Dealing with addiction to virtual worlds and video games

By Angeline Olschewski

October 17, 2007 | When Halo 2 premiered Nov. 9, 2004, the boys in my dorm disappeared. I was unaware of the release of the video game, and so each day I would pass by their apartment, press my nose to the door jamb, and take a whiff expecting to smell rotting body. Anyone who has been in a bachelors' apartment knows you will inevitably smell rotting something, so I assumed it was the trash or the sink that made the various stenches I inhaled, and moved on to the next apartment.

Days later the boys emerged with bloodshot eyes, greasy hair, tartar-caked teeth, and that stench that was previously unidentified. They had conquered the game, and life could continue as normal.

Normal that is, until November of 2005, when kids slept outside Best Buy for days to secure first dibs on the Xbox 360. Can it be called abduction if the video game console is what takes someone hostage?

A year later we have the newest version of Halo. My father's staff is working overtime tocompensate for another employee's vacation time. While I do not begrudge him his hard earned time off, he freely confessed that he would be spending the next 10 days playing Halo 3. In addition, he offhandedly mentioned that his video game playing was a major factor in the dissolution of his marriage. Shocking.

But these are some minor instances of video game addiction. This is a serious problem, and it's growing. Research conducted by Marny Hauge and Douglas Gentile, along with the National Institute of Media and the Family, suggests that "video game 'addiction' is a problem among adolescents, particularly among males, and that addiction is associated with adjustment problems such as school performance and aggressive attitudes and behaviors."

Up until now, it has been difficult to prove that video games are addicting due to insufficient measuring techniques. Notice in the above quote, there are quotation marks around the word "addiction." My father's employee refers to his game time as "playing video games."

But let's be honest, folks. When you take ten days of vacation with the expectation to remain indoors and play video games, you have crossed the dependency line.

"In some adolescents, video game playing is a behavior which resembles dependence," according to a 2003 study published in Society for the Study of Addictions to Alcohol and Other Drugs. "For these people, the behavior is out of their control, is invasive, is used as an escape from reality or involves serious risk for their social development."

Shelley Porter knows something about this. Her 27-year-old nephew James (not his real name) has not left the basement of his parents' home in eight years, except to go to doctor's appointments or family functions.

James, who is extremely intelligent, graduated high school early and was snatched up by a computer company in Seattle. Without many friends, soon the majority of his interaction with the outside world came through online gaming. He became so involved that he neglected his own health to the point of anorexia.

His parents moved him back home. These days he sits in the basement playing World of Warcraft, an online role-playing game.

Sherry Rauh, author of "Video Game Addiction No Fun" explained that the "lure of a fantasy world is especially pertinent to online role-playing games. These are games in which a player assumes the role of a fictional character and interacts with other players in a virtual world."

Paraphrasing Kimberly Young, PsyD and clinical director of the Center for On-line Addiction, Rauh continues, "An intelligent child who is unpopular at school can become dominant in the game. The virtual life becomes more appealing than real life."

World of Warcraft released in 2004 to positive reviews. It is not just a game; it's a social experience as demonstrated by the name of their Web site, "World of Warcraft Community Site."

My cousin, whose husband is an avid player, explained that it's a place where you are judged solely on your skills. "My brother's friend went deaf about a year ago, and she loves to play because there she is not disabled," she said. "There, she is just another player who's good or not."

But when the game consumes your entire day, the community of Warcraft becomes your drug. According to the Web site, there are currently "eight million players and counting" worldwide. Google "World of Warcraft Addictions" and you will find over 100,000 links to various pages such as recovery stories, quizzes to tell if you are addicted, and my favorite site, www.wowdetox.com wow being the acronym for World of Warcraft.

Video game addiction is a real problem with real consequences. Marriages end, children fail classes, grown men starve themselves. There is help for those who recognize the problem in their own lives.

Considering the fact that Halo 3 smashed all previous sales records, I don't suppose there are many who think they have a problem.

NW
MS