The UK's first rehab centre for gaming addiction has opened in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset.
Broadway Lodge treats around 400 patients annually for issues including, drink, drug and gambling addiction, and has adapted its Minnesota Method Twelve-Step abstinence programme for gamers.
"Obviously this is the very early stages of researching how many youngsters are affected," Brian Dudley, the centre's chief executive, told the Telegraph. "But I would stick my neck out and say between five and ten per cent of parents or partners would say they know of someone addicted to an online game.
"... You can't simply say to a 23-year-old male 'you should never use the internet again'. It's just not practical. So we go through all the issues surrounding gaming use and ensure there are triggers through which an addict recognises their usage has become a problem."
Broadway Lodge counsellor Peter Smith added: "It's not unusual for people to get so obsessed with online gaming that they forget to eat and drift towards an anorexic and undernourished state. You have a relationship with characters in the game that give you an artificial feeling, created by your body's natural endorphins, when you have killed some monster or solved a problem."
The Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association denied that playing online games could lead to addiction.
"Playing videogames is becoming increasingly mainstream in the UK and we firmly believe in the positive impact playing games can have," said director general Michael Rawlinson.
In April, the US Entertainment Software Association challenged an Iowa State University study which found that 8.5 per cent of American gamers aged 8-18 showed multiple signs of addiction. The following month, a study conducted by researchers at the University of Sydney found that one in 12 gamers had an addiction to playing.
I can openly put my hands up and admit I played World of Warcraft too much. I no longer play, and i jokingly say to my mates "Im clean". But its a good example of how addictive that game was and still is for a lot of people.
The first step on the road to recovery is admitting you have a problem.
I however have no problems whatsoever, I am completely at peace with my level of gaming and the way it affects my real world life... My wife however is not...lol
Where were you when I needed you to help with my NHL '94 addiction?
Man, I used to stay up until 4am on a school night playing that! Too addictive.
I think I chalked up about 700+ matches - mostly using the Detroit Redwings: Yzerman, Ciccerelli, Fedorov, Chiasson (sometimes with Lidstrom) and Coffey.
Fantastic game....I can still remember the theme tune.
Not quite sure how I feel about this. On one hand, I think this is a really good and definitly something that is long overdue for those who suffer gaming addiction. On the otherhand, it does have the implication that gaming will be compared all too often with drugs, smoking and alchole abuse.
Is it only me that thinks modern people are going soft? Suddenly liking something to much is an 'addiction'.
I know serious addiction is a proper mental health issue but I guess some people can become addicted to anything.
Also how ashamed must these guys/girls be explaining their problem to alcoholics and drugies.
Yeah, I'd agree with that. Surely there has to come a point where a kick up the backside will do? - computer game addiction is not comparable to the physical addiction of something like heroin.
If I were an alcoholic or drug-addict, I'd probably have a dim view of someone complaining of a 'WoW addiction'.
Would that be the same Weston-Super-Mare that's full of video game arcades for the tourists? Having grown up there, I can say with relative confidence that video gaming is pretty much it as far as that town's amusements go...
Still, good luck to those this behind this scheme. I know a lot of serious gamerheads who take their playing a little too seriously.
And yes, I do find it peculiar that my missus does not equate her incessant IPhone gaming with my Xbox. PS3. Wii. And DS...
computer game addiction is not comparable to the physical addiction of something like heroin.
I disagree. Anything which stimulates the adrenal gland can be addictive. It's the endorphins that your brain is addicted to, not the action itself. So it's irrelevant how you get those chemicals, be it from alcohol or drugs or video games, it's the same thing. Not doing it stops the production so you do it to feel better.
But until it starts negatively affecting your life I don't think it's a big deal. Playing games in your free time is one thing, staying up til 4am when you should be getting up for work or school at 7am, missing classes or pulling regular sickies for it is something else entirely.
True. but how many of us of this site can say that at one point or another we have stayed up late into the night gaming. I know i have.
