14 DAY TRIAL // For years, talk of gaming addiction has been on the lips of players all over the world, yet the superior forums always frowned at the idea. Gradually things seem to change as attention is shifted from regular physiological alcohol or drug addiction to the increasing domain of computer game and internet addiction. Psychologists found themselves dealing with a type of deficiency they could not relate to, since age and technological knowledge are determinant factors. Unfortunately, this should not come as a surprise, considering the rapid over technologization in the world. Internet is no longer a commodity, but a living standard, as computers became the number one devices for home entertainment.
BBC writes about the open minded people from Smith and Jones Addiction Consultants in Amsterdam, Holland, who initiated an eight week long program to relieve patients of their compulsive gaming addiction. In an unprecedented effort in Europe, they recently opened up the Wild Horses Center, a clinic to host their patients for the full duration of treatment, taking things one step further.
How did it all begun? The medical staff observed peculiar connections regarding various physiological addictions and excessive gaming in patients. Instead of being an isolated incident, it grew into quite a trend and was henceforth recognized as a serious problem that needs to be addressed. The many symptoms include, but are not limited to, eye problems, the lack of control towards play time restrictions, developing antisocial behavior, a decrease in mental performance, anxiety, panic attacks and even depression, coupled with general obsessive thinking. While Smith And Jones state that only about 20% of players develop a form of gaming addiction, extreme escapism still comes with a high price. Apparently individuals display similar withdrawal symptoms as chemically dependent people.
The counselors at the Wild Horses Center saw something called "time warps". Given the addictive nature of this kind of entertainment, pleasure thresholds reach higher levels, basically meaning that one needs to spend more time in front of a computer in order to gain the same satisfaction. In doing so, the other activities that non gamers enjoy, simply fade away as the game becomes a prime focus in life. A common misconception comes from the fact that addicted gamers can often enough stop playing for days or even weeks at a time. It only leads to a state of denial, so a professional piece of advice is to try playing a game just a few times and see if it leads to a sense of frustration, to the need of playing again.
As for the issue of problem gamers relapsing, Keith Bakker, director of the consultancy thinks it's still a difficult thing to prevent: "You can't do a urine test to see that they're not still gaming. 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."