Dr. Jerald Block is an Oregon Psychiatrist who deals with gaming addiction, an ever-growing and, according to Block, under-recognized form of addiction with complicated pitfalls for treatment.
World of Warcraft addicts, for instance, have a hard time getting treatment because of the language barrier between the therapist and the patient as many psychiatrists have no idea what a guild is or what it means to advance in levels.
Even more interestingly, porn addicts feel less shame when addicted than WoW fans.
Block says: As a society we understand that porn is something people do, and you can see a psychiatrist and get treated for it. But gaming is hard to describe to anyone else. So these people can't explain their situation to friends. In fact, it's hard to give you an example of what my clients talk about, because gaming is enormously complicated.
Also, Jack Thompson apparently gets the first comment on the Game Politics article, and if that really is him, it shows how delusional and computer illiterate he really is.
gamepolitics.com: Shrink: WoW Addicts Feel More Shame Than Porn Addicts
WoW Addicts More Shameful Than Porn AddictsPosted by Ty Colfax - Tuesday, June 10, 2008 10:17 AM
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or you could use a little self control...Lacking that is a totally different story than just taking responibility for your actions. If someone lacks self control, they are retarded.
J/k lol
I call total BS, not on the Doctor - but the supposed "victim".
I am not saying that people shouldn't have self control, when I have stuff to do I don't play games and when I don't I probably play them to much. But we aren't talking someone who plays to many video games for to long a time, the article is addressing video game addiction and how it relates to the game WOW. Addiction as in when I do not have this in my life my psychological processes are interrupted/negatively affected/down right stopped. These people probably have extreme anxiety issues and panic attacks when they are not playing WOW or have not played WOW in so many hours. These people probably realize that their life is being negatively affected by the time they spend in game, but when they are not in game it is all tehy can think about
so i retract part of my previous statement, you are right that the physicall addiction is shorter lived than the mental, however i find it hard to believe that some one who was addicted to wow would still have the mental addiction that i still do from nicotine after a year.
@ undiscoveredbum, u make a very valid point however slightly insensitive to mental addictions that can linger. Even though i have never been addicted (to an unhealthy point) to anything except nicotine and the friendly green lady named mary(mind you i no longer do either)
@torino_elite
Yeah quiting smoking was a very hard thing for me to do as well
My sentiments exactly. Being addicted to WOW is geeky but being addicted to porn is just being a guy (or in some cases a girl).
PS. An porn addicted girls out there. I'll show you mine if you show me your big box of porn'.
father "Joey, what are you up to?"
rufling*
father "Joey..."
opens door*
father "oh my god! Is that tier 6?"
Joey "I'm sorry, my freinds showed me how to get to this"
father "we need to talk..."
Solution: Get a real job, or keep the one you have.
LOL!!!! I could only imagine!
(Dialogue)
Patient: I just can't do it Doc!
Doctor: Yes you can
Patient: I just need to level up Doc!
Doctor: Hmmm, tell me how you feel??
Patient: I feel like in order to see the light I need to level up!
Doctor: ????? Excuse me nurse! But can you dismiss all my calls from now on? We're gonna be here for a while...
LOL!!!!!!!!!!
No I do not think that the comparison between hard drugs and video game addiction is that far fetched. The major difference is the level of addiction and the risks involved in each addiction. People are so addicted to these hard drugs that they are willing to put themselves in dangerous situations to get their fix (enter AIDs and other diseases). Some homeless people (and other people) are willing to smoke cigarette butts they find on the ground and get sick, sometimes getting Gonorrhea (can be transmitted orally),hepatitis (rare but can happen), and many different forms of oral herpes. Video Game addicts are not faced with the same risks do to the fact that playing video games in itself is not dangerous. But many people eat and play or neglect eating at all, neglect any kind of physical activity, have piss and dump cans next to their computer desk.
The dangers in drug addiction are worse but the level of risks and neglect that either addicts are will to go to is the same or at least at eh same level on every level
or chuck norris can just come to your house kick your @ss and make you go to work.
Check out my blog about it on my myspace
www.myspace.com/rfwill13
When you can recall the ENTIRE history of Doctor Who, then AND now, then you're a super nerd. On the other hand, the adult industry's getting a MUCH needed rest! XP
P.S.: I'm a new school Whovian, so an old school or new school or a mix here, not offending and don't want to start a flame war!
a WoW addiction is just as bad as a drug addiction though they effect the user in different ways, i would not be surprised if, when tests are done, that they found playing WoW, for some, releases the same or similar levels of chemicals that drugs do - in order to get that euphoric feeling.
like many people i have witness first hand what the game does to people, i have experienced it myself and just like drug users who get to a point where they don't want to use anymore, WoW addicts should have a place to go where they can get a professional level of help, i suppose you could extend that to all video game addictions. unlike the internet its srs bizness, i mean babies have died because of people addictions to the game.
dude drugs should not be compared to video games, and there is rarely a point in drug users life were they just reach a sudden stopping point (unless loss of mind or life happens). and if babies are dying cuz thier addictions to games that sounds like aload of crap. You cannot say video games give you the same feelings as drugs. unless you have never tried drugs or video games then your basing your opinions on hear say.
I will agree that the physical dependence and physical dangers associated with drug use are not present with video game addiction, and i agree that video game addiction is and can be a real addiction. I just wanted to clarify, and i should have done it better, that some of the dangers and what have you cannot be compared between the two. but i guess mentally....addiction is addiction, it comes in many different forms.
also
chuck norris never sleeps... he waits.
i never said that drugs give one the same feeling i only posited that they could possibly.
perhaps my point wasn't made right btu you cannot argue that they are both addictions and as such should be treated with the same or similar degree whether it be drugs or mmo's.
do some google search on babies dying because of neglect from parents.
the reasons are similar and the consequences are also similar for both drugs and WoW. do they effect the user in the same way? not entirely. physiologically i would say there might be similarities ie; similar brain chemical imbalances, withdrawl symptoms.
the comparison to drugs is not a bad one at all.
thats why its an addiction. it drew the mother and father in SO much that they neglected their baby. similar to the way drugs can take people away from their family.
yes i know treatment will differ, i never argued that but that doesn't make them incomparable.
i know some people hooked on drugs and they know whats going and that they shouldn't be doing it but they still do, so to say that they have no idea whats going on is utter fallacy, though i would agree it may be possible because they are too far gone.
lastly, instincts can fail in the presence of addiction. the very idea of doing drugs is agaisnt our nature, (doing bad things against our bodies paradoxically though its also apart of our nature - curiosity.)
I am just going to say this comparing a heavy drug user to a heavy gamer does not work. Maybe they are both addicted to somenthing but what they are addicted to are completely different. In the drug world this is almost like comparing a pot head to a smack head. One could very easily be quit due to the type of addiction and one is said to be the MOST addicting substance on earth. And if you think someone on a smack binge or meth binge has a good idea of whats going on your the one speakin fallacy. If you have ever done or really seen anyone on a heavy drug you would know this. Trust me your talking to someone who has over come heavy addictions and for me to hear that a video game is comparable to all the things i have quit pretty much makes me laugh.