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Coping with Gaming Addiction
Several readers submitted this story in the Washington Post about gaming addiction in adolescents and adults. The main sources of the story are two people who get paid for solving this problem, so they have an incentive to make it sound scary and widespread, but on the other hand, most Slashdot readers probably have a... friend... who spends too much time playing video games.
Perhaps you should learn a little more about addiction before you spew this crap out.
Addiction is based on a genetic predisposition. Some people have it; some people don't. A good test for if someone is addicted is if the consequenses outweigh the benefits, yet the behavior persists.
For example, there are people who drink a beer every day, yet can quit should they need the money, or if their family starts to suffer because of it.
Then again, there are alcoholhics, who are unable to stop even when it costs them their spouse, children, job, and respect of their peers. That is addiction. Is knocking back some booze worth the loss of everything else in your life you hold dear? To an addict, the answer is yes.
The same thing can hold true for an MMORPG. Lots of people play them, and have no problems. In some cases, the game fills a need, and is rather enjoyable (and thus hard to give up, because there is no good reason to.) However, for some people, the game _is_ addictive. People have jost their jobs, and their families, because they could not get away from the screen. That is addiction.
Anything that fills a need can be addictive. Some things are naturally more addictive than others. However, whether you end up an addict is largely based on genetics. Come from a long line of alcoholics? You probably should not drink, as you are predisposed towards alcohol addiction.