you, on the phone, or any other place that's not Vent.... You've had nightmares that involve Death Knights, Murlocs, or *shudder* Gnome Rogues.
Games to help curb your addictions
The "self-help" era is upon us, even finding its way into the video game industry as of late. Aside from the obvious fitness awareness game on Nintendo's other system (we mean Wii Fit, of course), there have been quite a few attempts to help gamers improve their lifestyles and habits. Take, for example, the upcoming My Weight Loss Coach and Ubisoft's "Easyway" title to help people quit smoking.Our favorite approach so far, though, was when DS Fanboy reader Dan used Pokémon to quit smoking. If there's anything we've learned from Dan's inspiring story, it's that the best way to curb an addiction is to replace it with another. We then decided that we wanted to help more of our fine readers that are suffering from such torments day in and day out. Pokémon may cure smoking, but what about other plaguing ailments? We're happy to say that after months of testing on monkeys and small children, we've finally come up with a few perfect video game cures.So, look no further than Dr. DS Fanboy, and check out our ultimate self-help guide to find the fixes for your addictions. Master that addiction!
Just say no to HDTV?
Need a good laugh on a slow Saturday afternoon? Hit the read link and check out this informative hilarious piece on one individual's decision to apply Nancy Reagan's favorite anti-drug policy to HDTV. Not that the HDTV=Drugs comparison hasn't been made before (this time it's meth instead of heroin), but this goes hand in hand with the demon of the "hyper-real", suggesting that more can be seen in 1080p than even real life. Keep reading however, and you'll notice more nuggets, like the suggestion that Lost might hide information in widescreen corners out of the reach of SDTV, a keen observation unfortunately beaten to the punch by more than two years. According to the author, we should thank SDTV for filtering out the unnecessary for all of these years, kept safe from HD's "commodified realness", that we (and likely you, unfortunate reader of this blog) are so sadly hooked on.
Compulsive e-mailing, texting could be classified as bona fide illness
Considering the plethora of facilities that have opened just in the past few years to deal solely with individuals that have become undoubtedly addicted to video games, the internet and all things Hello Kitty (we jest, we jest), we're not surprised one iota to hear that uncontrollably texting / e-mailing could soon become "classified as an official brain illness." According to a writeup in the latest American Journal of Psychiatry, internet addiction is a common ailment "that should be added to psychiatry's official guidebook of mental disorders." More specifically, Dr. Jerald Block, a psychiatrist at the Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, even goes so far as to argue that said phenomenon (neglecting basic drives to spend more time online) be "included in the [next edition of] Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, psychiatry's official dictionary of mental illnesses." Until then, we wish you the best of luck convincing that creature living in your basement with a dedicated T1 line that he / she isn't alright. [Via textually]
Korea's internet addict camp breaks dependence with crafts, drumming
We apologize in advance if any of what follows hits a little too close to home, but unless you're camped out in South Korea, you don't have to worry about being ripped from your computer and sent to the Jump Up Internet Rescue School. Much like the facility seen earlier this year in China, this compound attempts to rehabilitate citizens from their dependence on the intarweb by forcing coaxing them into less digital activities such as pottery and drumming (Rock Band, anyone?). South Korea, which boasts "nearly universal" internet access, offers up the camp free of charge to those admitted, and currently, around four to five habitual net users are applying for every one available spot. While there, campers engage in social activities and participate in group functions like horseback riding and wall climbing, but it remains to be seen if graduates of the program can really resist the temptation of relapsing once they return home. [Via NewsFactor / Yahoo]
Anti-drug ad implicates games' influence
Injury. Obesity. Becoming a murderer. These are just some of the risks we as gamers knowingly take on in deference to the hobby we love. But now there's a new risk. Apparently, playing video games can also turn us into drug addicts.A new TV ad from the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign features a mom talking to a virtual convict in a fictional crime simulator. The ne'er-do-well warns mom that her son and his friends think he's cool because all he does is "deal drugs ... smoke weed and cause trouble." Sounds like fun to us, but the virtual thug, in a moment of supreme self-awareness and social consciousness, tells mom that "in real life, drugs are nothing but trouble." How does the mom thank him for this information? By turning off the game, ignoring his pleas for a reprieve-granting reset.Like most anti-drug ads, the main message here is that parents should talk to their kids about drugs, which is something we can all get behind. But really, do the people behind this ad seriously think that kids are going to start experimenting with drugs just because they saw a video game character do it? We know kids can be easily suggestible, but give them some credit. They're not idiots. Check out the video after the break.[Via FileFront]
Game addiction on the rise, but 'stable' genes should prevent violent outbursts
