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Detox Clinic Opening for Video Game Addicts

Blue6 writes "An addiction center is opening Europe's first detox clinic for game addicts, offering in-house treatment for people who can't leave their joysticks alone. Video games may look innocent, but they can be as addictive as gambling or drugs, and just as hard to kick, says Keith Bakker, director of Amsterdam-based Smith & Jones Addiction Consultants." I'm pretty sure the amount of time I've spent in the world of Azeroth in the past year counts as addiction. Someone tell my parents I still love them, while I mine this ore.

210 comments

  1. Newspeak by lga · · Score: 4, Funny

    "Addiction Consultants" - is that what we are calling drug dealers now?

    1. Re:Newspeak by BakaHoushi · · Score: 1

      Psst. Hey, how'd you like to have some real fun? I got some "World of Warcraft" right here for you... And hey, don't sweat it, the first taste (or month) is free, 'cause once you have some, you'll be back.

    2. Re:Newspeak by phantomflanflinger · · Score: 1

      It's appropriate that it's in Amsterdam - they know all about addiction there. And is it just a coincidence that teh_pwnerer himself was there on the 14th?

      --
      shin phantomflanflinger
    3. Re:Newspeak by I+Like+Pudding · · Score: 1

      Interestingly enough, they cost less than normal consultants

    4. Re:Newspeak by Creepy · · Score: 1

      damn you, now I'm Jones'n for a level.

    5. Re:Newspeak by PHanT0 · · Score: 1

      Is this the equivalent to a WOW server admin or the tech support guy?

  2. Joysticks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    I can't leave mine alone either.

    1. Re:Joysticks by AstrumPreliator · · Score: 4, Funny

      They have a different clinic for that joystick problem.

    2. Re:Joysticks by sa1lnr · · Score: 5, Funny

      And we are all here posting on it. ;)

    3. Re:Joysticks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      mod parent funny. i'd do it myself but somehow i missed the modpoints today.

    4. Re:Joysticks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Sure it's a funny comment, but there's a hint of truth underlying it. Gaming addiction is now being recognised as something that stops people from living their lives properly, and I hope porn addiction gets that sort of recognition soon too. Everyone likes to laugh about it, because for a lot of people it's harmless occasional release. But sex hormones are some of the most powerfully addictive chemicals in your body, and it's easy to see how people could form a habit of it - especially given today's easy availability of porn. I wish porn addiction would come into the light, and a scientific, non-religious program developed to help addicts to break the habit.

    5. Re:Joysticks by lukas84 · · Score: 1

      Whats your point? You only hurt yourself when you're addicted to porn. Thus i don't think that this is a problem on a larger scale. Like driving under influence, or something along that line.

    6. Re:Joysticks by Harker · · Score: 1

      I've been spending way too much time playing games to play with my joystick...

      H.

      --
      When VCR's are outlawed, only outlaws will have VCR's.
    7. Re:Joysticks by jank1887 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Addiction hurts others either directly (e.g., your DUI example) or indirectly (e.g., skipping work so you can mine that ore or beat it to Jenna Jameson for the 5th time today...). Or leaving your little kid alone in the bathtub so you can squeeze in "just 5 minutes" more computer time (for either of the above). Or neglecting "insert responsibility here" so you can "insert addictive activity here", adversely affecting others around you, usually familiy members who depend on you in some way. Sure, you didn't plow through a crowded sidewalk with your car, but it doesn't mean your addiction doesn't hurt anyone else.

    8. Re:Joysticks by Walt+Dismal · · Score: 3, Funny

      I'm not addicted to porn. I could have stopped *any time* I wanted to since puberty, in the last 45 years. I'll demonstrate right now... stopping...stopping... almost stopping...almost stopping..trying to stop... trying ... ARGGGGGGHHH! ARGGGGGHHHH! Give me BACK my pictures of Cmdr Taco, the bearskin rug, and the bullwhip. NOW! {quiver} {pant} Damn your soft, succulent lips, Rob Malda!

    9. Re:Joysticks by dusik · · Score: 1

      I'd mod parent up, but I can't let go of my joooooy stiiiiick!!!!

    10. Re:Joysticks by Darth+Paul · · Score: 1

      So what if you play games until you drop dead? "You're only hurting yourself"
      So what if you eat until you're diabetic and obese? "You're only hurting yourself"
      So what if you OD on recreational drugs, die alone, and nobody finds your body for 2 months? "You're only hurting yourself"
      So what if you jerk it to porn all day, stay home and lose your job? "You're only hurting yourself"
      ... and so on

      For all of the above:
      - even if you're only hurting yourself, you're not helping anybody either. You consume the worlds resources and health care/rehab services, but don't contribute much value in return. We can't afford to have many of these people in the world; we should help them get over their problem and into a life that is fulfilling to themselves, and contributory to the world.
      - even if you're only hurting yourself, it's simply sad to hear of these things happening. Life wasn't meant to be lived this way!

    11. Re:Joysticks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I just threw up in my mouth a little.

    12. Re:Joysticks by Some_Llama · · Score: 1

      "For all of the above:
      - even if you're only hurting yourself, you're not helping anybody either. You consume the worlds resources and health care/rehab services, but don't contribute much value in return. We can't afford to have many of these people in the world; we should help them get over their problem and into a life that is fulfilling to themselves, and contributory to the world."

      Hello, I am not your worker ant, I don't need to contribute anything to be considered worthy in your eyes. You aren't paying for my life so butt out of it. Why do I have to be constantly helping someone else in order for my life to be considered "valid". If I am happy playing WOW 80 hours a week then so be it, I don't need someone else telling me what makes my life valuable.

      "- even if you're only hurting yourself, it's simply sad to hear of these things happening. Life wasn't meant to be lived this way!""

      Maybe it was meant to be lived this way, who the hell are you to tell anyone how to enjoy life? Maybe I find living a milktoast life, never taking risks, never pursuing my own pleasure, simply sad. Does this give me the right to tell you that your "wasting resources". Hell no.

  3. Quaking in my boots by mo'o+ahi · · Score: 4, Funny

    Hi, my name is Mo and I'm a Quake addict...

    1. Re:Quaking in my boots by scsirob · · Score: 4, Funny

      Hi Mo..

      --
      To Terminate, or not to Terminate, that's the question - SCSIROB
    2. Re:Quaking in my boots by WildWon · · Score: 2, Funny

      Hi Mo.

    3. Re:Quaking in my boots by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Hi Mo!

    4. Re:Quaking in my boots by Danga · · Score: 1

      I want to play Mo Quake!

      --
      Hey, there is only one Return and it's not of the King, it's of the Jedi.
    5. Re:Quaking in my boots by AndroidCat · · Score: 1

      So just what exactly is a gamer's "Higher Power"?

      --
      One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
    6. Re:Quaking in my boots by PrayingWolf · · Score: 1

      Hi Mo - we're going to support you in this hard time.

    7. Re:Quaking in my boots by Durinthal · · Score: 1

      I first read that as "we're going to support you hard this time." Don't really want to think about what that implies.

      ..and shouldn't everyone be an AC in this discussion until they reveal their name?

    8. Re:Quaking in my boots by BakaHoushi · · Score: 1

      I can't speak for everyone, but for me... Shigeru Miyamoto.

    9. Re:Quaking in my boots by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So are we going to identify all video game addicts from now on as "Friends of Mo W"?

    10. Re:Quaking in my boots by Tim+C · · Score: 1

      Well, as Mo is a Quake addict, it's going to have to be either the Elder Gods or Quad Dammage surely...

    11. Re:Quaking in my boots by moro_666 · · Score: 1

      Obligatory : RAILGUN

      People on slashdot should be aware of that abc truth of life ;)

      --

      I'd tell you the chances of this story being a dupe, but you wouldn't like it.
    12. Re:Quaking in my boots by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "I'm in a 12-step program for violence. Let me introduce you to my higher power biatch..."

    13. Re:Quaking in my boots by LouisZepher · · Score: 1

      higher power != supplier

    14. Re:Quaking in my boots by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Noob Saibot

  4. DUPE by ClamIAm · · Score: 3, Informative
    1. Re:DUPE by Zedrick · · Score: 1

      Don't worry, I'm sure it will take less than 2 days before it's posted again.

    2. Re:DUPE by biglig2 · · Score: 1

      Well, we can't blame the editors, this is clearly a very addictive post.

      --
      ~~~~~ BigLig2? You mean there's another one of me?
    3. Re:DUPE by ClamIAm · · Score: 1

      We'll probably have to watch Digg and Technocrat for the story about the Dupe detox center...

    4. Re:DUPE by Herkum01 · · Score: 1

      "My name is CmdrTaco... I am a dupe poster addict..."

      Slashdot: "Hi Taco!"

    5. Re:DUPE by RickBauls · · Score: 1

      I give this article: (Score:1, Redundant)

  5. I think the editors need to go to a clinic by Sycraft-fu · · Score: 1, Redundant

    They need to get treated for... ummmm. What's it called now... Some condition where you can't remember things. It's like you can't remember what you just did. Wait remember what? What was I talking about? Oh that's right the editors need to go to a clinic for.... something... can't remember the name....

    Seriously. You'd think they'd try their own search or something :P

    1. Re:I think the editors need to go to a clinic by grammar+fascist · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Seriously. You'd think they'd try their own search or something :P

      Why would they do that? It gives us the opportunity to repost smart things someone else said in the other discussion without getting modded Redundant.

      For instance, I might state:

      - I'm sure Jack Thompson will use this to leverage his arguments
      - It'll be sandwiched between two hash-bars on Main street
      - They'll just be trading a gaming addiction for another kind of addiction, like AA does swapping alcohol for Jesus
      - Most "12 step" programs are quacky and don't work
      - That if you're in Amsterdam and you can't find anything more interesting to get addicted to than games, you really do need help
      - Gaming isn't a "drug," but it does stimulate pleasure centers and thus can be addictive (like sugary foods, I guess)
      - You could probably pay Chinese and Korean powerlevelers to shoot you right up through that 12-step program for a small fee

      But I'd just be karma-whoring.

      --
      I got my Linux laptop at System76.
    2. Re:I think the editors need to go to a clinic by Susceptor · · Score: 1

      i think what you have qualifies as a pot addiction. good luck with the treatment :)

      --
      Fool me once...shame on you, fool me twice...won't be fooled again (our president)
    3. Re:I think the editors need to go to a clinic by kfg · · Score: 1

      Maybe Cowboy Neal is smoking weed to stay . . . awake?

