Amsterdam Game Addiction Clinic Opens

[MSUStud911]

Gamespot (http://www.gamespot.com/news/6154273.html) reports that a clinic has opened in Amsterdam to treat those afflicted with gaming addiction.
The consultancy said that "20 percent of all gamers can develop a dependency on gaming." "Many of these people have gotten to the point that they can't live with gaming and they can't live without it," according to center's Web site.

The BBC cited one gamer in particular at the clinic with bizarre gaming-related habits: "Tim," a 21-year-old used to spending 17 hours a day playing games, was so adhered to his games he wouldn't move to use the restroom. "I take an empty bottle and I pee into it," he said.
If anyone knows about addiction, it's the Dutch!

[aversion2k]

"The consultancy said that "20 percent of all people can develop a dependency to having fun"

[Zechs01]

Wow, I know a few people on WoW who need to go here.

[OUX]

Question, do they have tennis?

[TrackZero]

Hell, I wish I could have went there when I was on my WoW binge.

[Zechs01]

Hell, I wish I could have went there when I was on my WoW binge.
Lol, I personally can't see how people can play that game for hours on end, I can't play it much i just get board of sitting there i prefer doing something like swimming.

[OUX]

Lol, I personally can't see how people can play that game for hours on end, I can't play it much i just get board of sitting there i prefer doing something like swimming.

Thats stupid it doesn't have a swimming stat in it like everquest.

[Qoz]

This is just the beginning. WOW and other MMORPGS have thousands of people playing day and night wasting their lives away. In a few years studies will surely reveal the dangerous nature of online gaming - people will have spent 5-10 years gaming online, without getting any better at usefull things (social skills, academic). I'm not saying the makers of MMORPGs are to blame, but they have a part to play, just like Coca Cola has with more and more kids having weight problems. And I'm not saying the games are evil and should be banned. There is jus NO information and awareness about this. People with drinking and gambling problems have places to go and friends who know what the illness is. Gamming addiction is something new, but very real.

I know 2 people that have serious problems dealing with gaming. They both live by themselves with no jobs and other friends. I hardly see them anymore . I only saw them when I played WOW 1 year ago. And some people could say they have online friends, but that is not healthy. Online friends can be good in some rare cases, but mostly this friendship is superficial and useless when you stop gaming. It's like having drinking friends at the pub.
:)

Some Asian government even banned people from playing a certain MMORPG from evening to morning, because the economy suffered!

[swillw]

Might pop over to Amsterdam to check it out.*coughs*

[aversion2k]

This is just the beginning. WOW and other MMORPGS have thousands of people playing day and night wasting their lives away. In a few years studies will surely reveal the dangerous nature of online gaming - people will have spent 5-10 years gaming online, without getting any better at usefull things (social skills, academic). I'm not saying the makers of MMORPGs are to blame, but they have a part to play, just like Coca Cola has with more and more kids having weight problems. And I'm not saying the games are evil and should be banned. There is jus NO information and awareness about this. People with drinking and gambling problems have places to go and friends who know what the illness is. Gamming addiction is something new, but very real.

I know 2 people that have serious problems dealing with gaming. They both live by themselves with no jobs and other friends. I hardly see them anymore . I only saw them when I played WOW 1 year ago. And some people could say they have online friends, but that is not healthy. Online friends can be good in some rare cases, but mostly this friendship is superficial and useless when you stop gaming. It's like having drinking friends at the pub.
:)

Some Asian government even banned people from playing a certain MMORPG from evening to morning, because the economy suffered!

Well...we all die one day, as long as they've enjoyed their time and havent ruined anyone elses.

[Qoz]

Well...we all die one day, as long as they've enjoyed their time and havent ruined anyone elses.
So its ok to be a junkie? They enjoy life?
Hardly.

Gaming addicts (we are talking about the extreme ones) are often people who have poor social skills and few victories in reallife. The gaming universe presents pseudo social interaction where they suddenly become an interesting person, with cool skills and armor. The more time they invest, the more they become known and respected and the harder it is to leave. Just like it is hard for a drug abuser to stop - all the personal problems are still lingering and you are now older with no usefull skills, no friends and feel like a nobody. It is easier to go back to gaming.

Some say it is their own fault. That addicts are weak. The truth about why people become addicts is much more complicated. People are products of their upbringing and society. And some people have their choices made for them. They have no energy to lift themselves up like other people and my 2 "friends" are excatly like that. These people are addict-potential. Then we have the "stuff" they need to become addicts of. We ban drugs and put restrictions on alcohol. What about gaming? In the future these companies will be forced to act if they remain passive. Like Blizzard got it in China.

They do enjoy their life while gaming, but the social boost they recieve is fake, which becomes apparent when they quit. And it is not very healthy to sit in a chair all day for years. Sometime they have to confront the issues that made them choose an online escape. The MMORPGs are just pause (for years and years) before people realize that.

[Subbacultcha]

Well said. I've essentially stopped playing games, not because I've put restrictions on myself but because it's become impossible to have fun knowing, in the back of my mind, that I'd be wasting my life away.



Yes, I know I've got 300+ posts on a games news site. No, I don't see the irony.

[Qoz]

I just game instead of watching TV.

I've become more focused on spending time with games that really present something interesting and innovative. Thats why I post and read here I guess (and you can do it from work).
;)

I really liked Prey for its great and compact experience.

[Bone]

If anyone knows about addiction, it's the Dutch!
Yes, they do know that addiction is not a crime, it's a disease. While it's legal to do some drugs in Amsterdam, the general population still sees drugs as a problem. They just know better than to criminalize it.