When combined, a pair of new studies (conveniently stacked on GamePolitics.com) suggests that game addiction is a rising concern among American youth, but, if we also trust Aussie researchers, violent side effects are not. According to a new Harris poll, 8.5% of the US's youngsters are now clinically addicted to games, and as many as 23% have felt the jonesing itch for a fix. Thankfully, Australia's Swinburne University of Technology has published findings which indicate that violent games ('cause let's face it, violent games are the only kind American tweens get lifted on) don't increase the likelihood of a "stable" child becoming more aggressive.The Swinburne study seems to define "stable" as non-hyper. So, considering that about 7% of children are currently diagnosed with ADHD, presumably about 0.6% of America's young people (percentage of ADHD-diagnosed kids addicted to games) pose a potential threat to society. A small percentage no doubt, but with a reported 73.5 million children in the US in 2005, we could be living among something like 450,000 latent killer gamers -- hit the panic button![Disclosure: blogger's math skills have not been evaluated since December 1999; some calculations may be inaccurate. Call for panic still very real!]Read - Poll Indicates Game Addiction on the Rise Among YouthRead - Study Says Stable Kids Unaffected by Game Violence
Game addiction battled with silent sound
Hear that? No, you can't. But, according to a report in The Korea Times, venture start-up Xtive claims to have developed an inaudible sound sequence that could have already broadcast its message 200,000 times since you began reading this post. And what message is that?Xtive says its message will encourage so-called game addicts to stop playing. "Game users can't recognize the sounds. But their subconscious is aware of them and the chances are high they will quit playing," says company president Yun Yun-hae, before adding, "We can easily change the messages. In this sense, the potential for this technology is exponential." Yun then cracks a grin, followed by a sinister cackle. Exponential...[Via GamePolitics]
Obese gamer collapses, dies after "marathon" gaming session
Well here we go again. Reuters is reporting that a Chinese gamer has died after a "marathon," weeklong gaming session. The 26-year-old apparently collapsed on Saturday after he spent the entire week before (he'd been on break because of the Lunar New Year's celebration) playing an unidentified online game. A local teacher says the reason he played games for a full week was that because of the holiday, "there are only two options. TV or computer. What else can I do in the holiday as all markets, KTV and cafeterias are shut down?"Be prepared, I guess, to hear about this in all future media examinations of whether or not WoW is addictive. I won't argue that this isn't a sad thing to hear-- no matter what the real cause of this poor guy's death, there were serious problems there that should have been fixed a long time ago.But I will note that the article mentions the 26-year-old weighed 330 lbs. Why doesn't the headline say "Food addict dies"? Also of note, the last line of the article says that China considers 13% of its Internet users under 18 addicted. WoW, according to "experts," is supposed to be 40% addicts, but neither figure, as far as I can see, actually says what they define as "addicts"-- are they setting the bar for "addiction" low or high?
Shocker: Americans spend more time with PC than spouse
While one may argue that a computer doesn't talk back, disagree, or rub one the wrong way as we're sure just about everyone's spouse / SO definitely can, you must have somehow avoided the BSOD, kernel error, 404, clicking HDD, invalid drivers, and the host of other "cyber stresses" that can elicit all sorts of rage and frustration. A recent survey conducted by Kelton Research discovered that a majority of Americans (52-percent) said their "most recent experience with a computer problem provoked emotions such as anger, sadness or alienation," yet a whopping 65-percent of these same folks spend more time with their beloved computer than their own spouse. Adding even more fuel to the computer addict fire, 84-percent of responders stated that they were "more dependent on their home computer now than they were just three years ago." Interestingly enough, rather than founding some sort of rehab facility to coax folks away from the keyboard and back into reality, SupportSoft is looking to provide loving, caring advice to help folks suffering from "cyber stress" solve their PC troubles without tearing down the house. Essentially, the service actually encourages folks glued to their computer to stay that way, as the new startup looks to provide answers to the issues that could eventually run even the most loyal computer user back to their oft forgotten spouse, but the company does insinuate that by solving PC quandaries, folks will have more time to spend when the ones they love. Nevertheless, we can't say these figures are entirely shocking, especially when you consider that folks would take an iPod over booze and nearly anything trendy for an SO.[Via TGDaily]
Civilization causes missed book deadline
Ever spent months getting absolutely nothing done because you're so obsessed with a game? You're not alone. British sci-fi author Iain Banks has admitted that his next book, Matter, will be delayed due to the author's crippling Civilization addiction. The Independent reports that the author of The Player of Games played the game for three months straight without getting any work done.To solve the problem, Banks eventually had to "delete all the saved files and smash the CD." There's always the chance of a relapse, though -- maybe someone should tell this guy about Civilization Anonymous.[Via Idle Thumbs]