      I don't know, maybe that Dutch shit is different, or the truckers have got it all wrong.

      KFG

    4. Re:I think the editors need to go to a clinic by clem · · Score: 1

      You'd think that CowboyNeil would look at a gaming-related submission and just figure that Zonk had it covered. Oh, well.

      --
      Your courageous and selfless spelling corrections have made me a better person.
    5. Re:I think the editors need to go to a clinic by Jah-Wren+Ryel · · Score: 3, Funny

      I'm sure Jack Thompson will use this to leverage his arguments

      Gaming is a gateway drug to MURDER ADDICTION!!!!

      --
      When information is power, privacy is freedom.
    6. Re:I think the editors need to go to a clinic by mcvos · · Score: 1
      if you're in Amsterdam and you can't find anything more interesting to get addicted to than games, you really do need help
      O my God! I need help!

      No wait, I'm not adicted. From the article:

      Parents should take notice if a child neglects usual activities, spends several hours at a time with the computer and has no social life.
      But I still have my goed friends at slashdot, so I'm okay.
    7. Re:I think the editors need to go to a clinic by fatduck · · Score: 3, Informative

      I went to this "gaming addiction rehab clinic" and they told me that it doesn't matter if I'm addicted to World of Warcraft and sacrifice my relationships with family, friends, co-workers, fellow denizens of planet earth, as long as I think about Jesus all 24 hours of playtime per day.

      --
      Making you think you're crazy is a billion dollar industry.
    8. Re:I think the editors need to go to a clinic by James+McGuigan · · Score: 2, Funny

      Welcome to World of Jesus, you have just found the magic scroll "Walk on Water" and "Reserection after Crucifiction". To the east is a large table containing several loaves of bread and many bottles of wine. To the north is a hill where convicts are being crusified. To the south is a shallow lake. To the west is a garrison of 5 roman soildiers walking towards you. You have 97 hit points and 42 magic points remaining. You smell a wumpus is nearby. What do you wish to do?

    9. Re:I think the editors need to go to a clinic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Here sir, have an internet.

    10. Re:I think the editors need to go to a clinic by fatduck · · Score: 1

      I'm pretty sure it was unintentional but you may have just coined a great new word: "crucifiction"

      --
      Making you think you're crazy is a billion dollar industry.
    11. Re:I think the editors need to go to a clinic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I went to the clinc for the 'other' joystick and they told me there is nothing wrong with using it on other men so long as I don't feel bad about myself.
      They also told me jesus was a dead man.
      so now I'm going to go shoot up with a needle and feel really good about myself.
      After all there is nothing wrong with it and feeling good about yourself is really the most important thing.

    12. Re:I think the editors need to go to a clinic by fish_in_the_c · · Score: 1

      10 things I like about my Jesus addiction:

      10) It makes me happy so it can't be that bad
      9) Sex ( and everything else ) has a meaning and therefore MORE meaning.
      9) The more I think about Jesus the more I do what is right and good
      8) The more I think about Jesus the more often I'm kind to others , especially those who attack me and act like my enemies.
      7) It is of GREAT benefit to my friends and family because I stop being selfish and self absorbed
      6) No withdrawal and you can stop at any time
      5) No obligation and no cost
      4) The ability to mentally survive any suffering life might through your way
      by embracing your cross and continuing to love
      3) Being in love is wonderful
      2) being loved by the cause of existence itself is even better
      1) Heaven ( can you say one serious contact high)

      --
      âoeTolerance applies only to persons, but never to truth. Intolerance applies only to truth, but never to persons.
    13. Re:I think the editors need to go to a clinic by baKanale · · Score: 1

      5) No obligation and no cost

      I guess you haven't paid your tithe recently.

  6. addictions by Susceptor · · Score: 5, Interesting

    can't we technically qualify anything as an addiction? I mean if you define an addiction as a habbit that leads to anti-social behavior, then anything from excessive porn watching to video-games to overeating can count as an addiction. Maybe we (as in everyone) have to realise that anything and everything we do in life can potentially be an addiction (ie something we do excessively to divert our attention from the problems in our lives) Just ask the workaholics who work 14 hours a day instead of playing quake 14 hours a day. BTW, I'm a "recovering" game addict as it were. I was in the top 10% of my law school class, then i picked up WOW, big mistake. I passed, but boy did my grades fall. That game litteraly came close to ruining me financially. I ditched it and deleted my char's. Bottom line with games like WOW is thins, if a friend calls you and asks you if you want to go out and you say no because you want to lvl your 55 lvl druid to 56 by grinding in an instance with you guild, then you have a problem.

    --
    Fool me once...shame on you, fool me twice...won't be fooled again (our president)
    1. Re:addictions by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      I mean if you define an addiction as a habbit that leads to anti-social behavior, then anything from excessive porn watching to video-games to overeating can count as an addiction.

      Then I suppose life is the ultimate addiction.
    2. Re:addictions by grammar+fascist · · Score: 1

      can't we technically qualify anything as an addiction? I mean if you define an addiction as a habbit that leads to anti-social behavior, then anything from excessive porn watching to video-games to overeating can count as an addiction.

      Why don't we, and then just open some generic "addiction centers" where they'll help you get over anything?

      "Hi, I'm Josh, and I'm addicted to trolling Slashdot..."

      --
      I got my Linux laptop at System76.
    3. Re:addictions by Aqua+OS+X · · Score: 2, Insightful

      An addition takes place when you keep doing something despite known and persistent consequences.

      An if my undergrad psyc classes serve me correct, it is absolutely possible to become addicted to something that is not an ingested chemical of some sort. It's not like you experience a video game, sex, passively. You're brain released serotonin, dopamine, etc through experiencing things.

      That said, to become addicted to something like a game or sex you usually have some other problems in your life. You usually need to be set up for an addition like that. At least that's what Dr. Drew would have me believe while I'm listening to Love Line while being a workaholic at midnight.

      --
      "Things are more moderner than before- bigger, and yet smaller- it's computers-- San Dimas High School football RULES!"
    4. Re:addictions by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      "Hi, I'm Josh, and I'm addicted to trolling Slashdot..."

      No need to open a center for that, you just need to get laid.

    5. Re:addictions by tehcyder · · Score: 1
      Bottom line with games like WOW is thins
      I think you meant fats.
      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
    6. Re:addictions by aussie_a · · Score: 1

      The difference is mental and physical addictions. You can be addicted to something because you like something about it and you can be addicted to something because the product has within it an addictive substance (such as nicotine or caffiene).

      This is the former rather then the latter, and I personally think we should stick with the latter.

    7. Re:addictions by aussie_a · · Score: 1

      As in, curing the latter. Creating addiction centres for the latter. I think people should be encouraged to become addicted to the former. My addiction of choice is ArmageddonMUD where you can REAL roleplaying, not like your local D&D group or MMO.

    8. Re:addictions by ObsessiveMathsFreak · · Score: 5, Insightful

      can't we technically qualify anything as an addiction?

      I read recently that the concept of addiction is not a well defined one. One persons addiction is anothers mild indulgence. Frequently addiction is only applied to socially undesireable or prohibited indulgences. For example, despite its frequent use to excess, users of alcohol are rarely described as "addicted", and are instead given a specific label of "alocoholic".

      The argument I read traced the origins of the concept of addiction back to the the Enlightenment. Essentially, the author argued that the concept of addiction was a direct successor to the concept of demonic possession. Where previously someone was regarded as being posessed as an explanation for their behaviour, now in the new, rational world, they were described as being "addicted" to a substance or behaviour.

      People often tell me I'm addicted to video games. These same people can spend up to six hours a night, three nights a week, consuming alcohol and other substances. Some smoke, some watch an hour of football seven days a week. Some buy dozens of specialist magazines, spend hours on hobbies, go to car shows. Most watch ten times the amount of television I do.

      There's always been a question of when an avid interest ends, and an addiction begins. In my expierience, nine times out of ten, it begins in the eye of the beholder.

      --
      May the Maths Be with you!
    9. Re:addictions by ClamIAm · · Score: 0

      Frequently addiction is only applied to socially undesireable or prohibited indulgences. For example, despite its frequent use to excess, users of alcohol are rarely described as "addicted", and are instead given a specific label of "alocoholic".

      I love it when I read something that goes like "tobacco, alcohol, or drugs". Tobacco and alcohol are most definitely different, they aren't even in the same category as those evil drugs. Because everybody knows marijuana kills far more people than alcohol and tobacco.

    10. Re:addictions by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      An if my undergrad psyc classes serve me correct... You're brain released serotonin

      What's the world coming to when people who are old enough to attend university can't even express themselves properly? "You are brain released..."?

    11. Re:addictions by octal666 · · Score: 1

      I think wow and other online/social games are quite different from other adictions, from what i've gathered from my friends and having played wow for a while myself, i think the addiction in wow is not only to the games, but to the community. You don't tell a friend you can't go out for playing, you tell him that you have other plans with other friends, maybe this friends live across half Europe and instead of having some beers and pick up some chicks it's something more on the axe some orcs and level up side, what's the difference?

      --
      DON'T PANIC
    12. Re:addictions by iamdrscience · · Score: 1

      Well, they are different. People don't lose their spouses, jobs or house due to a tobacco addiction. As for alcohol, the difference is that it's legal (provided you're of age) -- this is somewhat of a superficial reason for differentiation, but it's not inconsequential. Also, while the relative harmfulness of alcohol and marijuana is debatable, there's less of a case when comparing alcohol to the other substances that fall in the "drug" category.

    13. Re:addictions by earthstar · · Score: 1

      Yea man. If 14 hrs gaming is addiction....I sit minimum 14 hrs with PC/internet at home - only difference is iam not stuck with gaming or anything in particular - just evrthing in net/brwsin............but I love to sit with the PC all day[ I do go out,socialize/frndz etc].......Now is this addiction too?

    14. Re:addictions by antifoidulus · · Score: 2, Funny

      An addition takes place when you keep doing something despite known and persistent consequences.

      Next thing you know they are multiplying their time spent on line, dividing their family and significantly subtracting from their overall quality of life.


      Sorry, I'll put the pun vehicle back in the garage were it belongs.

    15. Re:addictions by Harker · · Score: 2, Funny

      The same thing could be said about video game addiction. :)

      H.

      --
      When VCR's are outlawed, only outlaws will have VCR's.
    16. Re:addictions by Random+Destruction · · Score: 3, Informative

      Annual causes of death in the US:
      Tobacco 435,000
      Alcohol 85,000
      Sexual Behaviors 20,000
      Marijuana 0

      Well it may be debatable, but I think its a pointless debate. I know more people do these other things than smoke pot, but let's multiply the pot number by five trillion to make up for the difference. Oh look, pot is still safer than sex.

