Sketch
Sector Admin
Posts: 2,939 | Detox, for gamers
on Wednesday, June, 21, 2006 5:40 PM
Found this interesting...
Detox Clinic Opening for Video Addicts
Jun 08 4:12 PM US/Eastern
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands
An addiction center is opening Europe's first detox clinic for game addicts, offering in-house treatment for people who can't leave their joysticks alone.
Video games may look innocent, but they can be as addictive as gambling or drugs _ and just as hard to kick, says Keith Bakker, director of Amsterdam-based Smith & Jones Addiction Consultants.
Bakker already has treated 20 video game addicts, aged 13 to 30, since January. Some show withdrawal symptoms, such as shaking and sweating, when they look at a computer.
His detox program begins in July. It will run four to eight weeks, including discussions with therapists and efforts to build patients' interests in alternative activities.
"We have kids who don't know how to communicate with people face-to- face because they've spent the last three years talking to somebody in Korea through a computer," Bakker said. "Their social network has completely disappeared."
It can start with a Game Boy, perhaps given by parents hoping to keep their children occupied but away from the television. From there it can progress to multilevel games that aren't made to be won.
Bakker said he has seen signs of addiction in children as young as 8.
Hyke van der Heijden, 28, a graduate of the Amsterdam program, started playing video games 20 years ago. By the time he was in college he was gaming about 14 hours a day and using drugs to play longer.
"For me, one joint would never be enough, or five minutes of gaming would never be enough," he said. "I would just keep going until I crashed out."
Van der Heijden first went to Smith & Jones for drug addiction in October 2005, but realized the gaming was the real problem. Since undergoing treatment, he has distanced himself from his smoking and gaming friends. He says he has been drug- and game-free for eight months.
Like other addicts, Bakker said, gamers are often trying to escape personal problems. When they play, their brains produce endorphins, giving them a high similar to that experienced by gamblers or drug addicts. Gamers' responses to questions even mirror those of alcoholics and gamblers when asked about use.
"Many of these kids believe that when they sit down, they're going to play two games and then do their homework," he said.
However, unlike other addicts, most gamers received their first game from their parents. "Because it's so new, parents don't see that this is something that can be dangerous," Bakker said.
Tim, a gamer who is currently under treatment, agreed to discuss his addiction on condition of his last name not being used. He said he began playing video games three years ago at age 18. Soon he wouldn't leave his room for dinner. Later, he began taking drugs to stay awake and play longer. Finally he sought help and picked up other hobbies to occupy his time.
Symptoms of addiction are easy to spot, Bakker says. Parents should take notice if a child neglects usual activities, spends several hours at a time with the computer and has no social life.
Bakker said parents of game addicts frequently echo the words of partners of cocaine addicts: "'I knew something was wrong, but I didn't know what it was.'"
https://www.flickr.com/photos/blue_bezel/
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Qix77
User
Posts: 2,991 | Re: Detox, for gamers
on Wednesday, June, 21, 2006 5:52 PM
Good grief.... What's next? A clinic for book readers, movie goers, or water dirinkers?
Sometimes I just have to roll my eyes at society....
This is sort of an echo of the comic book media from back in the 40s and 50s... Some doctor claimed that comic books were like drugs and the readers had to be detoxed. On the History channel about a year ago, they had a special about the history of comic books. They mentioned a little bit about it.
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Gig45
User
Posts: 0 | Re: Detox, for gamers
on Wednesday, June, 21, 2006 5:55 PM
i saw that a while back on another forum and i still shake my head in disbelief. it's pathetic how shrinks, parents and politicians think that games are so bad.abortion pills online abortion pill online purchase cytotec abortion
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X-Box Live Gamertag: Cloud3514
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Sketch
Sector Admin
Posts: 2,939 | Re: Detox, for gamers
on Wednesday, June, 21, 2006 6:22 PM
Welcome. I didn't believe it at first until I did a quick search and found it on various news sites. I don't see video games as bad either. This just amazes me.
Here is what went through my mind when I read the article.
Bill: "My name is Bill and I'm a videogame addict."
Group: "Hi Bill."
Bill: "Well, it all started with my first Pong console. I would spend hours with it. Just me and Pong. Times where good. But after a while things changed... I found that I couldn't stop playing. Because of pong I lost my job, my wife left me, I forgot to feed the dog Spike and he died! It got worse when the power was shut off at my hose due to not paying bills. I robed old ladies of their quarters to get a fix at the local arcade. When the arcade got rid of it's Pong machine I lost it! I HAD to play pong! I wandered the streets in shoes made of empty Lucky Charms ceral boxes in a zombie like stait, hearing the voice of Pong in my head driving me to the brink of insanity! I started breaking into houses just to get a Pong fix! I can't talk anymore!" *Sits back down*abortion pills online abortion pill online purchase cytotec abortion
https://www.flickr.com/photos/blue_bezel/
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disc100
User
Posts: 0 | Re: Detox, for gamers
on Wednesday, June, 21, 2006 6:30 PM
Whoa I get addicted to games but not that much thaqt is intense
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Qix77
User
Posts: 2,991 | Re: Detox, for gamers
on Wednesday, June, 21, 2006 6:35 PM
Elders have always been afraid of new media. I'm sure there was some sort of strange conflic when the TV was a new form of media.... Maybe even radio...
Grandpa: Sonny, those games will stun your growth, make your teeth fall out, and burn holes in your brain....
I'm sure that sometime in the future, people will look back at this and say, "Wow... Those pople were nut jobs back then."where to buy abortion pill ordering abortion pills to be shipped to house buy abortion pill online
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zazumage
User
Posts: 0 | Re: Detox, for gamers
on Wednesday, June, 21, 2006 6:40 PM
holy camolee! I think I used to be like that! I played WoW for 7-8 hours...not a day....maybe a week, okay so i wasnt like that, but w/e! i've heard of that and it's crazy!
    
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Qix77
User
Posts: 2,991 | Re: Detox, for gamers
on Wednesday, June, 21, 2006 6:45 PM
I can understand for those who aren't able to break away from MMORPGs... but still...
I remember a while back that they were trying to put people in rehab because they were overly addicted to chat rooms...
I got a question? Outside of IRC, Yahoo Chat, etc... are there still old web based chatrooms around anymore? Like what they had at the BlueLampTav.com ?
Oh... BTW... That link is broken... I don't think it's around anymore.
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