WoW and Game Addiction
Twitch Guro reports on the latest video game addiction stupidity making the rounds. Clinical psychologist Dr. Maressa Orzack, founder of the Computer Addiction Services at McLean Hospital in Newton, Mass., says some of the signs of gaming addiction are dry eyes, headaches, backaches and erratic sleep patterns. Or maybe that's just the flu.
Orzack, who is also a professor at Harvard Medical School, runs the outpatient clinic for game addiction.
Rob Wright does an excellent job of questioning Orzack's beliefs on gaming addiction in an interview with the professor.
Here's a taste:
RW: Give me an example of a typical case.Dr. Orzack: I was talking with a patient, a young man, the other day. He was a heavy World of Warcraft player, and I asked him what happens when he plays the game: was he simply playing a virtual character or did he feel like he was actually in the game? He told me when he plays, he is in the game completely. He had become immersed in World of Warcraft and had trouble removing himself from that virtual world. I also asked what he expected to find each time he turned on the game, and his answer was a sense of belonging. This individual came from a family that was unfortunately breaking up, and World of Warcraft was his way to escape that. This 18-year-old individual was miserable. He didn't get along with any of his family members and kept withdrawing into the game.
RW: Then aren't the issues at home more of a problem than the actual games themselves?
Dr. Orzack: No, I disagree. You can't say that about Blizzard, which structures the games like World of Warcraft to be addictive. They design these MMORPGs to keep people in the game. I do think the problem is tied in with other things like family issues, but the games themselves are inherently addictive. That's ultimately the cause of the problem.
I don't think the American Psychological Association has yet officially recognized video game addiction as its own special disorder yet in the Diagnostic Resource Manual, but it's only a matter of time.
40 Percent of World of Warcraft Players Addicted [Twitch Guru]