      *Taken from drugwarfacts.com, original sources:
      Source: Mokdad, Ali H., PhD, James S. Marks, MD, MPH, Donna F. Stroup, PhD, MSc, Julie L. Gerberding, MD, MPH, "Actual Causes of Death in the United States, 2000," Journal of the American Medical Association, March 10, 2004, Vol. 291, No. 10, pp. 1238, 1241.
      and
      Source: Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN), available on the web at http://www.samhsa.gov/; also see Janet E. Joy, Stanley J. Watson, Jr., and John A. Benson, Jr., "Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base," Division of Neuroscience and Behavioral Research, Institute of Medicine (Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1999), available on the web at http://www.nap.edu/html/marimed/; and US Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Administration, "In the Matter of Marijuana Rescheduling Petition" (Docket #86-22), September 6, 1988, p. 57.

      --
      :x
    17. Re:addictions by Flaming+Babies · · Score: 1, Informative
      People don't lose their spouses, jobs or house due to a tobacco addiction.
      I would be amazed to hear that no person has ever left his or her spouse because they refused to give up smoking.

      4 people at Weyco lost their jobs for refusing to take a urine test for nicotine.
      Alaska Airlines tests applicants for nicotine.
      Union Pacific stopped hiring smokers.

      Back in college when I still smoked, I would scrounge through the couch for change and pawn CD's to get enough cash to buy cigarettes.
      Smoking can be a very expensive addiction. I'm certain that people have been unable to make mortgage payments because they smoked away their paycheck. If I hadn't had lenient landlords and patient parents, I would definitely have "lost my house." (not technically, but I would've been "homeless".)

      These may not be normal situations, but I think you may be underestimating the effects nicotine can have on some people.
      --
      The right to be heard does not automatically include the right to be taken seriously.
    18. Re:addictions by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We can call many things addictive yes. Mainly because we define addiction partly by saying its performing an act (often accepted in its normal form, drinking, games etc) in a deviant, obsessive way, and partly by the consequences it has on the addicted.

      Im a socialworker. I have clients that has drinking problems. I also have clients that has lost jobs over WoW. I would most certainly say it is an addiction per definition for some people.

      I also have a 60 priest, 60 druid and 60 warrior. I respect that some people get in real trouble over this.

    19. Re:addictions by CaseM · · Score: 1

      "An addition takes place when you keep doing something despite known and persistent consequences."

      My girlfriend warned me about that, but I hate using rubbers.

    20. Re:addictions by phlinn · · Score: 1

      Although I oppose Prohibition II: The War on Drugs, I must argue with your presentation of facts. Smoking marijuana leads to an increased risk of cancer just like tobacco does (although assigning hard numbers to either substance is difficult, and the rates are probably different), there are car accidents caused by stupid users, etc. Although there may not be any overdose reactions on record, I have a friend who nearly died from an allergice reaction. That zero entry for marijuana is just bad and wrong... it is badong!

      --
      "Pulling together is the aim of despotism and tyranny! Free men pull in all sorts of directions" -- Havelock Vetinari
    21. Re:addictions by saltydogdesign · · Score: 1

      I remember, once upon a time, there used to be a distinction between physical addition and psychological dependence. Guess that's no longer operative, hey?

      --
      // This is not a sig.
    22. Re:addictions by genooma · · Score: 1

      Smoking marijuana leads to an increased risk of cancer just like tobacco does well... actually, no.

    23. Re:addictions by shaitand · · Score: 1

      Actually the 'former' cause neuro-chemicals to be created in the brain and the brain literally becomes addicted to these substances changing your thoughts and tastes to match those things to which you are 'mentally' addicted. Most physical substances convert to these same neuro-chemicals.

      Within the brain there is ultimately no difference between a crack addict and a ArmageddonMUD addict, you personally are no longer in control (and probably think otherwise in either case) and the effect is negative either way.

    24. Re:addictions by shaitand · · Score: 1

      Real addiction is the result of neuro-chemicals produced in the brain. There are habitual drinkers, and then there are true alcoholics. An alcoholic is not someone who is drunk all the time, an alcoholic is someone with a physical condition that causes the alcohol in their bloodstream to be converted into a heroin like substance in the brain. It is possible to have never touched alcohol and be an alcoholic. Marijuana has been tested time and again and is no more habit forming than table sugar.

      Anything can be a real addiction, including behavior patterns. You enjoy gaming, so your brain produces pleasure chemicals. The parts of the brain receiving these chemcials don't know if they came from crack or Quake and don't care. They stimulate you to do more of this thing that produced the chemicals forming a habit and ultimately an addiction.

    25. Re:addictions by Random+Destruction · · Score: 1

      I agree, I was more poking fun that trying to give an accurate picture. It is true it does cause an increased risk of cancer, if smoked, but not quite as much as tobacco (pot has no nicorine which is a carcinogen). And I agree, there is this frightening idea that driving while high is somehow ok. That is just fucking lunacy, if you arent sober, dont drive. As for the allergic reaction, I don't see how that is in any way related. This friend could have just as likely been allergic to parsnip.

      I thank you for your response though, with all these flaming 'war on drug users' supporters, I can sometimes fall prey to their tactics and forget all the facts.

      --
      :x
    26. Re:addictions by PriceIke · · Score: 1

      Why yes! We have a disease for you too!

      --
      It's not a lie. It's the truth with lossy compression.
    27. Re:addictions by phlinn · · Score: 1

      Ok, that's interesting actually. I stand by the auto accident point though. :)

      --
      "Pulling together is the aim of despotism and tyranny! Free men pull in all sorts of directions" -- Havelock Vetinari
    28. Re:addictions by Some_Llama · · Score: 1

      "I stand by the auto accident point though. :)"

      Yah it's easy to stand by a statement that isn't based in fact but just a random assumption.

      Many auto accident's are caused by talking on cell phones, let's ban them! (because i think so)

    29. Re:addictions by Some_Llama · · Score: 1

      "It is true it does cause an increased risk of cancer, if smoked, but not quite as much as tobacco (pot has no nicorine which is a carcinogen)."

      Actually studies are finding that it's not, which is aggrevating because the fed government won't even allow funding for STUDIES to see what the effects of Pot actually are.

      Anti-pot propaganda is one thing, but suppresing science so that propaganda can't be refuted really pisses me off..

    30. Re:addictions by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, because everyone knows you can't get any real roleplaying in when you're hanging out with a bunch of your friends or anything. Having all those people in a room together verbally acting out their characters isn't, like, roleplaying or anything. No, I'm sure that the only thing that qualifies as role-playing is watching lines of text scroll by on an IRC-like client.

    31. Re:addictions by aussie_a · · Score: 1

      Well I don't know about you but I don't find it very "in character" to constantly talk about which skillset maxes a particular race and profession while playing the game.

  7. Proposed tag: 'moredollarsthansense' by RLiegh · · Score: 0

    ...becuase that accurately sums up who this is aimed at; gullible people with more cash than common sense.

    1. Re:Proposed tag: 'moredollarsthansense' by SinGunner · · Score: 1

      i think "dupe" is the only appropriate tag, as your tag would make more sense on the previous posting of this article. apparently slashdot has never heard of "six sigma".

  8. Re:errrr... Am I qualify for this? by Susceptor · · Score: 2, Insightful

    you are probably thinking of sex addicts :) You know, you can be a sex addict even if you don't have "sex" per se since masturbation technically counts, so if you are..playing with your joystick... twice a day, then you just might qualify for some sort of program.

    --
    Fool me once...shame on you, fool me twice...won't be fooled again (our president)
  9. Mod Parent up! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    abdcefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

  10. More detox programs coming soon: by bky1701 · · Score: 1, Funny

    1. Overclockers Anonymous 2. The Overcoming Soda Pop Foundation 3. The Surpassing Forum-Trolling Group 4. How to not hate the world is 86463 easy steps

    1. Re:More detox programs coming soon: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      4. How to not hate the world is 86463 easy steps
      Step 1: Get laid.

      One million reasons to hate the world...

    2. Re:More detox programs coming soon: by Danga · · Score: 1

      4. How to not hate the world is 86463 easy steps
      Step 1: Get laid.


      I found your insightful mod humorous but the funniest part is that what you said is actually true! I can't name one person I know who just got laid and was not in a good mood.

      --
      Hey, there is only one Return and it's not of the King, it's of the Jedi.
    3. Re:More detox programs coming soon: by alzoron · · Score: 1

      I've known plenty of people who didn't start hating the world until after they got laid.

    4. Re:More detox programs coming soon: by Aladrin · · Score: 1

      Man, #2 is not funny. I'm getting off Coke AGAIN (Yes, Coca-cola) and it's a real friggin pain. The first day or so without isn't too bad, but the 3rd and 4th day really f---in suck. Headaches, muscles pains, general feelings of blah.

      Last time, I had decided I could manage to have it for lunch when I went out and it'd all be okay. I was wrong. I was up to 4 cans a day again within weeks.

      So I'm off again. For almost a week now. -sigh-

      And no, this isn't meant to be funny. Soda really IS addictive. (Well, the caffeine in it, anyhow.)

      --
      "If you make people think they're thinking, they'll love you; But if you really make them think, they'll hate you." - DM
    5. Re:More detox programs coming soon: by hal2814 · · Score: 1

      I've never been a big soda drinker (my favorites are RC and Tab and NOBODY has those around anymore) but caffeine withdrawl is indeed a real thing. I was down to tea at restaurants before my 2nd kid was born a couple of months ago. He was in ICU for two weeks because he was born a month early and I was living off of 4 to 5 hours of sleep per night as a result. Now things have stabilized but I'm still consuming all the caffeine I was consuming as the result of the lack of sleep. I'm not looking forward to cutting back but I've already managed to skip caffeine for a day here and there. Next week I'll go 3 days and as you've pointed out, it probably won't be pretty.

      The hardest part to me is not accidentally slipping up. It's not like smoking where you have to go out of your way to do it. That was hard to quit but at least there was ample societal pressure to discourage it. Caffeine is everywhere and it's hard sometimes to remember not to get that Coke or tea with your fast food meal.

