Submission + - How to help a friend with an MMO addiction? 1
sammydee writes: "I have a friend who is addicted to an MMO (Pirates of the Buring Sea). On a typical day he will wake up around 9am, browse the forums for a bit, then go online and stay online all day playing until about 3am the following morning, taking only toilet breaks and stopping to eat ready meals. While the rest of the house works hard revising for exams, this friend will be playing this MMO instead. Now I am pretty confident that this comprises an unhealthy addiction, unfortunately I have no idea what to do about it. Any attempt to physically prevent him from playing the game would most likely result in an outburst of anger and possibly physical violence. Attempts at telling him he has a problem have been met with derision and angry retorts. Slashdotters, what would you do to help out a friend in this situation? Perhaps you are a reformed addict yourself — if so, how did you break out of the habit? Or maybe I should just leave well alone and allow him to continue? Any thoughts are gratefully received."
