First gaming addiction clinic opens!

Acutie

Acutie

Deadly Shadow
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Back in the summer of 2005, an Internet addiction clinic opened in China, and by the following summer, a clinic opened in Amsterdam to treat video game addicts. Now, a similar clinic has recently opened its doors 13 miles away from Microsoft's headquarters in Redmond, Washington.

To some, real-life "high adventure outings" don't quite compare to the in-game variety.

For $14,500--or the cost of an 80.6-year World of Warcraft monthly subscription--the reSTART Internet Addiction Recovery Program now provides a 45-day intensive care program for game, Internet, and texting addicts. Patients can receive psychotherapy, 12-step group counseling, "nutritional education," personalized fitness plans, and "high adventure outings" around the facility's rural forested landscape.

"The reSTART Internet Addiction Recovery Program is specifically oriented toward launching tech dependent youth and adults back into the real world," the clinic's online mission statement states. "Our individually tailored program is designed to assist participants with an Internet and/or computer-based behavioral addiction to break the cycle of dependency. Our 45-day abstinence-based recovery program exposes participants to a variety of activities and everyday life skills, which are often avoided or underdeveloped as a result of excessive ongoing computer, video game play, and Internet use."

Earlier this month, a study of 552 Americans by the US Center for Disease Control--conducted in the area around reSTART--found that those who game are more likely to be overweight and suffer mental health problems. In July, a British psychiatrist said he plans to assemble fellow therapists to enter the online game World of Warcraft to treat in-game addicts.

For more on gaming addiction, read GameSpot's extensive feature on the subject.

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6216124.html
 
People get addicted to texting? Really? I figure an unlimited texting plan would at least curb and harmful effects, like going over your limit and making you lose all your monies.
 
Acutie said:
In July, a British psychiatrist said he plans to assemble fellow therapists to enter the online game World of Warcraft to treat in-game addicts.
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So people who play WoW would get for free for (close to) what others have to pay for?

I've only known a few people that have gotten "addicted" to WoW (i.e. playing unhealthy amounts of time because pretty much everything is scheduled), there seemed to be far more in FFXI (due to HNM timers etc. people had to be on at absurd hours) that played a proposterous amount of time. Then again, they probably see the subscribed amount of players in WoW and feel that it is much more of a problem.

Xalioniaf said:
People get addicted to texting? Really? I figure an unlimited texting plan would at least curb and harmful effects, like going over your limit and making you lose all your monies.
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I'm going to try to find it, but there was a girl in the states that sent 10,000.00 texts in a very small amount of time with no plan.

Edit: http://www.neowin.net/news/main/09/04/09/teen-sends-10000-texts-with-no-messaging-plan

His daughter managed to send 10,000 text messages and receive about the same amount in one billing cycle. Most of the text messages were sent during school hours which equates to about 300 per day during an 8 hour period.

"She went from A's and B's one semester to F's in two months," and after receiving a $4,756.25 cell phone bill the father took a hammer to his daughters phone and grounded her for the rest of the school year.
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FYI: The gaming addiction clinics in China have been closed down.

It was found that their employees were beating the subjects, one of which died due to severe malnutrition and trauma.
 
Tristam Green said:
FYI: The gaming addiction clinics in China have been closed down.

It was found that their employees were beating the subjects, one of which died due to severe malnutrition and trauma.
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For a second there I thought you ment that they were beaten in the video games.... Good thing I re-read lol
 
Physically kicking their asses for being addicted to video games.
 
Does maple syrup count?

Myrrh said:
My name is Myrrh and I'm an addict.
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Do they have clinics for maple syrup addiction in Canada?
 
Too bad those that can actually afford the $14,500 fee probably aren't addicted to video games.
 
Uzor said:
Too bad those that can actually afford the $14,500 fee probably aren't addicted to video games.
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Yea lol, this. Pretty insane price.

Seriously though...any of you who have played this game for a few years and got into the end game scene know there are a ton of people who are/were addicted...its a pretty big problem that really doesn't get talked about at all in-game, despite the fact that most of us consider many to be "friends" through the game.

This is clearly just the beginning. Talking with some of my relatives that are raising very young kids, its clear that even little kids are getting hooked a lot more than I ever was at that age. Shit, I'd say I was addicted to FFXI in my late teen years but I still started out my childhood playing outside every day. I can't even imagine what might happen if kids grow up doing nothing but playing video games.
 