  11. funny by 7o9 · · Score: 4, Funny

    how about just linking to all funny comments from 3 days ago? i'm not addicted to dupes

  12. Re:errrr... Am I qualify for this? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    only twice a day?

  13. Detox? Come on. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    This is just dumb, we should not look at games as addictive, but rather the environment that causes people to escape into the games, as it stands, taking games away from people is just asking for trouble, and takes away the only thing that provides them an ounce of enjoyment in an otherwise stressful existance.

    1. Re:Detox? Come on. by Jugalator · · Score: 1

      I don't think they're looking at games as addictive, but at people being addicted.

      There's a fine line there, with the major implication being that not everyone becomes addicted to games.

      However, are you saying none get addicted to games, but it's simply the environment that cause them to sacrifice a social life and career on trying to get the next Druid to level 60? What environmental traits are you talking about in that case that leads to this behavior in some persons, and not others? Becoming isolated with few friends? But isn't that often a psychological, not environmental, effect from e.g an introvert personality and having a hard time making and keeping friends? A stressed environment? I've been through this, and play games, but never to the point of an addiction and can freely choose to stay away from it a day or two, so surely it doesn't seem to be an automatic effect from the environment alone?

      Personally, I believe it is a combination, and to successfully combat an addiction, you need to both get down to the social state of a person's life, and also get to the bottom of any psychological reasons behind it. At least in other cases, it seems that some persons are more suspectible to becoming addicted to something than others. I haven't really heard of anything convincing that there isn't a psychological factor involved. I can surely understand that a social/environmental factor triggers a behavior, but the question is if the environment keeps them there, if psychology traits are involved, or both.

      --
      Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
    2. Re:Detox? Come on. by vidarh · · Score: 1
      There's a difference between relaxing with a game and being so consumed with it you get cramps and forget to drink and eat properly.

      Your argument could just as well be used to pretend alcoholism or drug abuse isn't and issue.

    3. Re:Detox? Come on. by d!rtyboy · · Score: 1

      "However, are you saying none get addicted to games, but it's simply the environment that cause them to sacrifice a social life and career on trying to get the next Druid to level 60? What environmental traits are you talking about in that case that leads to this behavior in some persons, and not others? Becoming isolated with few friends? But isn't that often a psychological, not environmental, effect from e.g an introvert personality and having a hard time making and keeping friends? A stressed environment? I've been through this, and play games, but never to the point of an addiction and can freely choose to stay away from it a day or two, so surely it doesn't seem to be an automatic effect from the environment alone?"

      Well, anyone can become addicted to drugs, it's just not everyone is in such a circumstance(or environment) where they become or even do drugs to begin with. Yes, some people are more prone to addiction whether it's sex, drugs, video games or whatever, but even someone who is prone to said addiction doesn't necessarily ignore his/her friends/career/etc to play video games or do drugs to such a point where it becomes a problem and thus an addiction. In other words, it is possible for someone with, for example, alcoholism to drink responsibly.

      --
      ~ So sayeth the wise Alaundo
  14. I used to think I needed a detox program... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    ...to escape my Slashdot addiction, but Slashdot itself has almost cured me. Just another couple of dupes and some more of this retina-searing CSS and I'll be free. FREE!

    1. Re:I used to think I needed a detox program... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think the new css looks great, personally. I guess your submission didn't win eh?

  15. Our Loyal Gaming Industry... by HotBlackDessiato · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ...pays taxes and creates jobs in key congressional ridings. It cannot therfore be producing anything synonymous with drug addiction.

    Ask big-pharma how this concept works:--)

    --
    "If you don't have eyes you shouldn't have wings" -- Carl Pilkington
  16. Best way to cure the game addiction. by forgotten_my_nick · · Score: 4, Funny

    Stick them in a room with Daikatana.

    1. Re:Best way to cure the game addiction. by Patrik_AKA_RedX · · Score: 1

      That's just plain cruel. That's like curing a heroine addiction by ripping every vain out of the addicts body through the nose. Or curing a Speed addiction by sealing the nose with a hammer. Or curing a sex-addiction by tieing two concrete blocks to the addicts genitals and trowing them out the 5th story window (the bricks or the addict, depending on taste.).

    2. Re:Best way to cure the game addiction. by Some_Llama · · Score: 1

      Which all sound a lot more pleasant than being in a room with Daikatana.

  17. Addiction Isn't Pretty - Behind the Shines by Enderandrew · · Score: 1
    --
    http://blindscribblings.com - Tasty pop-culture in conceptual fashion.
    1. Re:Addiction Isn't Pretty - Behind the Shines by painQuin · · Score: 0
      --
      A guilty conscience means at least you've got one.
  18. Great... by od05 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Now they just need to open up one for slashdot addictions and I'll be all set...

  19. That's nothing! by Mr0bvious · · Score: 0, Redundant

    OSTG have just sponsored a detox clinic for dupe story addicts...

    --
    Never happened. True story.
  20. Why focus on gaming "addicts" by rolfwind · · Score: 1

    That seems to be a relatively small market. Why not open a clinic for internet "addiction." MMORG playing could fall under that. To me, at least, it seems this is a much bigger market to tap and one more readily seen. Or maybe even just generic computer "addiction."

    If I wanted to make money selling quack medicine, that's what I would do. Not only would parents be sending me their kids who are doing crappy in school, but companies their low productivity workers (in some parts of Europe, where this clinic is at, it's very hard to fire workers for almost any reason) who tend to surf a lot.

  21. I don't need it... by Finnegar · · Score: 1

    I CAN QUIT ANY TIME I WANT TO!

    This guy might, or just some anger management courses...
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTwgNhX4BSo

    1. Re:I don't need it... by Davus · · Score: 1

      Jack Thompson would be so proud. :')

      --
      The above is most likely humour. Slashdot foot icon goes here.
  22. Twelve-step programs are rumored to work well. by Ivan+Matveitch · · Score: 1, Interesting

    A wife-beating drunk like Andy Sipowicz can start going to meetings and eventually become a responsible husband and father. But some guy who plays Quake in his bedroom every day—what does he want to do, find a desk job and a wife? Lonesome game-playing may simply be his lifestyle of choice.

    1. Re:Twelve-step programs are rumored to work well. by MrSquirrel · · Score: 1

      Actually, 12 step programs DON'T work. The "success" rate for AA is measured as people who haven't drank after 12 months -- it's 5%. Want to know the percentage of people who didn't drink after 12 months who didn't use AA?... it's also 5%. AA works for some people just because they can't quit without the fear of god in them (AA is very religious, it breaks your self esteem: they make you say that you have no power over yourself and that you need the help of a higher power [they don't say "god" because then it couldn't be mandated for alcoholics to attend by the courts] to get over your addiction)... some of those people probably couldn't quit on their own, but with the help of their god, they can bring themselves under control.

      --
      A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing.
  23. Pedantry alert by tygerstripes · · Score: 4, Interesting
    Missed the earlier article, so I'll post in the dupe.

    You can't "detox" from a non-chemical addiction. A detox clinic is somewhere you go to make it nigh-on impossible to obtain whatever chemical it is that your body is used to and, thus, craves.

    While clinics do also have programs and counsellors to help deal with the underlying cause of the addiction - eg emotional stress, habit or associative behaviour - these are to help prevent addicts from returning to their chemical addiction. These services are also available outside of a detox clinic.

    For a purely habitual addiction - whether it be sex, gaming, work or anything else without a direct chemical impact - you can only provide the counselling. Detoxing, making the object of your obsession unavailable, is just a way of providing a stop-gap for weak-willed people to break their habit while they're in counselling, and calling it a detox clinic is a way for those same people to legitimise their pathetic behaviour. I really don't have much sympathy, and I wouldn't expect any if I were in that situation.

    Don't talk to me about adrenaline highs or any of the self-induced psychosomatic hormonal impacts of addiction; that's just the physiological aspect of a neural, habit-forming process. It's a million miles from chemical addiction. They really can't be compared.

    --
    Meta will eat itself
    1. Re:Pedantry alert by Psychotria · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I agree with much of what you say. I think you don't understand the meaning of Detox though.

      A detox clinic is somewhere you go to make it nigh-on impossible to obtain whatever chemical

      Not true. The body becomes dependant on the drug (homeostasis etc), and therefore stopping taking the drug can be dangerous, as the body has become adapted to the constant supply of the drug. Not being able to obtain the drug in Detox is irrelevent. Benzodiazapemes probably _would_ be available in a detox for that drug.The point of detox is to reaccustom the body to a life without drugs. And this is different to all the psychological stuff.A better definition would be: A detox clinic is somewhere you go until the chemical is gone from the body and the physical effects of withdrawal are gone.

    2. Re:Pedantry alert by ClamIAm · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Damn man, it's really funny when a self-confessed pedantry post is completely wrong. If "detoxing" means making it impossible to obtain whatever you're addicted to, it's pretty damn logical to consider a place helping people get over a non-chemical addiction as a "detox" clinic.

      And non-chemical addictions can most definitely be as strong or stronger than chemical ones. Just because it is different, does not mean it is "a million miles" away.

    3. Re:Pedantry alert by Tim+C · · Score: 1

      For a purely habitual addiction - whether it be sex, gaming, work or anything else without a direct chemical impact - you can only provide the counselling.

      You think you can't become addicted to neurotransmitters? You do realise that people who become addicted to exercise are addicted to the endorphin high, right?

      Just because you're not explicitly shovelling drugs into your system doesn't mean they're not in there.

    4. Re:Pedantry alert by tygerstripes · · Score: 1

      All true - I oversimplified my description, but the basic point was that detoxing is about weaning off chemicals, and I don't think that applies in this situation.

      --
      Meta will eat itself
    5. Re:Pedantry alert by tygerstripes · · Score: 1

      See Psychotria's reply, then sue me for over-simplifying.

      --
      Meta will eat itself
    6. Re:Pedantry alert by tygerstripes · · Score: 1

      I've seen cases of heroin and alcohol addicts who would have literally died from chemical shock if they hadn't received a fix within a couple of days. Keep a gaming or exercise addict strapped down for a couple of days and they'll hate you, but they won't die. Like I said, the physiological impact of habit is not unkown, but it's not even in the same league. You can bet your ass that this Gaming Detox Clinic doesn't shoot endorphins through these kids' meninges just to keep them alive.

      --
      Meta will eat itself
    7. Re:Pedantry alert by Stalyn · · Score: 2, Insightful

      All changes in behavior are equivalent to changes in brain chemistry. Therefore all addictions are chemical.

      However I think the chemical addiction you refer to is where a person is addicted to a foreign chemical substance. Yet the only difference between addiction to a foreign substance and a foreign stimuli is the external contributing factor which changes brain chemistry. The root of addiction lies in the change of brain chemistry.

