Patch 5.3 interview with Ghostcrawler
Mystery of the Unborn Val'kyr
The latest patch 5.3 news
All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsAddiction therapists trying to help addicted in the game
by Mike Schramm 
Jul 27th 2009 at 5:00PM
Britain's Telegraph newspaper has news about addiction therapists joining the game themselves, specifically to find and seek out players who might meet the definition of addicted to World of Warcraft. They're actually looking for official Blizzard support, too. I'm not sure how much help you can actually provide by chatting with a player in the game ("Hello, it looks like you've been online for the last 16 hours, are you addicted?"), but they want to do it.Dr. Richard Graham wants to launch a program by the end of the year that includes some in-game outreach, and even he agrees that it'll be tough sell. Then again, maybe the guy just wants to play some WoW for free:
"While a psychiatrist may excel in what they do in the real world, they're probably not going to be very good at playing World of Warcraft. We may have to work at that if we are going to get through to those who play this game for hours at end."
Right. "Work.".
Seriously, sure, this is definitely an issue -- I have a psychologist friend, and he's done some work with people addicted to video games before, including World of Warcraft. But even he tells me that video game addiction is almost always a byproduct of some other form of addiction -- people already have the capability for a debilitating addiction, and they just find an outlet in Blizzard's game. From that point of view, these therapists might have more luck wandering around bars or casinos than actually looking for players in Azeroth.
I'm all for helping people who might have issues with addiction, but diving into the game and trying to both find and help people that way doesn't really seem like the best way to do it. Odds are that a WoW addiction will end up manifesting itself elsewhere in the person's life, and that's probably a better place for these guys to look
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Virtual selves, Guilds, Odds and ends, Blizzard
Reader Comments (Page 5 of 6)
livvie Jul 27th 2009 9:05PM
this is really interesting to me. my psych-doc (very coincidentally) happens to be the head of addiction medicine at a, erm, pretty big and respected college here and ever since he found out i played wow he's always been curious about my play habits. when i told him that i initially played around three hours a day (longer on weekends to hang out with east coast college friends) he was extremely interested. three hours a day felt like a lot to him. i didn't say much more about weekends after that!
it's weird though. i mean, i write for longer than three hours a day. is that addictive behavior or just productive? my feeling is that, honestly, it's a little of both.
at any rate, he's pretty chill and dropped the wow concern since i wasn't seeing him for addiction problems anyhow. he generally doesn't see 'addiction' where there is none, he defines addiction as an inability to continue doing the other things that make up day-to-day life. basically his take is that if you play wow to the exclusion of: eating, making dinner, hanging out with friends outside the game, having sex, etc. then you've got a problem. otherwise, not so much to worry about.
but he does think that one can manifest an addiction entirely through online gaming--not wow specifically--and that you're not necessarily going to see 'addictive' behavior in other areas.
anyhow, great read.
SpitHotFire Jul 27th 2009 9:05PM
Most of the addicted people are still young And 14-19 year old only, they don't know the Meaning of responsibility, it's just they Have to know how to be responsible; only then Will they know how to deal with their Problems.
About 2 years ago, i had my final year in high school, and i had to stop playing WoW for About 8 months, because am responsible of my actions and know what's right for my Own sake, and sometimes when i finish all of the new and important stuff in a new patch Such as ulduar and the argent tournamet daily quests, i take a break until the next patch Goes live..that's what am doing right now, no need for me to level a new alt :D FIRE MAGES FTW!!
Parents, also friends need to TEACH people what is right and what is wrong.
Peace.
sondassa Jul 27th 2009 9:38PM
71 days on my shaman and 51 days on my hunter.
Still loving it :)
poggg Jul 27th 2009 10:07PM
This is ridiculous in so many different ways.
