Posted on 07/08/2007 3:05:07 PM PDT by Eric Blair 2084
At an addiction treatment center in Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, teenagers and young adults begin detox by admitting they are powerless over their addiction. But these addicts aren't hooked on drugs or alcohol. They are going cold turkey to break their dependence on video games.
Keith Bakker, director of Smith & Jones Addiction Consultants, tells WebMD he created the new program in response to a growing problem among young men and boys. "The more we looked at it, the more we saw [gaming] was taking over the lives of kids."
Detox for video game addiction may sound like a stretch, but addiction experts say the concept makes sense. "I was surprised we didn't think of it here in America," says Kimberly Young, PsyD, clinical director of the Center for On-Line Addiction and author of Caught in the Net: How to Recognize the Signs of Internet Addiction -- and a Winning Strategy for Recovery. "I've had so many parents call me over the last year or two, particularly about the role-playing games online. I see it getting worse as the opportunity to game grows - for example, cell phone gaming."
But can a game truly become an addiction? Absolutely, Young tells WebMD. "It's a clinical impulse control disorder," an addiction in the same sense as compulsive gambling.
Defining Addiction
While most people associate addiction with substances, such as drugs or alcohol, doctors recognize addictive behaviors as well. In a WebMD feature on the definition of addiction, psychiatrist Michael Brody, MD, set forth the following criteria:
The person needs more and more of a substance or behavior to keep him going. If the person does not get more of the substance or behavior, he becomes irritable and miserable. Young says compulsive gaming meets these criteria, and she has seen severe withdrawal symptoms in game addicts. "They become angry, violent, or depressed. If [parents] take away the computer, their child sits in the corner and cries, refuses to eat, sleep, or do anything."
Mo money, mo money, mo money.
Good Grief. I was “hooked” on basketball until I was 18. Put up a hoop and throw’em a ball. Life will take over.
Bump!
If you all want to read some sad tales, do a search under, “Everquest Widows.”
Since I lost my Wife to this, I’ve been there helping others deal with it.
LOL, Sniff :P)
The gaming manufacturers have made this as addictive as the tobacco companies have made cigarettes. They target kids that don’t like their reality so they instead substitute one they will like. It’s the great escape.
The parents should be the ones putting their foot down to this nonsense and tossing these damn X-boxes in the trash where they belong. Or better yet, never buying them at all.
Young kids today are getting fat because they are living on junk food only the thing they exercise is their thumbs. When we were kids we went outside and played and we burned off all food we ate.
rant off
I remember 15 years ago, I deleted a golf game from my laptop. I found myself playing it at work and I couldn’t resist.
I was determined to par the 17th island hole at TPC Sawgrass.
I agree. The only video games that our kids are allowed to play are educational. If Buzz Lightyear or Dora are going to help them learn to read and do math, I'll put up with it. But we all know it's just a matter of time before the Gubmint and nanny state liberal do gooders step in.
It’s not a rant, it is a fact. :^/
How did you do in Utah, I had a 67.
What the hell is that? A scene from “Grand Theft Auto”??
LOL!! Does that bring back some memories for me!!!
Dora teaches spanish.
On the real course, or the online one?
That is probably why I found that golf game addictive. As opposed to real life where I can’t break 85, even an amateur can compete with the pros after 1 month of practice online.
Fantasy is much better than reality. That is the way the game manufacturers intended it I’m sure.
I don’t care how ornate ,involved or graphically sophisticated video games get—Space Invaders still rules !
LOL, Thanks :^)
Hence the name, Boiling point.
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