      Heroin is addictive because of the change in brain chemistry that results from adding heroin into your system. The same could be said for external stimuli, like video games. The external stimulation results in a change in brain chemistry. This change is what is addictive, not the substance or stimuli itself.

      --
      The best education consists in immunizing people against systematic attempts at education. - Paul Feyerabend
    8. Re:Pedantry alert by jandersen · · Score: 1

      What you are saying amounts to simple denial of the facts.

      Addiction to gaming, exercise, anorexia, work or other 'habitual' things cause the same things to happen in the brain as do nicotine, heroin, cocaine etc - as, indeed, you say yourself. The reason it is hard to get out of eg. heroin addiction is not because of the cold turkey, but because of the strong habit that is formed because of the things that happen in the brain as a result of the addiction. Addiction to games makes it feel terrible, fundamentally wrong if you don't play your games, just like the world feels totally wrong to a heroin addict, if he doesn't get his fix.

      You can talk about 'only psychology' and lack of moral fibre all you like - as people always will when then have no understanding of what it is - but this is just nonsense. And stress and personal problems are not the reason why people get addicted. It is something that lies in our fundamental psychology: we learn, at a very deep and instinctive level, to distinguish between 'good' and 'bad' depending on whether the pleasure or pain circuits in the brain are activated when we do things. So if you get a mighty kick out of playing a computer game and you keep doing it for long enough, then you will instinctively feel - 'know' - that this is good, very good. And deciding against doing it becomes almost impossible, because it feels so fundamentally, so obviously right.

      Calling it a 'detox' clinic is of course a buzzword that is meant to sell the idea, since 'detox' is a modern fad. But it doesn't make it any less relevant - breaking ingrained habits is infinitely harder than anything else in the world. Going cold turkey is only a small part of it, and the detox clinic, even in the case of heroin addiction, does a lot more than just pushing you through the withdrawal crisis. What you really need is 'detoxing' your habits and attitudes, and relearning what is really good and bad for you.

    9. Re:Pedantry alert by maxume · · Score: 1

      Heroin is addictive because it changes the brain chemistry so much that it needs to be there for 'normal' operation. Being addicted to stuff like heroin means that getting more heroin takes on the importance of an instinctual urge, like eating and sex.

      It's impossible to rule it out, but I have trouble believing that video games have such a profound effect on brain chemistry. It seems to me that it is more a lack of self control or self direction than addiction. Drowning yourself in a video game because you don't want to deal with your life isn't an addiction. Of course, I am not a brain scientist, etc, etc.

      --
      Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
    10. Re:Pedantry alert by rjshields · · Score: 1
      Detoxing, making the object of your obsession unavailable, is just a way of providing a stop-gap for weak-willed people to break their habit while they're in counselling, and calling it a detox clinic is a way for those same people to legitimise their pathetic behaviour. I really don't have much sympathy, and I wouldn't expect any if I were in that situation.
      People have addictions for all kinds of reasons, but usually there is some kind of psychological problem behind the addiction. If you can't empathise with other peoples' problems because you've never been there yourself, don't make yourself look like an asshole by calling them weak-willed. If you shut up and listened to others instead of being judgemental you might learn something.
      --
      In this world nothing is certain but death, taxes and flawed car analogies.
    11. Re:Pedantry alert by tygerstripes · · Score: 1
      I agree fully with your points about breaking the ingrained habits and associations - that's really what this clinic is about. You're right that I'm just pissed off at the buzzword.

      However, people have a massive misconception of what Heroin addiction is about. People aren't necessarily addicted to it because it "feels good" or because of homeostasis, though that's a part of it and was thought to be all the chemical did until a couple of years ago.

      This perception was overturned when a study showed that heroin doesn't affect the balance of "pleasure" chemicals, but the balance of "desire" chemicals. The second they are exposed, addicts desparately want another fix because their brains have been chemically altered to want more - not simply because they simply like it. That's why, even with the strongest will in the world, a single small dose can hook you instantly.

      For that reason, I disagree about which is harder to overcome. True, many chemical addictions - nicotine being a prime example - are often easier to overcome than the associated habits and lifestyle, though it's hard to separate the two. When not receiving a fix is fatal though, you're talking about chemical dependency on a whole different level.

      --
      Meta will eat itself
    12. Re:Pedantry alert by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Damn man, it's really funny when a self-confessed pedantry post is completely wrong. If "detoxing" means making it impossible to obtain whatever you're addicted to, it's pretty damn logical to consider a place helping people get over a non-chemical addiction as a "detox" clinic.

      It only looks logical to someone who doesn't know the language. "Detox" comes from the word "toxic", as in "removing the toxic stuff you're addicted to from your body". Games are not toxic[1], and thus removing the toxic stuff is not just illogical, but makes absolutely no sense for games.

      [1] The CD may be, but the game (software) is definitely not. And even if we were talking about the CD, you don't inhale or inject it, so talking about getting it out of your body wouldn't make sense either.

    13. Re:Pedantry alert by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I have the habit of biting my nails. Sometimes i bite my nails 'til they bleed. i do it every day, and sometimes its a subconsious action. it is socialy undesireable, and i have had the habit for as far back as i can remember. when i feel the need to bite my nails but i resist it can become uncomfertable and hard to fight. however i have forced back the habit for weeks with persistance

      i have also been addicted to opium. it was socialy undesireable and i was addicted for ~2 years. when i missed my dose i could become violent. it would be mentaly and phisicaly painful. i would become restless to the point of not being able to sit still for more than 3 minutes(that is not an exageration).

      im sorry, but the only reason you say a habit is an addiction, is becsaue you have not been addicted to something. i never built tollerance to biting nails(just like there is no building tollerence to playing games), resisting biting my nails was hard to do(very hard), but could be done with persistance. missing my fix wasnt a hard thing to do(like biting my nails), it was outright dangerous. what the gamers have is closer to what i would consider a bad habit than an addiction. i can tell you about both and assure you that they are seperate.

    14. Re:Pedantry alert by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      God, you are a fucking dumbass.

    15. Re:Pedantry alert by rjshields · · Score: 1
      That's why, even with the strongest will in the world, a single small dose can hook you instantly.
      That's simply not true. Go read what William S. Burroughs has to say about herion addiction. He reckons that it takes a good few weeks or months of daily use to get a habit.
      --
      In this world nothing is certain but death, taxes and flawed car analogies.
    16. Re:Pedantry alert by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I've seen cases of heroin and alcohol addicts who would have literally died from chemical shock if they hadn't received a fix within a couple of days.

      Your body cannot become chemically dependent on heroin. Addicted, yes. Dependent, no. In fact, the treatment for heroin overdose is a (very safe) drug that completely blocks the effects of heroin.

      Alcohol is another story. With longstanding abuse, you can become dependent on alcohol to the extent that you will die without it.

    17. Re:Pedantry alert by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


      Your body cannot become chemically dependent on heroin. Addicted, yes. Dependent, no. In fact, the treatment for heroin overdose is a (very safe) drug that completely blocks the effects of heroin.


      On second thought, maybe I used the wrong terminology here. But the point is that rapid detox does not kill heroin addicts, no matter how much they are addicted.

    18. Re:Pedantry alert by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I am going to have to disagree with you there. I'm a recovering drug addict myself, and while I'm not a gaming addict, I can certainly see how someone can become addicted to it. In many respects, this isn't all that much different from an addiction to gambling or shopping (IMHO) which most people don't have a problem as recognizing as something you can become addicted to.

      When you get right down to it, quite often the substance doesn't matter all that much - it's what your drug of choice was doing to you, and why you were using it that does. The compulsion and obsession to use, whether that be heroin, pot, sex, or even gaming, is where you need to look.

  24. The best definition of addiction.. by Viol8 · · Score: 1

    ... is probably an activity that a person carries out so often that it becomes
    detrimental to their physical and/or mental wellbeing and also they would find
    it very hard to stop the activity if they tried because of withdrawal symptoms.
    This could be drug taking, sexual addiction, extreme sports , lots of things really...

  25. I can imagine the problems. by Ivan+Matveitch · · Score: 1

    "We have kids who don't know how to communicate with people face-to-face because they've spent the last three years talking to somebody in Korea through a computer," Bakker said. "Their social network has completely disappeared."

    Annyeonghasewhat?

    1. Re:I can imagine the problems. by kdougherty · · Score: 0

      kekekeke 100g for dark iron to you, okay you buy?? "Are you a farmer?" 100g for dark iron you buy, okay???

      --
      The best way to predict the future is to invent it. -Alan Kay
  26. Hmmm...cashing in? by ilovegeorgebush · · Score: 0

    I think, instead of people cashing in on the mistfortunes of the underguided teens of today (those that get addicted to games), perhaps we should do the following:
    - Understand why they are getting addicted
    - Look for alternative ventures or activities to counteract the chance of addiction
    - Educate these children as to what else they can be doing, and why they are like this

    If that fails, fuck it. Let 'em play. MMORPGS are cool anyway
    (in essence, "Prevention is better than cure")

  27. internet by Sv-Manowar · · Score: 2, Interesting

    They should think about making one of these for internet addiction too. Think I'm joking? try going a week without going online, or even visiting slashdot for that matter. It has become integral to our lives, but to a point where people can spend all day surfing instead of getting sunlight or exercise. Not that I'm complaining, it suits me just fine.

    1. Re:internet by ZeroExistenZ · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Think I'm joking? try going a week without going online

      Put 90% of all households without tv for a week...

      It should prove quite interesting as people will have on average 3 hours extra time, when nearly everyone feels they have "no" time.

      I don't own a tv myself anymore, it's dead time. Sleeping is more efficient way to rest and living a life yourself is more forfilling then projecting yourself into an emulated life watching these "reality"-things then gazing into a lightbox.

      There are more things like this, I'm sure.

      --
      I think we can keep recursing like this until someone returns 1
    2. Re:internet by drspliff · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I did that recently actually while in hospital, after about two weeks I was really starting to feel very very stressed.

      I don't think that it was actually the lack of internet use that was causing it though, at the same time I'd given up smoking (after about 5 years of smoking heavily), and was under the impression that 1) there was a computer somewhere with internet access in the hospital and 2) I'd be able to find an internet cafe.

      Neither worked out and I ended up being given the runaround by hospital workers who either didn't speak English or all gave me conflicting answers. But to this day I haven't started smoking again (and I'm presuming my willpower is a bit stronger than others).