Nick Jul 27th 2009 10:51PM
^Agreed. I enjoy WoW so all of a sudden I'm an addict? F**k that.
eriC draveS Jul 27th 2009 10:46PM
Proper headline should have been:
"Psych Docs Living Off Soup Bones, Start Trolling WoW To Make Dough"
Because that's all they really care about. Bums on couches.
Jayjay Jul 27th 2009 10:48PM
People with genuine addictions need to WANT help before it will have any effect.
you can't 'force' help on people, if you could then drug addiction would be history.
I play, a lot, but I know I'm not addicted as I can walk away and not be bothered about WoW at all. I go places and it never crosses my mind.
It's a game - fun game, cheap entertainment - that doesn't stop me from doing other things if I want to do them (or if they have to be done, like chores and work); but I'm an adult, and don't have 'an addictive personality' so maybe I'm lucky in that regard.
Still, if you aren't ready to admit to addiction , and have the drive to end it, it doesn't matter how whispers you get from people, you won't be logging off any time soon.
I'd also like to add that if I got a whisper from someone telling me they were a psychologist I'd find it creepy in the extreme and probably put them on ignore :)
caltab Jul 27th 2009 11:03PM
This game can be incredibly addicting, I stopped playing 6 months ago after logging 120 days played in about 2 years and gaining 70 lbs. Since I've "quit" i've had 5 or 6 one day relapses(the last of which was today)...each time I quite i delete all my toons and their gear. Each time blizz restores everything no questions asked in a matter of hours. Blizz knows this games addicting and caters to the addicts. I don't blaim blizz for my personal irresponsibility but everything about this game is designed to get you to want to play more and more and more. Blizz should do more to prevent addiction...mainly they need an option to temporarily or permanately disable an account. Especially so a parent could stop a child's addiction.
theRaptor Jul 28th 2009 3:01AM
Change the account email address to a new email. Enter random letters for that email accounts password, or just flat out delete it. Now enter random letters for the wow accounts password. Burn your CD's and serial numbers.
Face it you are setting it up so you can "quit" but know you can come back at any time. Hell you could just run around in game spamming insults or exploiting until your account got permabanned. And next time you needed your fix you would just buy a new account.
Stop blaming other people for your problems.
WoW isn't an addiction, WoW is a maladaptive coping method that allows people to escape from their problems.
Anaughtybear Jul 27th 2009 11:45PM
I can see how this will go down.
Doctortard whispers: "Hello. I can see that you've been playing too long. Would you like some in-game therapy?"
Right click: Ignore.
Right click: Report Spam.
Badger Jul 28th 2009 12:04AM
@ Schramm: You should probably explain that your "psychologist friend" is Kent Smallwood, a professional academic, and not "Luis," the actor whose broadcast you linked to in your original post.
TonyMcS Jul 28th 2009 12:56AM
Addiction therapists trying to help themselves.
Doesn't this count as in-game advertising? Remember psychology is not a science, it just wishes it was and therapists can be just as money hungry as anyone else - especially those in the fringe field of "addiction".
It's exactly the same as people trying to sell plumbing or siding. How do you get to be so cynical about therapy? Do a degree in Psychology like I did and you'll be able to see through the emperor's new clothes.
Having dealt with a number of people with real addictions that destroy their lives and the lives of those around them, I've yet to see people breaking into houses to feed their WoW addiction.
Khremloc Jul 28th 2009 1:38AM
It doesn't count as in-game advertising.
Hoggersbud Jul 28th 2009 12:01PM
It is in-game something though, and I think it falls under the spectrum of possibly excluded behavior. At the least, it'd have to be discrete.
Hell, I think any good medical practices standard would exclude it, let alone Blizzard's TOS. Online therapy is not a good mechanism for dealing with people.
And yes, the psychological profession does lack a lot of scientific rigor in is methods. When I have heard a psychiatrist say "Prescribing medicine is more an art than a science" well, I know I don't want to be in their studio.
Orisi Jul 28th 2009 2:50AM
Although i agree that to an extent people can become overly addicted to the game, i feel that often there is a significant fact that many psychologists tend to overlook.
