addiction
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Rehab Clinic Open for Gaming Addicts
It looks like the time is coming where we will be forced to view video game addiction as a real disease, instead of just making fun of it. After all, there is now an actual rehab center to deal especially with this particular back-hopping monkey. And where else in the world would be home to a detox center for gamers? Why, Amsterdam, of course! The cradle of recovery & self-control!As reported in this article from BrettBart.com, the Netherlands' Smith & Jones Addiction Consultants (come on, is that the real name?) are successfully treating a host of patients who have let their virtual lives take over their own, even some who entered treatment for drug problems before realizing that their real trouble was video games...I'm not sure what to think about this; while I am sure on the one hand that plenty of people have screwed their lives up from wasting too many hours on games, on the other hand, offering a therapudic resident recovery program for people who just can't stop trying to get their Orc to the next level sounds a wee bit...coddling to me. Like, if we say that it's a real problem, we'll actually make it into one, whether it really is or not. In any case, I'm sure we'll be seeing this pop up in the domestic psychology world soon...so I'm just waiting for the first time someone blames his five felony homicides on needing money to deck out his Gnome Warlock.
Blackberry detox offered at Chicago-area hotel
We've heard plenty about the negative effects of Blackberry dependence -- eye damage, thumb damage, the complete loss of interpersonal communication skills -- but Chicago hotel general manager Rick Ueno is helping his guests kick their high-tech habit. Upon check-in to the Sheraton Chicago, you can surrender your precious handheld -- we're assuming any type of life-stealing smartphone is eligible -- where a non-robotic clerk will keep it under lock and key until you break down and ask for it back. It was Ueno's own addiction that sparked the idea for the free program, so he understands how hard it is to go cold turkey, even if you're only out of touch from the time you check in until you fire up the in-room WiFi connection.[Thanks Alex N]
European game addiction clinic opens next month
Smith & Jones, addiction consultants, have latched on to a goldmine -- an obsessive type of behaviour that has few treatment options, save their soon-to-be-opened treatment centre in the Netherlands. The behaviour? Gaming, of course.Their target is the gamer stereotype -- a socially awkward adolescent boy who spends 18 hours a day locked in his room pretending to shoot people. Their treatment? Get out more."You can't do a urine test to see that they're not still gaming. And if a coke addict said they wanted to go out to a club or to see people, we'd be worried about whether they'd meet a dealer. But if a gamer said he wanted to go out for the night and meet people we'd throw a party."Whether there are sufficient game addicts in Europe with the funds for expensive private treatment, we don't know. However, for those who are addicted to games, in whatever form, a new form of treatment may well be welcomed.
Does depression lead to cellphone addiction, or vice versa?
In another classic "chicken-or-the-egg" type of conundrum, a newly released study is claiming that instead of a so-called "cellphone addiction" causing people depression and lower self-esteem, as we'd previously heard, the supposed addiction may actually be triggered by those very same negative feelings. In a study of school-aged South Korean children, Dr. Jee Hyan Ha found that those students who used their phones the most (90 or more times a day, including SMS) also tended to score higher on a psychological test intended to measure a person's level of depression. Although none of the students' scores reached the level of clinical depression, the heaviest users were observed to have significantly more self-identity issues than average, suggesting to researchers that communicating via cellphone made the "addicts" feel popular. So which is it: does heavy cellphone use lead to depression, or does depression lead to heavy cellphone use -- or is it just a vicious cycle with no end and no beginning?[Via textually]
Blame the Parents?
By now, you've all probably heard the tragic story of a 13-year-old Chinese boy who committed suicide after a marathon session playing Warcraft 3. The parents of the boy have filed a lawsuit against the game's Chinese distributors, but the author of this article from the University of South Florida Oracle makes the case that the boy's parents, rather than the game, are really to blame.Although the article is short & doesn't give much reasoning to back up the author's point, I have to say that I agree, at least in principle. It is the parent's responsibility to teach their children the difference between fantasty & reality, after all. I have, and have always had, serious doubts about the media's ability to 'corrupt' our children, as long as we're talking about a sane, well-adjusted child to begin with. As Dennis Miller once said on the subject: "If your kids can be influenced by anything Gene Simmons has to say, then you're not doing your job as a parent somewhere down the line." I don't see where video games are any different. What do you all think?