    3. Re:internet by dlZ · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Neither worked out and I ended up being given the runaround by hospital workers who either didn't speak English or all gave me conflicting answers. But to this day I haven't started smoking again (and I'm presuming my willpower is a bit stronger than others).

      In regards to smoking, that's great! I quit for a few years, but then I stupidly started back up (I won't try to justify why, either, because there is no good reason, really.) Quitting this second time is proving to be a lot harder than the first, too. I'm going to do it, though, because I don't want to live my entire live with a smelly cig hanging out of my mouth and all the health "benefits" that come along with it.

      --
      rm -rf ./evidence @ punkcomp
    4. Re:internet by Xistic · · Score: 1

      Seconded.

      It is largly a myth that Americans have less and less free time. The truth is that TV is getting better and better at causing us to believe that the time we spend watching TV is not free time. Advertising for programs on television try to convince us that we need to know if "Ross" and "What's her name?" get together like it's somehow important.

      The problem is that we tend to do that naturally. I checked slashdot.org habitually 3 times a day as though I might miss something life altering. I still visit games.slashdot.org but when I swore off going to the main page I realized that it wasn't that important.

      Now I don't watch TV and I visit games.slashdot.org once a day and if I go a week without it it's no big deal. Suddenly I have time to accomplish all those things I thought about doing when was instead of watching TV.

      Kyle

  28. The real problem ... by Spliffster · · Score: 0, Redundant
    as a gamer i have to say (well, i am not addicted but which addicted would confess) ...
    Like other addicts, Bakker said, gamers are often trying to escape personal problems. When they play, their brains produce endorphins, giving them a high similar to that experienced by gamblers or drug addicts.
    this is the real problem, don't blame the games, don't blame the drugs. It's a social problem. Look where you came from, look how you got there.

    /me is rolling one.
  29. Re:errrr... Am I qualify for this? by MrShaggy · · Score: 1

    As long as you have enough lube there is no problem. I mean hey now, it a lot cheaper then crack or heroin. Probably a lot healthier too..

    --
    I have mod points and I am not afraid to use them.
  30. Swapping one addiction for another by Jenga717 · · Score: 1

    They'll just be trading a gaming addiction for another kind of addiction, like AA does swapping alcohol for Jesus

    As part of the detox program, they should add a course to help these gamers on their re-entrance to "normal" society. I would suggest a course along the lines of "How to Pick Up Chicks".

    That way, these game-junkies could trade their gaming addiction with another: Sex. It might not solve the addiction problem, but at least these nerds would be a whole lot happier! :-)

  31. Game addiction and the entertainment industry by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I think game addiction will become pretty much a very common problem in the next years.
    And just like TV it will become a bit of an acceptable global addiction.
    But unlike TV, game addiction has more severe effects due to the active nature behind it. but being a gamer addict may not mean at all that it is a person with social problems thought most severe cases are due to that.
    The fact is I myself consider myself a computer addict. And I enphasize COMPUTER. Simply put because of the amount of hours i spend on the PC playing games or whatever(internet, messangers). I think this becomes more of a major problem when people arent sociable. Thats what this clinics are more about. When you get to the point where you just dont go out and your work simply doesnt matter. Where week after week you'd rather stay home.

    But as someone put, anything can be turned to an addiction . I think many people relate to another type of "addiction" im about to expose. At least for me there was a time where I simply couldnt stay home at night. And frankly it was great time. The fact is I felt bad if I passed a few days without going out. But ive also seen people that simply prefer to stay home. They are sociable too but, they simply prefer to stay home. What they do at home? watch tv and so on. but thats what they prefer. its theyre addiction. And IT IS an addiction. someone that time after time just prefers home stuff is addicted to HOME. But so is a person that cant help NOT "going out"

    But being a "go out" addict doesnt made me NOT be a computer addict. Its simple. When Im home Im most of the time on the computer.
    But thats why I think people should look abit around. Because this computer stuff and I think people should realize this, althought it becomes addictive is not that much worst than say TV. actually i believe most of the times its quite more usefull. I dont know If its worst being in a zombie like state watching TV with or without your relatives around you, or being in the PC playing or chatting with other people. Because frankly I dont see that much interaction with people while watching TV. Even worst. For example when I read some news about game violence or whatever I cant help thinking how ironic that is when day after day our TV channels depict much but much worst stuff and they are REALITY. And people simply get GLUED to that. Be it boy/girlfriend betrails, reality shows that are quite SOMETHING special. I recall now the recent fuzz being game violence and nudity. I see nude or partially nude people on prime TV every single day. I see sexual themes being portrayed and all that. The fact is TV has become an acceptable addiction thus it is not bombarded as say this new entertainment media (history likes to repeat it self).

    I cant understand why people may say that the computer alienates people when it has become for many one of the best social bridges ever. And this has brought much more problems (it can become a problem too if overusing it).
    What I can understand is that as with anything you'd rather be doing something you like than be doing something you HAVE to. And this indeed leads to psychological problems.

    Having a psychological clinic dealing with game addiction is a positive thing because it is indeed a real problem. But what really cant fit my head is that i read this news article and I instantly thought to myself. "I bet those anti-gamer lobbies are going to pick this up".

    The creativity in this industry shouldnt be held hostage because some people simply cant deal with evolution.
    So clinics dealing with game addiction Im all supportive of that. What im not supportive is labling games as the reason behind our social problems

  32. Abu-Game by foolinator · · Score: 1

    Let's dangle a few PSPs in front of these addicts. It'll amke them grow stronger.

    Wait, I shouldn't joke about this, my father almost died from pac man fever.

  33. Overclockers annomyous by ThePengwin · · Score: 1

    Hi, i am Phill and I am an overclocker. I cant help it, just the rush of an AMD 64 running ttiwce its speed! But last week i put a hole thrugh my mums motherboard. And thats why im here

    Welcome Phill!

  34. Macro Instead :) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Does MMOGing count since I'm not actually playing? At least I can get some sleep since I know my toon is still mining while I sleep LOL. http://www.mmoger.com/

  35. A long journey... by Major+Mayhem · · Score: 1

    That's quite a distance to travel for addiction councelling. Of course, if I travelled atop my Undead Steed then I'd arrive there 100% faster!

    --
    Life freezes when the servers crash.
  36. We should rather take up Gambling or Drinking ? by unity100 · · Score: 1, Insightful

    instead ??!?? huh ?

    So playing billiards, cards, golf and so at every opportunity does not count as addiction, but gaming does ?

    Watching tv passively for 8 hours like an empty bag does not count as an addiction but playing games instead does ?

    Ooooooh. Well. Then we better take up gambling or drinking. Then at least, the term addiction will have a meaning for meaning's sake.

  37. Over the entrance... by Neferkara · · Score: 1

    PWNT!

  38. I recommend... by kronocide · · Score: 1

    As a safe alternative for sober computer gamers, I recommend...

    FRAG!

    'Frag is a computer game without a computer. It's a "first-person shooter" on a tabletop. Move your fighter and frag your foes; draw cards for weapons, armor, and gadgets; move through the blood spatters to restore your own health! If you die, you respawn and come back shooting!'
    http://www.sjgames.com/frag/

    1. Re:I recommend... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Unless the minatures have little cameras built into them, I think you'll find that it's a third person shooter on a tabletop.

      p.s. I quit tabletop games/roleplaying when I got a PC - perhaps they really would act as a methadone equivalent if I wanted to move in the other direction.

  39. dupe post dupe comment by mgabrys_sf · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    My comment from the last thread pertaining to this bs...

    Thank God. I was getting sick of all the drunk gamers on the fucking roads.

    Good job.

  40. Addiction never changes by i_am_the_r00t · · Score: 1

    I was addicted to MTV back in the 80's. when they played 'music videos' 24X7, no reality shows. in fact no 'shows' at all. Just very cheesy, very 80's music videos all day-all night.

    "99 luftballons" then "Thriller" then "Come on Eileen" then "Der Komissar" then "In a Big Country" then "Take on me" then "Rockit" etc.

    only minor disturbance was the goofy news flashes by the very creepy and perverted looking Kurt Loder.

    do they still have VJ's. haven't looked in awhile.

    The best way to get over an addiction is to replace it with a slighlty better one.

    The only fear I have is having to interact with the recently cured videogame addict.

  41. UserFriendly Had it Years Ago... by AnswerIs42 · · Score: 1
  42. Just a dream by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    'It's better for the environment, because it allows the user to not worry about replacing his battery,' he says.

    So I suppose this'll never see the light of day; call me a big cynic of big industry but I doubt the battery manufacturers would be too pleased with their revenue stream drying up. Reminds me of the reason why hard drive manufacturers don't create more reliable drives.

  43. Theropy the answer? by EddyPearson · · Score: 1

    This is pathetic. Really. In my humble opinions most of the worlds problems like this are a matter of dicipline. You tell a heroine addict that there's a rehab centre for game addicts, he wont understand it (for a number of reasons ;p).

    Chilhood obesity? Bad behaviour? Game 'addiction'? The best cure for all the these ailments is a hard fucking slap and being told you get off your ass and get a life.

    I have no time for these people, neither should be rest of the world.

    Better yet, lets just take off every safty label in existance and let the problems with self discipline and stupidity sort itself out.

    --
    You feel sleepy. Close your eyes. The opinions stated above are yours. You cannot imagine why you ever felt otherwise.
    1. Re:Theropy the answer? by Sigma+7 · · Score: 1

      Chilhood obesity? Bad behaviour? Game 'addiction'? The best cure for all the these ailments is a hard fucking slap and being told you get off your ass and get a life.


      Question: What are children supposed to do?

      They cannot play football - their soccer mom would berate them for not "trying hard enough" when they are already leading by 12 points.

      They cannot socialize with others - for obvious reasons. Naturally, those symptoms are fallbacks because they don't need to worry about the other child abusing peers.

      They cannot take up other hobbies - they already have school work and an existing hobby.

      I'm all open to suggestions, but berating them just because they don't have comfortable alternatives is no different than administering random shocks to lab rats (who basically become afraid of doing anything and doing nothing, resulting in neurotic behaviour.)

      Better yet, lets just take off every safty label in existance and let the problems with self discipline and stupidity sort itself out.


      Safety labels are required - if you do that, there will be no reference to handling hazardous chemicals - and would obviously drop chemistry back down to alchemy.

      Likewise, children/adults have no other information that something can be corrosive (e.g. bleach) and may follow an incorrect procedure to wash the bleach off (i.e. not take the full 20 minutes to rince away all chemicals.)
  44. Smuggling goods by Drakin020 · · Score: 0

    Alright contraband check *gasp* Youve been smuggling PACMAN!

