Studies on Gaming Addiction?

twigles asks: "Every gamer I know worthy of the title has logged 8+ hours straight on their favorite game. But I've seen several people become so hopelessly addicted to gaming that they cease to function in the real world. After having witnessed two married couples deal with alcoholism (one made it, one didn't) the symptoms are strikingly similar. Has anyone actually dealt with this with any success? I've seen occasional articles mention this problem, but are there any studies?"

Comments

Maclean Hospital

[gcatullus]

Maclean Hospital in Boston, affliated with Harvard Med School, has a department devoted to computer addiction http://computeraddiction.com/

Re:Maclean Hospital

[gcatullus]

damn those pesky links try http://www.computeraddiction.com/

From experience

[sdirrim]

While it is not a biological addiction (debatable), gaming can force the gamer to do outlandish things, including the expenditure of inordinate amounts of money for the sole sake of entertainment. However, addiction is defined as "A behavior that causes the performer to continue the behavior even with obvious negative consequences that would otherwise cause the person to not perform the task in the first place." So according to that, the addiction of gaming is debateable, but from personal experience, it is.