Is computer gaming negatively affecting your life?

ffreeloader · Jul 23, 2006

Oh man! Ad-blocking software has been detected! :'(

This website is run by the community, for the community... and it needs advertisements in order to keep running. Blocking our ads means your killing our stats!
Please disable your ad-block, or become a premium member to hide all advertisements and this notice.

If it is, you have company.

AMSTERDAM, July 13 (Reuters) - Addiction expert Keith Bakker hopes the serenity of a 16th century townhouse on one of Amsterdam's canals will coax those snared in the fantasy world of online games back to reality.

The townhouse, where sunlight warms the honey-coloured wood of the centuries-old floors, houses Europe's first clinic for people hooked on playing online games.

It is run by addiction consultants Smith & Jones, who felt there was a need for treatment even though experts are still debating whether excessive game playing is an addiction.

"We started seeing it about two years ago, people started coming in with gaming as sort of a secondary problem," Smith & Jones director Bakker, 45, said.

"Then, we got one kid in who was gaming 18 hours a day and I wanted to send him somewhere and we looked around and there was nothing, so we started looking into it," said Bakker, who struggled himself with drugs and alcohol in the past.

Smith & Jones began offering day programmes to help gamers, both those playing online and those hooked on video games.

"There are groups, however, that don't easily change or those that come in for a day programme and will tell you all the wonderful things you want to hear and go home and are online again," Bakker said.

Smith & Jones now offers in-patient programmes for a dozen people at a time, lasting four to six weeks.

Those checking in have often put their livesschool, work, friends, personal hygieneon hold to keep playing, using anything from Red Bull to cocaine to stay alert.
Click to expand...

You can read the rest of this 2 page article from extremetech.com here. It ought to be sobering if you do have any of the symptoms of gaming addiction in your life. It can very easily destroy a person as the symptoms for this are the same as the symptoms for drug and alcohol or gambling addictions, and those will eat a person up and spit them out in a big hurry.

Baba O'Riley · Jul 23, 2006

Oh man! Ad-blocking software has been detected! :'(

This website is run by the community, for the community... and it needs advertisements in order to keep running. Blocking our ads means your killing our stats!
Please disable your ad-block, or become a premium member to hide all advertisements and this notice.

It's scary. Wasn't there a Chinese guy a few months back who died of dehydration after playing WoW in a cybercafe for 48 hours straight? Or something like that anyway. Crazy.

[EDIT] I couldn't find that story, but here are two others that make me wonder about the world. (1) & (2) .

I've never been a believer in the "games and films make you want to kill people theory", but things like this, and the fact that gaming is becoming a recognised addiction are beginning to make me change my opinions.

Phoenix · Jul 24, 2006

Theres also a few examples in the far east of people killing people for things that happen in a game
one guy conned a guy out of a high end 'in game' sword, ie one that might take months to get hold of, and the guy stabbed him to death

i guess some people just take the games a tad too seriously

Log in or Sign up

Is computer gaming negatively affecting your life?

ffreeloader Terabyte Poster

Baba O'Riley Gigabyte Poster

Phoenix 53656e696f7220 4d6f64

Share This Page

Navigation

Popular Forums

Useful Links

Log in or Sign up

Is computer gaming negatively affecting your life?

ffreeloader Terabyte Poster

Baba O'Riley Gigabyte Poster

Phoenix 53656e696f7220 4d6f64

Share This Page

Useful Searches