Young and Wired
In the continuing saga of our nation's youth being taken over by evil computer overlords, the San Fransisco Chronicle has jumped into the scene with an article about technology use among teens, and what the consequences might be.According to research by the Kaiser Foundation (apparently they study more than just rolls), young people spend over 6 hours per day engrossed in some form of media or the other, which is up an hour from five years ago. And yes, of course WoW gets to share a little bit of the blame.It's hard for me to even imagine growing up today as a kid, with the internet & all the other technology we have available. There's a pretty good chance that if I'd had a modern PC when I was 13 or so, I would have never left the house...especially if my parents were as lax about monitoring it as they were about cable TV.
More on WoW Addiction in Students
From today's issue of the Rocky Mountain Collegian, the school paper of Colorado State University, comes another article concerning the addictive properties of WoW and the effects it can have on one's schoolastic life. The article talks with several students who detail the reasons that they just can't break themselves away from the game screen, and touches on numerous other points that we've all heard before, but shouldn't expect to hear the last of any time soon.One student does have a good quote illustrating why he no longer plays the game, however: "I like to live, breathe and eat, so I don't play that game anymore."
Study likens cellphone dependence to an addiction
A recent study by the Queensland University in Australia discovered what we've already pretty much known from several years of smartphone ownership, which is that people's reliance on their cellphones can often take the form of an addiction. Diana James and her colleagues analyzed the behavior of mobile owners 45-and-under in situations where they were separated from their phones, and found that many displayed the same withdrawal symptoms common to smoking, gambling, or eating addictions: lower self esteem, nervousness, and in some cases, even deep agitation. Besides emotional problems, excessive calling and texting can lead to steep cellphone bills and even the occasional repetitive stress injury, warns James, who says that if you're using your phone to make yourself feel better at the expense of your job or your health, then you may have a problem. Don't worry, though, you're not alone...[Via textually]
WoW Moviewatch: Pulling the Plug
What happens when WoW addiction goes too far? Where does the real responsibility lie? At what point should loved ones & the federal government step in? The burning questions continue...sort of.
WoW Moviewatch: WoW Addicts
Ever seen that show Intevention, where they stick a bunch of cameras in someone's face & confront them with all the ways they're screwing up? This is kind of like that, only without all the care & professionalism. Still, I think they guy seems genuinely concerned about his friend...or else he's just way bored of watching him play WoW all day.
Breakfast Topic: Game Over (redux)
Drakedog's graceful exit made me think about leaving the game as a concept again (although not something I'm planning on doing any time soon). The video shows two things--the popularity of WoW machinima, and how easy it is to casually destroy everything you've spent hours working towards.If you leave (or when you left), how will you go? Quietly? Via eBay? Or will you make a statement, solemnly destroying your epics (so you can't be tempted back), clad in the clothes you started out in, sitting cross-legged on the floor waiting for your doom?Me, I'd probably run naked into an opposing faction city for laughs. I'm that kinda girl.
The science behind game addiction
Are games addictive? That's the question posed over at Gamasutra, and Neils Clark has gone into some detail to explain the science behind addiction and its relevance to gaming. Unfortunately, the answer isn't as clear-cut as a simple "yes" or "no".Addiction itself is a complicated area of psychology and neuroscience, and it's often implicated with gaming by those who fail to understand either concept. What's increasingly clear from this article is that there may be flaws in research relating to game addiction--from conceptual confusion to extended assumptions, as well as the tendency to embrace concepts before they are fully investigated. Clark points out that "research has simply suggested that at most, people are becoming addicted to games, not that games themselves are actually responsible for addicting people."
World of WarCrack Addiction.
How much time do you have to spend on a game to classify is as an addiction? I suspect that the number is different for each person, but there comes a point for every player where the game starts to intrude on real-life responsibilities. There are some whose iron will allows them to limit themselves to playing only a few hours a week, and more power to them. There are also we lucky few whose responsibilities include playing WoW, but for most people there are very few concrete benefits, aside from those ingame friendships which spring up. When WoW starts to take over real life, every player faces a decision. Matthew Rorie over at GameSpot was faced with that tough decision, and he decided to go cold turkey. He's out. Gave all his gold and items away and deleted his characters.Let's be real. WoW is really, really fun. It is the most fun I've ever had with a video game. I love it so much that it is difficult for me to admit to myself that it is pretty much a waste of time, as are most "leisure" activities. This isn't a problem, since there are no rules that require people to be constantly productive. However, some people find that "waste" of time abhorrent and quit. This is not to disparage WoW and it's devoted playerbase, of which I am proud to call myself a member, but it is important to call attention to the people who start to feel like their lives are slowly being consumed by the game.Are you addicted to WoW, and if so, is that a bad thing?