    --
    The greatest revenge in life is massive success.
  45. you tube link by mgabrys_sf · · Score: 1

    And who can forget the Record Industry's take on this back in the 80s (as depicted by SNL):

    http://youtube.com/watch?v=xAc_MQgFEds&search=atar i%20snl

    "A QUARTER AT A TIME"

  46. Leave 'em alone by Opportunist · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Seriously. Why is it anyone's business? You want to spend 18+ hours a day playing WoW? Ok. I don't understand, but then, few people understand some of my pastimes.

    What's the problem? That he becomes "anti-social", that he "has no life", that he "wastes his time senselessly"? If that's the concern, why do we still have TVs?

    If you're a "concerned parent" (read: worried that your neighbors might think you're a bad parent), you can't simply take away something and not replace it. It's like pulling the pacifyer out of your baby's mouth and wonder why the child's screaming while you walk away to return to doing whatever you prefer doing instead of spending time with your kids.

    I think it's the usual "I don't understand it and especially not why it's fun to do it for a lenghty period of time, I can't enjoy it for a longer period of time, so the conclusion is it must be an addiction and they don't really WANT to do it" bullshit.

    If you want your kids to turn away from computer games, give them a reason. Don't only pull the plug, or you could be REALLY dealing with addiction problems soon when they're looking for substitutes.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    1. Re:Leave 'em alone by Xerp · · Score: 1

      Thats right. You see, video games are for LOSERS. While you are being a loser and "grinding" with your fake friends, everyone else is out doing PROPER things. Like painting their faces red-and-white and watching FOOTBALL and drinking BEER. Don't let your kids become sad geeks and use computers all day long - get them outside, theres plenty to steal and lots of swear-words they need to learn. These things will become very useful to them later in life; for example, when they are watching football.

      (sigh)

    2. Re:Leave 'em alone by deacon · · Score: 2, Insightful
      Indeed. But culture in general is going the other way, unfortunately. As C. S. Lewis said:

      "Of all tyrannies a tyranny exercised for the good of its victim may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated, but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience."

      Now that the "War on Smoking" (I never have, btw) is in it's final stages, and the "War on videogames" is well underway, we are starting the "War on Food".

      First, they came for the smokers, but I did not speak out because I was not a smoker.

      Then they came for the foi gras eaters, the people who use "unhealthy" frying oil, drinkers of Mountain Dew, eaters of Doritos.

      Most of this is already happening/happened in Chicago. The logical limit of this slippery slope is that foods deemed "unhealthy" are going to be prohibited by law. The argument will be made in two parts. First, that people who "selfishly" consume these foods are burdening the rest of society. Further, it will be claimed that the price of bacon does not reflect its true cost, since bacon consumers use more public services due to poorer health. The second part of the attack will be to claim that bacon is "addictive", and that since people are powerless to avoid eating it, it must be banned. When bacon is outlawed, only outlaws will have bacon.

    3. Re:Leave 'em alone by Creepy · · Score: 1

      Sorry, but for some people it is a very bad problem. One of my college roommates lost his job, got kicked out of college and was breaking in to a college lab just to feed his 18 hour a day MUD addiction. He made our pittance $79/month rent (in an awful neighborhood, subsidized and near a soup kitchen) by buying and selling drugs (I think) and ate mostly ramen, which we'd managed to find at 5 cents a bag at a nearby grocer and bought them all (2 carts full).

      That roommate was later diagnosed with ADHD and with drug treatment was able to break his addiction and has held down a job for about 2 years.

      Anti-social is one thing - I used to spend 12-15 hours on a Friday-Saturday or Saturday-Sunday playing games, but not every weekend, and not every day. It didn't take over my life - at worst I lost a few hours of sleep (damn you, Civilization!), but I still made it to my job and usually made it to my morning classes. I had friends outside of the gamers and given a choice of going to a party with a girl I liked or playing games I would choose the party - my ex-roomie would choose the game (and I'm not kidding you - his MUD friends were more important to him than anything else).

  47. what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There is no such thing as game addaswdsawssd

  48. Let me guess by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    it's a room full of Macs....

  49. Addiction is when it causes harm by hellfire · · Score: 1

    One of the better definitions of Addiction is not only some habitual, constant behavior that you have difficulty stopping, but that causes harm to you or those around you. Obviously in your situation your grades slipped tremendously. Drug addition is usually simple in that severe physical harm takes place to your body, but also one begins to let the drug control your actions, perhaps stealing money to get more of the drug, or not showing up to work because you have to go out to get a fix, or whatever.

    Non-chemical addiction could be the same way, though it's a lot harder to define the harm. If you have a steady job that you have good performance at and okay health and game 6 hours a day and you aren't hurting anyone else, is that addiction? That's when it gets hard to define.

    --

    "All great wisdom is contained in .signature files"

  50. Problem? What problem? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Nice article. I don't what they're talking about. Of course I've been reading Slashdot articles through the BF2 in-game chat for some time. I have no problem. No problem at all.

    YOU DANG SNIPER. I WILL GET YOU AND YOUR CLAYMOR!!!!

  51. It may seem silly.... by magus088 · · Score: 1

    But this may not be the worst idea. A lot of people seem to be laughing at this, and I can understand why, but let's at least make sure we have a few things clear. The fact that there is now a detox center for gaming addicts suggests that at least some people accept that a person can become addicted to video games. A lot of you seem to disagree with that. People can become addicted to gambling, why not games? It's the same kind of thing, a purely psychological addiction, but those can be nearly as bad as chemical addictions. Sure, it may remind all of us of that famous scene in Half Baked, where Dave Chappell goes to the rehab center and proclaims that he's addicted to marijuana, only to be laughed at and informed by Bob Sagat that unless he's sucked a dick for some weed, it's not a real addiction. Sure. And no one in his right mind would put this at the level of heroin or cocaine. But it's hard to listen to people who just brush off the notion that there is a possibility that people could become addicted to a game. You have to be able to distinguish, however, between the people who play for 12 hours a day because it's fun, and because they have nothing better to do and don't feel much like going out and searching for something to do and the people who couldn't bring themselves to leave their consoles if the house was burning down around them. I wouldn't say I was 'addicted' to World of Warcraft, though I certainly played a lot. But when the time came to decide between, say, a job interview or herb farming, the choice was clear. So, sure, you may think the people who have lost their job because of an 'addiction' to a game are really just idiots, sure, and that does seem reasonable to a degree. Same with the people who's families have left them (and yes, it has happened). But you have to understand one thing. Many of the super nerds in games like WoW and FFXI and EQ find a different kind of acceptance in these games. It does feel good to run around in shinies and have everyone checking you out. It does feel good when people you've never interacted with whisper you and ask what makes you a great healer, and it's nice to know that there is a group of people in your online gaming community that actually care whether you show up or not. Sadly, there are some people that need this degree of fulfillment, and crave it to the extent that they waste away from reality. These are the kind of people a place like this is for. Not for the college kid that fails a test because killing the Twin Emperors is more interesting than studying weather patterns. For the guy whose wife leaves him, and he doesn't even notice for three days.

    --
    Annyong!
    1. Re:It may seem silly.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Too bad you're not addicted to line breaks.

  52. by the time he jacked out... by emergencyselfconstru · · Score: 1

    his girlfriend had left him and his dog was dead!

  53. Cheat Codes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I say give'em cheat codes for every game; once you master the game with cheat codes, you won't feel the urge anymore.

  54. Sounds like it is time to buy an Alienware laptop by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    and setup shop just outside that clinic.

    What should I charge? $25 for a 10 minute game hit?

  55. How I got rid of my WoW addiction by funkdancer · · Score: 1

    ... started playing Live for Speed and got engaged in Australian racing leagues. May my level 60 paladin RIP.

    I can't quite quote those monthly fees. New hardware aquired so far: advantage1.com.au GTR pedals, naturalpoint trackir4 pro system - at a total cost of A$700. Now I'm hoping to score a manual shifter somewhere. Already had the momo wheel.

    Seriously, while I may put the same amount of time into the thing for practicing etc, learning about proper race car control sure feels alot healthier than the endless grinding for more XP and that next Lightforge set item. The race goes for a set number of laps, and when done, all you can do is post about it and prepare for the next round. No more of that staying up till 03am in the morning just to get a little bit more - with alcohol or tiredness in your system, you lap times WILL go down.

    --
    ISO certified == THX certified
  56. Maybe they should open a dupe clinic? by saboola · · Score: 1

    The "Zimbabwe Center for the Elimination of Duplicate Post Addiction" says you should read the article you guys posted on this not a few days ago:

    Gaming DeTox Center Opens In Netherlands

  57. What? by Adkron · · Score: 1

    I can't believe I'm reading this. It is a video game, get off your butt and go outside. Don't you have anything to do? If this get's to be too much the government will take my tax money to start clinics so that people can get this "addiction" taken care of. It is really hard to be employed when you spend 20 hrs a day on gaming. Our society will go into a major recession, and unemployment will sky rocket. What will we ever do.

    --
    The greatest of all weaknesses is the fear of appearing weak. ->JB Bossuet, Politics from Holy Writ. 1709
  58. Ding, Gratz by sinij · · Score: 1

    I just powerleveled to step 12, all in under 5 hours. Too bad end game sucks, I going to reroll.

  59. Addiction or Alternate Reality? by catdevnull · · Score: 1

    A dude I work with (who shall remain nameless) who told me yesterd that he spends 72 hours per week in World of Warcraft.

    72 hours . I shit you not.

    That's hard core. But, is it addiction or a hobby? Does he like reality? Apparently, he'd rather spend his free time trinkin' and spellin' than with his wife or anyone or doing anything else. I thought "Ever-crack" was bad. Maybe there's a lesson to be learned by TNG Episode 106: The Game.

    I finished Call of Duty 2 in less than a week--my wife says that I have a Nazi killing habit.

    --

    I might know what I'm talkin' about, but then again, this is Slashdot...
  60. I knew I had a problem... by darkhadden · · Score: 0

    When my roommate came home and found me huddled in the corner, gingerly holding a tablespoon, the remains of my Metal Gear Snake Eater disc partially pulverized in the mortal and pestle on the table, it's ground remains mixing with nigh-boiling Bawls in the spoon's cradle.

    --
    All the world's a stage, all the people but players.
  61. The /. Addiction by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What we need is a special clinics for /. addicts who can't posting/commenting.

