Canadutch
Looks like I got out just in time… Apparently addiction consultants Smith & Jones are coaxing gamers back to reality in a clinic in Amsterdam.
They say…
Research suggests online game playing may trigger the release of the chemical dopamine in the brain. A study done in London’s Hammersmith Hospital showed that increased levels of dopamine were roughly the equivalent of a dose of speed, an amphetamine that can be addictive.
Countries like South Korea and China, which boast the largest online games communities, are working with game operators on systems to discourage compulsive behavior.
A 28-year-old South Korean died of heart failure last year after playing a game called “StarCraft” for 50 hours at an Internet cafe. The parents of a 13-year-old Chinese boy who killed himself after playing a computer game for 36 hours are suing the game’s licensed Chinese distributor.
In all honesty, I didn’t find kicking the gaming habit to be very difficult. Then again, I didn’t play for 50 hours at a time. I understand the things they said in the article, that MMORPG’s can be brutally addictive and people use them as an escape from their real life issues… but can it really be sat on the same shelf as drug addiction or alcoholism?
I thought it was a pretty decent idea until I saw this…
Treatment for excessive game playing is not covered by health care insurance, so patients have to cover the cost themselves – 500 euros ($640) a day.
Yet another Dutch money racket.
Uhhhh, worth it? I’m thinking no. If I had money like that to throw around and wanted to quit gaming, I could spend 2 weeks in Spain hanging out on the beach and weaning myself from the game… rather than spending 500 euros per DAY sitting in a stuffy canal house listening to some guy telling me gaming is bad.
I’ll have to show this post to my husband. He’s a computer game programmer and an avid game player.
Yeah I agree totally. I could just imagine the look on my husband’s face as he clutches his chest (and his wallet) when I tell him I want 500 euro a day therapy to stop gaming haha
I’d say it’s addicitve. A need for therapy? Uh, no.
Yeah I agree, it is a valid addiction… but I don’t think it’s quite as bad as they are saying. I certainly don’t think it requires 500 euro a day therapy. Good god.. The program takes 4 – 6 weeks at 500 euros a day? Who on earth can afford that?
I see it the same way that people get addicted to gambling, the same type of adrenal rush. Gambling is a true addiction, lives totally ruined by it. The stakes are higher for gamblers, though.