[Grimorial]

Yes, they do know that addiction is not a crime, it's a disease. While it's legal to do some drugs in Amsterdam, the general population still sees drugs as a problem. They just know better than to criminalize it.

Ahem....um what drugs are you talking about? The only drugs I know about that you can legally do is marijuana. Harder drugs are illegal. Mary jane, last I checked is less than addictive unless you want it to be.

As far as "If anyone knows about addiction, it's the Dutch!"
(I hope your trying to be a comedian)

Been and seen, son. Got my blood living there.

[F3nyx]

So its ok to be a junkie? They enjoy life?
Hardly.

Gaming addicts (we are talking about the extreme ones) are often people who have poor social skills and few victories in reallife. The gaming universe presents pseudo social interaction where they suddenly become an interesting person, with cool skills and armor. The more time they invest, the more they become known and respected and the harder it is to leave. Just like it is hard for a drug abuser to stop - all the personal problems are still lingering and you are now older with no usefull skills, no friends and feel like a nobody. It is easier to go back to gaming.

Some say it is their own fault. That addicts are weak. The truth about why people become addicts is much more complicated. People are products of their upbringing and society. And some people have their choices made for them. They have no energy to lift themselves up like other people and my 2 "friends" are excatly like that. These people are addict-potential. Then we have the "stuff" they need to become addicts of. We ban drugs and put restrictions on alcohol. What about gaming? In the future these companies will be forced to act if they remain passive. Like Blizzard got it in China.

They do enjoy their life while gaming, but the social boost they recieve is fake, which becomes apparent when they quit. And it is not very healthy to sit in a chair all day for years. Sometime they have to confront the issues that made them choose an online escape. The MMORPGs are just pause (for years and years) before people realize that.I suppose you also want to tell people whether or not they're allowed to eat fatty foods, and fine introverts for reading books instead of socializing.

[Neosho]

So its ok to be a junkie? They enjoy life?
Hardly.

Gaming addicts (we are talking about the extreme ones) are often people who have poor social skills and few victories in reallife. The gaming universe presents pseudo social interaction where they suddenly become an interesting person, with cool skills and armor. The more time they invest, the more they become known and respected and the harder it is to leave. Just like it is hard for a drug abuser to stop - all the personal problems are still lingering and you are now older with no usefull skills, no friends and feel like a nobody. It is easier to go back to gaming.

Some say it is their own fault. That addicts are weak. The truth about why people become addicts is much more complicated. People are products of their upbringing and society. And some people have their choices made for them. They have no energy to lift themselves up like other people and my 2 "friends" are excatly like that. These people are addict-potential. Then we have the "stuff" they need to become addicts of. We ban drugs and put restrictions on alcohol. What about gaming? In the future these companies will be forced to act if they remain passive. Like Blizzard got it in China.

They do enjoy their life while gaming, but the social boost they recieve is fake, which becomes apparent when they quit. And it is not very healthy to sit in a chair all day for years. Sometime they have to confront the issues that made them choose an online escape. The MMORPGs are just pause (for years and years) before people realize that.

There's a couple of ways of looking at this though...the vast majority of all gamers do not become addicts, and in fact build social networks based around a game rather than a workplace or a sport. It's not too different from joining a sports league or a book club. You have a mutual shared activity that you enjoy, and you partake in it with other people.

Add in to the mix vent/teamspeak, and it's quite possible for people to develop lasting friendships. Hell, we had a couple of our guild members from michigan fly out to see the group of guildies out here...it was a blast, everyone chipped in 20$ to see some of the people we'd hung out with for months online, they got to hang out in california, and in a couple of months, a few of us are going to fly out there to meet everyone else and hang out for awhile. Should be a blast as well. :)

Granted, there are a select few out there who do need the sort of help that this clinic provides, and for that i applaud them. However, video game addiction is entirely different from a drug/substance addiction. It's more akin to a sport or book addiction, in terms of the number of people that game/play a sport and the number that take it to an unhealthy level. Hell, look at pro athletes...they're rewarded for their obsessive addictions to soccer, football, basketball, motorcycle racing, scrabble, chess, go, or poker. How is that any different from downing leet monsters in a game?

On your bit about using MMO's to escape reality...people do plenty of things to escape reality. Singling out MMO's as one of them is somewhat absurd. Also, a social boost in a virtual world is sometimes a good thing for people. The anonyimity of the internet can allow them to explore different sides of their personalities in a way that wouldn't always be socially acceptable in their personal/geographic circles. Saying that the social boost is fake is like saying that the social boost from a sport is fake when you leave the team.

[Zechs01]

Thats stupid it doesn't have a swimming stat in it like everquest.
I was talking about Swimming at a lake or river in real life not in a stupid game I personally would rather do that then sit around and play a game for 20 hours.

[Neosho]

I was talking about Swimming at a lake or river in real life not in a stupid game I personally would rather do that then sit around and play a game for 20 hours.

Lol. He was kidding. It was a joke. You know...how there's...yeah, you know what, if you don't get it, don't worry about it... :o

[OUX]

I was talking about Swimming at a lake or river in real life not in a stupid game I personally would rather do that then sit around and play a game for 20 hours.

I....I know......it was suppose to be a joke......like haha he is so addicted to videogames he doesn't realize that you can do that outside.....ha ha see funny? No? *sigh* they never are after you explain them.


EDIT: I really need to finish the posts before I reply, thanks for the backup Neosho