  62. What is addiction? by Pseudonaja+Cyanide · · Score: 1

    From the article: "Bakker said he has seen signs of addiction in children as young as 8." If you watch anything/anyone long enough, you'll see little things that look like addiction. Persistence and a need for closure is human behaviour.

    --
    "The flogging will continue until moral improves!"
  63. health detriment by phorm · · Score: 1

    I suppose one of the major factors would be the aspect of health detriment, in terms of self or dependants. Buying lots of magazines isn't an addiction unless it puts you in an unhealthy financial situation (say, you can't afford proper food). Spending hours on activity X could be considered addiction if your own health suffers (lack of nourishment) or that of your dependants (ignored, unhealthy children). Plenty of people watch 2-4h of TV a day... it's comparable to gaming, less interactive in fact, but not really an addiction unless they are neglecting themselves or their children etc in a critical way.

    Now, somebody who comes home from work (or misses work) orders pizza every day, doesn't maintain proper hygeine, and absolutely must login to WoW every day, is an addict. TV is less easy to define as it's a more passive engagement (what's on depends on a specific time), but if you're watching re-runs all day or DVD's, etc... again neglecting your personal situation, then it is also addiction.

    Car shows and hobbies etc tend to be an incorporated part of one's life. It's when they start massively overruling the other parts that they move into becoming addiction.

  64. Perverts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "who can't leave their joysticks alone"

    Haha.

  65. The concern is when people let it ruin thier life by Sycraft-fu · · Score: 1

    Playing lots of video games is not a problem. It's just a way to amuse yourself like any other, and actually more healthy than many (like going to a bar). Nothing wrong with it. The problem with it is the same problem with anything: If you do it to the point the rest of your life suffers. I'm not talking about being anti-social, I'm talking about actually losing things that are important to you. Like you play WoW so much that you start missing work so you can play more and get fired. Or you neglect your responsabilities to your family.

    In one of the WoW guilds I was in there was a mother like this. She literally played WoW about 12-16 hours a day. Now ok so you think maybe this is fine, stay at home mom, maybe she's just always logged on, but really doing other things. No, we'd do Molten Core raids, things that took 6 hours of focused attention. She'd be leading them so it's not like she was wandering off. One has to wonder who was taking care of her 2-year old kid at that time (her dad, it turns out).

    Now, like it or not, when you have a family you have responsabilityes to that family. You cannot be selfish and say tha tyou should be allowed to spend as much time on yourself as you want. You kids needs you, you need to be there for them.

    That's when gaming crosses the point to being a problem, when you do it to the neglect of other important things. If you cannot control the amount you play games, you have a problem.

    Barring someone who's independantly wealthy and can just hire people to take care of all their needs, we all have responsabilites. Some have more, some have less, but we all have them. So long as your gaming doesn't interfere with those, it's no big deal. However when it does regularly, you have a problem that needs addressing.

  66. another instance of absolution of responsibility by LM741N · · Score: 1

    These ever expanding new "addictions" are ridiculous. Its a jobs program for third rate psychologists and treatment centers. Here is an excellent book on the subject which says it all: "The Diseasing of America" by Stanton Peele.

    I personally stay away from the "self help" sections of book stores. Who knows what new "disease" I might find that I have, lol.

  67. Re:errrr... Am I qualify for this? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    But think about the kittens...

  68. Blaming Games Again by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Let's see, the article itself states that:

    "We have kids who don't know how to communicate with people face-to-face because they've spent the last three years talking to somebody in Korea through a computer," Bakker said. "Their social network has completely disappeared."

    This makes sense. Cut out face-to-face social interaction and obviously the kid is going to lack social skills.

    BUT WHY THE HELL BLAME GAMES?! This doesn't sound like a VIDEO GAME problem, but a SOCIALIZATION problem!! But no, once again, let's jump on the latest demonized pop culture trends and blame them! I bet if one of these so-called game addicts spent a month in an institutional environment they'd come out exactly the same. Unless parties, booze and sex are part of the therapy? ;-D

  69. Who would have thunk it by Joebert · · Score: 1

    Super Mario Brothers.
    Down the tubes, to the underground, to get some loot.

    New Super Mario Bros.
    Eat a mushroom, turn into the 50' man, to kick the tube habbit.

    --
    Wanna fight ? Bend over, stick your head up your ass, and fight for air.
  70. 12 step program? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    - Most "12 step" programs are quacky and don't work

    Up-Up-Down-Down-Left-Right-Left-Right-B-A-SELECT-S TART Always worked for me....

  71. Blah Blah Blah by PriceIke · · Score: 1

    I started playing an MMORPG about a month ago in order to "medicate" the bad feelings of a recent breakup. It works wonders. Some people would consider my gaming habits to be addictive and dangerous. I say they can go screw themselves. I work my 8 hours a day, I pay my taxes, I still hang out with my friends. I just watch less tv and play more on the computer. And I have something fun to look forward to during the day, instead of feeling all mopey about the breakup. When the next semester starts I'll go to school more and play less, but at least by that time I'll be over her.

    If I start skipping classes and my 4.0 GPA starts slipping cause of my gaming habits, then you can talk to me about having an "addiction" but if I want to spend 12 hours on a Saturday in front of my PC and I'm not hurting anybody, so what? If I spent that time at a bar getting liquored up (taking a cab home of course) would you--read as: society--have more or less respect for me?

    People who run around labeling behaviors "addictions" and addictions "diseases" need to be smacked in the head with a clue-by-four.

    --
    It's not a lie. It's the truth with lossy compression.
    1. Re:Blah Blah Blah by shaitand · · Score: 1

      "I started playing an MMORPG about a month ago in order to "medicate" the bad feelings of a recent breakup. It works wonders. Some people would consider my gaming habits to be addictive and dangerous. I say they can go screw themselves. I work my 8 hours a day, I pay my taxes, I still hang out with my friends."

      My wife plays because she has Fibromyalgia and it is an escape from chronic pain. She is no longer able to work but is only a few years shy of normal retirement age. She earned better than average income most of her life and has certainly done her share as far as society goes. Of course, that would still be true if she picked up a crack pipe today.

      "I just watch less tv and play more on the computer."

      So you traded one addiction for another. Just because TV is socially acceptable does not make it any less an addiction or anymore healthy. TV used to be recognized as a serious epidemic like gaming is being recognized as now. Of course the generation addicted to TV simply excused the previous generations as being old fashioned or afraid of technology; truth is, they were just afraid to see people spending the day staring at a hypnotic box instead of socializing.

      "When the next semester starts I'll go to school more and play less, but at least by that time I'll be over her."

      Maybe, for your sake I hope so. I know 3 people who have failed classes due to gaming. That is a substantial number since I don't live in a college town and only know 3 people in college... and none of them know eachother.

      'If I start skipping classes and my 4.0 GPA starts slipping cause of my gaming habits, then you can talk to me about having an "addiction"'

      That would make you another of the masses that this has affected yes. I don't know (or care frankly) whether you personally are addicted. You can skip the quote around addicted though, as I said addicted is a neurochemical reaction and is objective not subjective (of course diagnosis is subjective, there are no financially feasible tests). Either is occuring or not. When you are addicted to gaming you are addicted to the same brain chemicals that any street junky is addicted to.

      "if I want to spend 12 hours on a Saturday in front of my PC and I'm not hurting anybody, so what?"

      So it is unhealthy. Nobody is saying you can't do it, we are saying you shouldn't do it. There is a difference. I don't care if you want to spend your saturdays gaming, or flying on acid. It makes absolutely no difference to me. It is your life to use or abuse as you please.

      I mostly don't like addictions for myself because I prefer to be my own master rather than having the illusion of making my own choices left by the addiction. I had a particularly strong addiction when I smoked, I remember believing I was making my own choices for years. Of course, now that I no longer smoke I can look back at those choices and realized that the addiction made the choices, not me. For instance, there were times my wife and I were short on money and ate only bread... of course, after buying smokes that as that was left. While smoking our bank balance was ALWAYS figured in terms of what remained after buying cigerettes. Those came first, then bills and food or whatever. I was also addicted to gaming. I played Sierra's The Realm (2d mmorpg that eq borrowed the idea from) for a good 5 years, then played Dark Ages of Camelot, finally I played WOW for a bit.

      "If I spent that time at a bar getting liquored up (taking a cab home of course) would you--read as: society--have more or less respect for me?"

      The same, either way you are wasting your life away and just taking up space.

      "People who run around labeling behaviors "addictions" and addictions "diseases" need to be smacked in the head with a clue-by-four."

      I already explained that addictions have an objective neuro-chemical condition. They are not open to interpretation by the addicted.

  72. Surefire cure to Internet chess addiction. by Wargames · · Score: 1
    --
    -- Each tock of the Planck clock is a new world and here we are still life. --
  73. Your Body Can Produce... by Temujin_12 · · Score: 1

    ...its own addictive chemicals. Take a look at the following chemicals released into the brain during sex:

    Dopamine
    Norepinephrine
    Testosterone
    Oxytocin

    My point isn't that there are lots of chemicals released during sex or that sex is bad (I love it!). My point is that we sometimes overlook addictions simply because they don't involve injecting/consuming foreign chemicals. Video games are plenty capable of causing a surge in various chemicals produced by your own body. These levels are different for every person and aren't dangerous in and of themselves. What is dangerous is when you form a habit and your body depends on the constant production of certain chemicals.

    The best way to stay clear of addictions you may be susceptible to is to look for patterns/trends in your life, be honest with yourself, and have honest supportive friends. If certain elements of your lifestyle prevent you from functioning normally then you have a problem no matter how harmless the activity may seem.

    --
    Faith is a willingness to accept something w/o complete proof and to act on it. Reason allows you to correct that faith.
  74. keurae... by Ivan+Matveitch · · Score: 1

    b3hold teh lingua franca of intl. c0mmerce

  75. "Dr Drew" seemed to like them, anyway. by Ivan+Matveitch · · Score: 1

    And I only raised the issue in order to mention my favorite television character and make depressing comments about society.

  76. I guess yours did eh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    I think the new css looks great, personally. I guess your submission didn't win eh?
  77. gaming by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    i lost my gf for gaming. then my flat burned down once because of gaming. when fire started i ran back to my computer and noticed my guildies to wait me few days my house is on fire. then i moved to my parents house and got kicked out for just playing not doing anything else. now i am in my new house and still playing. im quitting atm and joining military service. im feeling good now, no matter what have happened. just believe in that whatever you do.