The problem i have with this whole gaming addiction thing is that there is no similar studies being carried out for Television. Why is it you have an addcition if you spend 6 hours a day gaming, but not if you spend the same 6 hours watching the tube.
computer game addiction is not comparable to the physical addiction of something like heroin.
I disagree. Anything which stimulates the adrenal gland can be addictive. It's the endorphins that your brain is addicted to, not the action itself. So it's irrelevant how you get those chemicals, be it from alcohol or drugs or video games, it's the same thing. Not doing it stops the production so you do it to feel better.
But until it starts negatively affecting your life I don't think it's a big deal. Playing games in your free time is one thing, staying up til 4am when you should be getting up for work or school at 7am, missing classes or pulling regular sickies for it is something else entirely.
Yeah that's all well and good, but it's not as bad is it? Like people saying they're addicted to chocolate and crap like that.
Watch someone withdraw from drugs. I love my 360, but I didn't start vomitting and stealing in order to get a new one when it RRoD'd!
That's related to the chemical itself. Withdrawal from games will be different because it's a different input. GIGO and all that.
But the general consensus is right - writing it off as an addiction just because they enjoy it is the easy option. Like writing off disruptive kids as ADHD without actually bothering to check. I like gaming and sometimes I think I might have a mild addiction too, but I have enough willpower to not run home and switch the PC/360/PS3 on instead of staying in work. Doesn't mean I won't do the same when work ends though.
Where do you stop being just a hardcore gamer and start being an addict? I don't know if it's that easy to tell.
I play games a lot, but I'm not addicted. I feel sorry for those who literally play for 20 hours straight without eating, that's just absurd. I think GNDOOOR on COD4 might need some counselling, he's played COD4 online for over 140 days on PS3, and that's not counting his PC position as well, he's played that a long time too.
That's related to the chemical itself. Withdrawal from games will be different because it's a different input. GIGO and all that.
But the general consensus is right - writing it off as an addiction just because they enjoy it is the easy option. Like writing off disruptive kids as ADHD without actually bothering to check. I like gaming and sometimes I think I might have a mild addiction too, but I have enough willpower to not run home and switch the PC/360/PS3 on instead of staying in work. Doesn't mean I won't do the same when work ends though.
Where do you stop being just a hardcore gamer and start being an addict? I don't know if it's that easy to tell.
No, you're quite right - you only have to look at some of the people in Korea that have died through playing MMO's without sleeping....that, to me, is someone with a serious problem.
I guess it's hard to say where to draw the line - I know that I don't actually play games as much as I probably did as a kid, but that's probably due to having more daily responsibilities and things to do.
I tend to get to a point after about 2 hours where I have to stop and take a break, or just leave it for the night.
You are addicted to something when it begins to interrupt daily routines, and the person genuinely feels that they are unable to cope without their fix. You could be able to differentiate between an addict and someone who just spends an unhealthy amount of time playing games, if they are doing things such as neglecting to eat/sleep on a regular basis. Contantly calling in sick to work/Uni/school in order to play them, as they feel that they will not be able to cope without it.
For example, I was mildly obsessed with super bomber man on the snes. I was able to tell that I wasn't addicted though, as I was still able to carry out my daily duties as a man and a son without it interfering. I played it a hell of a lot, but was still able to function as a person without it, and did not become antagonistic, aggressive or depressed when deprived of it.
Also, saying that someone who is addicted to alcohol/drugs is much worse off than someone who is mentally addicted to something is right up to a certain point, but try telling that to someone who is addicted to gambling. It nearly ruined my grandfather, grandmother and almost my mother's lives. Thankfully, he was able to get help before it did.
I've heard he has an X-Box tattoo on both his arms...The X helps him find the syringe point.
I've also heard he's got a Wii in every room....sorry my mates just told me he's got weed in every room...Sorry misheard him again... apparently he's had a wee in every room!
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