40 Percent of World of Warcraft Players Addicted

Heartless Gamer writes "MMORPGs and game addiction. If you're suffering from dry eyes, headaches, back aches, erratic sleep patterns, it may be more than just your average hangover: according to Dr. Maressa Orzack, you could be suffering from video and computer game addiction. A clinical psychologist, Orzack is founder and coordinator of Computer Addiction Services at McLean Hospital in Newton, Mass., and is also an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School. Computer Addiction Services is one of the few outpatient clinics in the U.S. that provides specific treatment for game addiction." but I'm feelings much better now.

Headline imcomplete.

[Anonymous Coward]

40 Percent of World of Warcraft Players Addicted

Should read:

40 Percent of World of Warcraft Players Addicted...to masturbation

OK, ok, sorry!

I'm not addicted, I can quit anytime I want

[BlackCobra43]

now excuse me while I go on my first of 5 weekly, 3hr long raids

That number seems a bit low

[davidwr]

The actual % varies but I think it floats at about 99.40%.

This is purely speculation mind you.

Addicted to WoW

[Alicat1194]

You say that like it's a bad thing....

"I can quit any time I want"

[the_tsi]

...Just as long as it does't affect my raid schedule. I need that DKP, you know. And if Elementium Reinforced Bulwark drops while I'm not there, I'll be upset.

I'm not addicted..

[JFlex]

to WoW.. who do these doctors think they are? BTW.. LVL 60 DRUID LFG 4 UBRS RUN ASAP! PST!!

Addicted?

[bitkari]

If you're suffering from dry eyes, headaches, back aches, erratic sleep patterns, it may be more than just your average hangover: according to Dr. Maressa Orzack, you could be suffering from video and computer game addiction.

No problem.
 
/cast Abolish Disease
/dance

Re:Only 40%?

[Anonymous Coward]

... every wow[sic] player I have ever met lack[sic] the ability to think, talk or do anything else.

Big WoW player, are ya?

I've had these symptoms for a few years...

[tmauer]

And all this time I thought it was my three year old giving me the headaches and sleep problems...

Hmmm

[Spad]

"Doctor with vested interest makes sensational statement to support business model" shocker.

Mad props for the Night Court reference

[Flounder]

"I once counted to a million. Missed the entire Ford Administration. But I'm feeling much better now."

Re:Addicted?

[Rob T Firefly]

If you're suffering from dry eyes, headaches, back aches, erratic sleep patterns,

I've got all that and I don't even play MMOs. It's called "aging poorly."

Evolution

[kripkenstein]

TFA:

it's a cycle: people begin to spend too much time playing and their careers and personal relationships begin to deteriorate. Then they begin to withdraw more into the game because it's an escape from their real world problems.

RW: So what's the solution?

My solution: let nature take its course. In a few generations there will be no gamers left.

Re:Headline incomplete.

[Aeonite]

They have to be -- anyone who raids as much as they do has to be turning down sex [cafepress.com].

Re:Mad props for the Night Court reference

[ixtapa]

Doesn't catching a Night Court reference categorically exclude one from saying "mad props"?

Re:I'm not addicted..

[boaworm]

If you were the least addicted to WoW, you would be WAY BEYIND looking for pickup groups to UBRS, lul =P

Dr. Orzack Quote

[Calso]

From the Q&A on her website:

Initially I noticed that I was spending too much time on computer games such as solitaire and cruel. I became so absorbed in games that I neglected or delayed meeting various personal obligations. I stayed up too late. This led me to realize that behavior of this kind could be an addiction.

I personally give credence to the notion of video game addiction (I've been clean from CS for three years now, Halo for six months). Even so, if you can stand playing solitaire for more than an hour, you must already be addicted to crack.

Re:I'm not addicted, I can quit anytime I want

[Placido]

I did plenty of other things in my other time, socialized, did work, went to classes, ate, slept, etc.

Is it just me or did anyone else notice that sex wasn't listed?

Re:WoW allows Parental Control

[imbaczek]

Just print out that comment and give it to her. Could work.

I am not at all addicted to WOW

[Sethosayher]

Now, excuse me while I grind up the installation DVD and snort the powder like crack.

Re:I'm not surprised.

[punkr0x]

Heck, I'm 24 and still don't want to go to family barbeques. What, it's my day off and you want me to drive for 2 hours so I can watch NASCAR and tell my relatives that yes indeed, I still work at the same place? Can't I just stay in bed?

Re:WoW allows Parental Control

[Rogerborg]

Jeeesus, just find her a man, already. A 300lb trucker, who will whale the hell out of the kid on the one night a week that he stays over. You can find a suitable candidate by pretending to be a 13 year old Asian girl in #truckers-n-teens on IRC. Do we have to think of everything for you?

Re:And?

[pNutz]

It should read 'clinical psychologist who makes a living treating gaming addiction believes 40% of WoW players are addicted'.
That's some crappy journalism. A good headline would be 'Experts Say 40% of WoW Players Addicted'. Concise, attention-grabbing, the point of what was discoverd.

If the experts are not really experts, or they have an obvious bias toward the outcome, or they number no more than one, then it's not even newsworthy and no responsible journalist would publish it.

I'm sorry, this one [computeraddiction.com] was funny:

An office supervisor suddently resigns from her job. A lot of work is unfinished and the company asks her family to encurage her to return. They find her at home, hunched over a computer and out cold completely oblivious to her surroundings.

"nooooobzzz...Ess Tee Eff You noobszz....rrraaaaiiiidd....."

Re:AHH!!!

[DRAGONWEEZEL]

Obviously a NOOB. We call them "Crits."

lvl 60 Mage REXAR

Re:Shiny and new!

[@madeus]

Pfffft! I have boobs, and I'm not even a girl!

Re:Follow the money!

[SScorpio]

It sounds like your mother-in-law might need the services of Cesar Millan. You can reach his website here/ [dogpsychologycenter.com]. Your mother-in-law needs to learn to be more dominate, and your brother-in-law learns to not be such a little bitch.

Re:I'm not surprised.

[crabpeople]

"What is it about the human mind that enjoys those dreadful experiences once we grow up?"
Beer. At 14 you cannot drink.

Re:WoW allows Parental Control

[MourningBlade]

[Y]ou start taking away stuff. You ground him. Take away everything he owns (music, etc). If he's still out of control, you take his room door off his hinges so he has no privacy.

...dad?