My girlfriends stepdad, is a gamer. he plays some computer FPS called Joint Ops thats all, however his son, my gf's half brother has also joined him in playing this, and has ventured into some MMOs, he is 8 years old, and 30 lbs overweight, idk how commong this situation is, but im quite concerned for kids of the future.
 
you dont need to go to some psych ward for help with video game addiction, just end it and pace yourself...on your own!
I sat back one day and realized how fucked up my life was because of my addiction to FFXI, realized what a waste of time it had been and how much i missed out on because of it, lost my job, my house, and ripped my retina in my eye because i didnt sleep alot and stared at the tv all day and night, and now have to live with the complications that has caused.
but i dont complain, i dont preach, i just learned and moved on. I always make sure to have other things to do besides gaming, when im feeling tired or overly addicted to a game, i shut it off, watch something on dvd and fall asleep. play with my kids, work on my book, go ghost hunting somewhere, do some experiments, play guitar, write some music etc.
I still love the hell out of my gaming, i just dont let it take over anymore.
lifes to short to spend half of it in a fantasy world.
 
Chasym said:
you dont need to go to some psych ward for help with video game addiction, just end it and pace yourself...on your own!
I sat back one day and realized how fucked up my life was because of my addiction to FFXI, realized what a waste of time it had been and how much i missed out on because of it, lost my job, my house, and ripped my retina in my eye because i didn't sleep a lot and stared at the tv all day and night, and now have to live with the complications that has caused.
but i don't complain, i don't preach, i just learned and moved on. I always make sure to have other things to do besides gaming, when I'm feeling tired or overly addicted to a game, i shut it off, watch something on dvd and fall asleep. play with my kids, work on my book, go ghost hunting somewhere, do some experiments, play guitar, write some music etc.
I still love the hell out of my gaming, i just don't let it take over anymore.
life is to short to spend half of it in a fantasy world.
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while I agree with you sir you have to realize not everyone has the sense of character to do this. if it were this simple there would be no need for any addict treatment centers of any kind. what helped curb my gaming was my GF elphaba. I stopped spending all my time in a virtual world and divided my time equally between my hobby and my woman. That and she makes me adhere to her bedtime schedule. :wink:
 
Zoolander said:
Seriously though...any of you who have played this game for a few years and got into the end game scene know there are a ton of people who are/were addicted...its a pretty big problem that really doesn't get talked about at all in-game, despite the fact that most of us consider many to be "friends" through the game.

This is clearly just the beginning. Talking with some of my relatives that are raising very young kids, its clear that even little kids are getting hooked a lot more than I ever was at that age. Shit, I'd say I was addicted to FFXI in my late teen years but I still started out my childhood playing outside every day. I can't even imagine what might happen if kids grow up doing nothing but playing video games.
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Not to open the can of worms, but I'm posting this from a hotel room in Massachusetts with 9 people from my "social" linkshell. I realize you didn't say that EVERY person has these "friends" and we're probably the exception to the rule, but this is the second time we've met in real life in the past year. We come from all over the country to do it, and its pretty awesome.

No beef aimed at you, really, but we're living proof that not everything is sad and addiction and pathetic.

Edit: Among the ten of us, 4 of us are employed fulltime making enough money to live without support, 7 of us are in college/have graduated from college (one of which just finished their second degree, one of which is finishing med school and starting fulltime as a neurologist in the coming months) and we've all done Kings camps, we're all doing Salvage, one of us is 30ish coins from Gjallerhorn, we've mostly all finished Nyzul/Odin/Captain Rank, we're all rank 10 everywhere, several of us have crafts at 80+, and we're all pretty seriously geared. Its not like we're shut-ins with enough bucks to fly cross-country to hang out, we're all real people with real-life accolades and in-game accomplishements.

Also, employment/college overlaps, hence 4+7=11, not 10.
 
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Lyall said:
Not to open the can of worms, but I'm posting this from a hotel room in Massachusetts with 9 people from my "social" linkshell. I realize you didn't say that EVERY person has these "friends" and we're probably the exception to the rule, but this is the second time we've met in real life in the past year. We come from all over the country to do it, and its pretty awesome.

No beef aimed at you, really, but we're living proof that not everything is sad and addiction and pathetic.
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We are sitting around in the living room, after Rockband, and one of us read this, prompting Lyall to respond, and me to echo it.
 
You can be on the game a lot without truly being addicted; I play FFXI almost all day long, but I also just graduated from college with my 2nd bachelor's degree with a 3.5 average, go out with friends IRL a lot, and have non-FFXI-related hobbies and interests.

FFXI is actually a good way to meet some great friends that become RL friends too--they're not just "friends" in the sense that we're only united by endgame goals.

tl;dr, I'm not so ronery x.x
 
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