WoW is not like other addictions, in that more often then not the addiction itself comes more from the social side of playing then it does the achievement side. And even when it doesn't is it really such a bad thing? At the end of the day, socialising is socialising. Is there really a difference between me playing WoW online of an evening, with people who share a similar interest, and going to, say, watch a football match? socialising is socialising, in my opinion the problem stems form the fact that it IS modern technology, and psychologists and analysts who haven't grown up with what is a new social experience are afraid of it. it's deemed to be wrong and detrimental and bad because it's not the usual way of doing things. If someone trawls bars every night looking for a potential partner they're desperate. if they trawl online dating sites they're an addict?
NoSympathy Jul 28th 2009 2:56AM
I was addicted to alcohol and I voluntarily went to rehab for it. I bettered my life because I wanted to. Nobody made me take that first drink. Nobody made me keep drinking. I knew it was all my own fault. Nobody made me go to rehab and detox. It wasn't court ordered.
I did it because I wanted to quit and get better. I wanted to change. I wanted to free myself of that addiction. I knew I was on a bad path and I made the CHOICE to change. I believed in myself and didn't want to lose everything for some stupid addiction.
We don't need outreach programs in a virtual world. If they want to lose their jobs, homes, car, and spouses over a video game because they aren't strong enough to get help - it's their problem. Survival of the fittest, baby. Go down your path of damnation or be an adult and DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.
It's their choice to ruin their lives. If they haven't gotten help by now, they never will. It's up to them to change. Nobody can make you change but you, and nobody can make you change if you don't want to.
Kitzy Jul 28th 2009 3:22AM
ANYTHING in excess can be bad for you.
Farstride Jul 28th 2009 3:41AM
Video games can actually be very positive in your life.
I've gone though High school playing wow, and keeping a high grade point average, with good classes for my career. All because video games gave me the extra motivation I needed.
Don't think of it as "Your life Vs your video games." They all share the same life, might as well put them both together in peace rather then let it tear your life apart.
Find a good rhythm and you should be in the clear.
When I see my /played, I don't panic, I just think it was time well spent.
Because, even though I can safely say I've been addicted to video games, it was fun times.
Besides, while WoWer's panic at their /played, People who enjoy real life, panic even more at their /payed. A wise man once told me, "Money doesn't make someone happy. But the lack of it, defiantly makes them miserable."
frougie Jul 28th 2009 5:02AM
I think we should be a bit honest with ourselves here, a comment was posted that a person felt he has wasted his life when he hit the 20 day play time.
This is without any doubt his right to think so BUT how can wasting your life be defined?!
If a player enjoys wow i dont think he is wasting his life as all of us have different views and expectations of our own lives.
For example, a solider might think that his life is wasted if he didnt engage in to a war; while others think that not traveling is wasting life.
the main idea here is to know the differences between each one of us and to embrace what you love to do in ur life. if you regret playing wow for a lot of time, you should cut back the time played. i dont think you should quite coz u want to play this game.
The whole issue of regret playing too much wow is also relative, but one should cut back when this starts to effect and cost other things HE wants from life.
I am sorry but i dont see it a serious problem !!! if someone wants to quit his job and play wow all the time then its his choice to be a bum BUT he must accept the costs associated with his decisions. ONLY then we be honest to ourselves.
Volkof Jul 28th 2009 5:27AM
I recently cut down my wow-time.. It started when I typed the dreaded /played.. What I saw, both amazed and terrified me.. IN a yeartime, I played 35days and somewhat hours.. Way to much time!
The thing is, games like these are very addictive, but thats not saying anything new.. Thing is, that people, who wouldn't be social active in the real world, now have a safe way of interacting with other people, what otherwise would be more scary for them to do so!
I don't think these kind of initiatieves will stop, but likely to increase, and so they should, cause game-addiction is a fast growing one in todays digital world!