Gaming Detox Center Opens In Netherlands

Edge Online reports on the opening of a gaming detox center in the Netherlands. The Smith and Jones center's 12-step program for a gaming-free life is set to start accepting patients next month. From the article: "[The center has] concluded that the truly game-addicted have no other option than to give up the gaming ghost entirely, by means of replacing those 'time warp' hours with real-life high-adrenaline replacements."

Re:So in essence....

[NeutronCowboy]

Yup. I actually know some people exactly like that. Doesn't mean it's right or how it should be done. The worst thing is - this stuff is common knowledge among psychiatrists, psychologists and brain researchers. The only people who don't know this are politicians funding detox centers and special interests groups who run these centers.

Re:So in essence....

[AuMatar]

Hell, the twelve step process is *based* on that- read the 12 steps. The first step is admitting you have a problem. The second is giving up and praying to god to solve it for you, rather than acting like a man and taking responsibility for yourself. Avoid 12 step programs like the plague, they don't solve the problem they just trade it for a new one (and in the case of gaming, a worse one).

Solutions for Critical Thinkers

[mabu]

Hopefully, they'll also offer alternatives [secularsobriety.org] to the 12-Step programs. I'm not quite sure how you're going to wean someone off an obsession with fantasy creatures with the standard 12-step methodology. That seems a bit ironic.