Gamers Finally Get The Cold Turkey Treatment

Sponge Bob

if a coke addict said they wanted to go out to a club or to see people, we'd be worried about whether they'd meet a dealer. But if a gamer said he wanted to go out for the night and meet people we'd throw a party."

From the treatment unit just opened for Gaming addicts in Holland

The consultancy is already seeing about a dozen "outpatient" youngsters each month who have both a drug and computer game addiction - but increasingly there are calls from youngsters who have gaming as their primary problem.

and txt knobs , you know the ones who txt u frm crx de room.

Mobile phones and texting can become a compulsion - leaving us feeling vulnerable and panicked when we're not able to send a message or make a call.

"My own mobile phone fell in the canal and I freaked out," he says. And anyone unable to resist text messaging is looking for the same instant gratification, the same quick fix.

and sweats

But Mr Bakker says he's watched gaming obsessives behave when they get close to the object of their desire. "It's like the coke user coming up to the dealer, you can see them start to sweat."

more here

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/5034756.stm

Dudess

Fantastic. I love when stuff that should only appear in The Onion actually happens.:D

Pigman II

Not much of a gamer but wouldn't worry about the kids playing their games. At least it keeps them off the streets doing something interactive rather than watching tv. The one however that really bugs me is the text-message junkies.

Couple of weeks ago this girl invited me out for a drink. At the table it was just the two of us but despite this fact whenever she got a text she insisted on spending 5mins sitting there thumbing out replies right in front of me whilst I sat there staring at the walls and re-reading the beermat for the 50th time. Annoyed the hell out of me.

Well "that's the end of you" I thought. "You're either a text addict or one rude beatch, either way I don't want to find out which.". After about an hour I made an excuse and left.

R0ot

Im a big gamer, and its not an addiction!

Silverfish

I can quit any time I like. Or any time NTL like either for that matter.

nesf

comment from article wrote:

Given I spent half an hour in World of Warcraft last night tracking down enough of the herb Dreamfoil - in some cases these games ARE about collecting flowers...
Zoroaster, Malvern, UK

Utterly fantastic.

jaggeh

im a gamer, im not an addict. but it is medication for the soul.
if it wasnt for computer games i *would* have killed you all by now ye shower cnuts!

*change ffs*

joe_chicken

Computer games p0wn me...


*gets coat

aye. totally addicted.

mang87

I game like a mother****er. Tbh though I could live without it if I had to, I just don't have to live without it so I keep doing it.


Although that thing about texting is half right. I don't text huge amounts, but if I ever go out without my phone I feel all panicy and vulnerable when I realise I don't have it. Almost like a limb has been cut off.

Mainly probably because I feel like I might miss something important if someone tries to contact me.


[edit] talking about gaming, anyone going to gamecon tonight? :P

thebman

I think if someone got as addicted to video games as some of the comments on that article suggest they should thankful.

They probably would have ended up drug addicts if they had started trying that first.

If you can't not play a computer game then there is something seriously wrong with you. I have a 360 in my room and only play it when I'm in the mood to which is only every other day at this stage. The games aren't as much fun as when I was a kid. Probably because I've done what most of them have to offer a hundred times over at this stage so I'm only interested in games that actually offer something new.

Sizzler

R0ot wrote: »

Im a big gamer, and its not an addiction!

How big? 20 stone

kyp_durron

Sizzler wrote: »

How big? 20 stone

I am 35 stone. I play Eve online 19 hours a day and I get really angry and serious about make believe spaceships and space rocks.

MOH

Oddly he had nothing to say about Boards addiction.

It's a bit of a bizarre article though:

their parents might be divorced or too busy to see them, they might lack confidence. In short, they need to get out more.

But Mr Bakker says that parents shouldn't underestimate the seriousness of the problem.

Eh, these are the same parents who are to busy for them?

And then he cites this as evidence of texting compulsion:

My own mobile phone fell in the canal and I freaked out," he says.

I'd be pretty damn freaked if my phone fell in a puddle, mainly due to the cost and hassle of replacing it and all my contacts. How the hell did his phone fall in a canal anyway?

Plus the usual 'games train people to kill people' argument sneaking in there.

Bah!!

the_syco

MOH wrote: »

Plus the usual 'games train people to kill people' argument sneaking in there.

And they do. Never did I want to kill the f**ks at EA due to them ****ing up the patches of the game I was playing;):rolleyes::eek: