Is video game addiction an actual medical condition? Dr. Maressa Orzack, founder of the Computer Addiction Services program at McLean Hospital in Massachusetts, says the answer is \"yes\". And she believes that up to 40 percent of the 6 million plus players of the mega-popular MMORPG World of Warcraft are clinically addicted to the game. TwitchGuru talks with one of the foremost experts in the controversial field of video game addiction.

What makes her an expert on video game play?  She's looks 105 years old, that'd make her 90 or so when decent/addicting games came out.  I think we basically already had this discussion on the clinic in Europe that was a game re-hab.  She calls heavy gaming a "mental disorder".  Everybody hear that?  We all have mental disorders.  
   I hate her explanation of how companies add subtle things and designs the game to be addictive and keep players playing.  of course you ol' bag, why WOULDN'T you design it to keep someone playing.  You are SUPPOSED to play the game.  I'm sure Blizzard doesn't have a lab where they test certain combinations of colors that have a euphoric effect.  Arg...some people really are ridiculous.  Actually, her idea of putting a warning label of addiction on the case, I bet that would HELP sales, not hurt them.  
         Either way, let people do what they like.  How is wanting to game all the time any different from wanting to do ANYTHING all the time.  Someone who wants to build models will build models.  Someone who wants to skateboard, will skateboard.  It's just another hobby.  The comparison to drugs is ridiculous too.  Drugs kill people.  If not the user, sometimes the user ends up killing someone else in a car or worse.  Games do not kill people.  They don't involve crime, illegal activities, or real danger.  
   Get a life.  Seriously.  She should spend her time getting people off of real dangerous, and illegal drugs...Not virtual ones.  (sigh)  I hate people.

World of Warcraft IS addicting however 40% of the community actual being addicted is another story. I used to be a WOW player, started back in Beta. I couldn't stop playing...my grades dropped, my girlfriend almost broke up with me, lost my job...finally after the release of Naxx I sold my account and finally got rid of the damn game. World of Warcraft was ment to be played with limits or else your stuck in the game forever.

Yeah, I played WOW, but I can't seem to find why its so interesting, maybe its because I can restrict myself, and tell the differents between real life and virtual reality, not like some nuts taking Doom as an excuse for killing people. Hmmm, thats it??!?? We're a bunch of Mentally disordered people, YAHA, I have Mental disorder, time to go get FREE food from the goverment.

Am I a WoW player?  Yes.
Do I play WAY more than I should? Yes.
Do I find it alot of fun?  Yes.
 
Am I addictetd?  No.
 
I am a big gamer and always play new games until I beat it.
I want to "win".
 
With "WoW" you can win and can always progress.
Hence, I will play it a long long time.
Eventually I will get a new game and play that too much.
 
Do I lose a sense of reality?  No.
 
I work my tail off at work, makes loads of money, and go home and have fun.  If something around the house needs fixing I pay somebody.  I bought my wife a laptop so she Y! games will I WOW.
 
Life is good.
I'm going on a cruise without WoW soon and I look forward to it and don't dread missing WoW.
 
Just cause you love something and spend too much time does not mean you are addicted.  It means you are lucky :>>

Mhe.
 
The label thing is funny
 
"Play WoW may cause addiction because is very good"
 
 
How about
 
"Stop pointing games a source of all problems, it is YOUR foult and no one esle's"
 
 
Is so easy to blame something else in this world rather than the problem itself

The thing she cant distingish is there are a certain type of people who get addicted.  Not all people get addicted just a minority.
 
Like everything there are people who take things in excess... Drugs, Beer, etc...  Its those types of people who might excessively play WoW and other games like it.
 
Instead of blaming the game she should find out this:
Who are attracted to MMO's (Background of the person)?
Why are they attracted to MMOs?
 
 
Dont blame the game... I hardly think game developers tried to make a game addicting.  They tried to make the game world of WoW broad, vast, with tons of stuff to do.  Also the many different classes add replayability.
Its the fault of people who made these fantasies a higher priorty than real life.

Well, looks like that's true intelligence at work for ya!  
 
"...Orzack says there's little difference between drug use, excessive gambling and heavy game playing..."
 
Gimme some crack-cocaine please... for the love of god PLEASE!
 
  Neanderthal say, "...make Thing good, make money for eat food. Not make boring Thing so people not want this Thing. Make goooood product people want, make more money, me think this better way to do..." (and he didn't go to Harvard either!)

I hate stories like these they make no sense and i'll be dammed if they stop making a certian gaming genre because some retards can't control there playing habits.  they said it themselves with the example that kid that got addicated was in a bad family at the time and thats why he got addicted. same would be if someone couldn't stop reading books they get too in to them to escape from reality. pretty funny though he got addicted mostly because he had no friends and no life but when he went into the game he felt at home because e was talking to the same type of people.  
 
There thats my vent
 
1f u c4n r34d th1s u r34lly
n33d t0 g37 l41d

I love how articles about internet addiction always bring on a bunch of forum posts from people saying that they aren't addicted.  They play WoW 75+ hours a week, but they can't stop any time they want.  
 
I agree that it usually takes some extraneous circumstances to cause a person to become fully addicted to a game, but the same can be said for every other addiction.
 
That being said, it is not the fault or, in my opinion, the responsibility of the game maker (in this case blizzard) to deal with this.  WoW is a game which makes them money by having players keep playing the game, month after month, year after year.  This means that they specifically design the game to be addictive.  If this is a crime, then somebody sue McDonalds for making people continue eating their food even though they are addicted and it hurts them (actually, I am pretty sure somebody has already done this).
 
As for gaming addiction being just like any other hobby, if you played baseball 75 hours a week, lost your job/wife/kids or even just did nothing but play baseball, then yes, you are addicted to baseball and should seek some help.  The problem with video games is that this happens much more frequently.  Anything can be addictive.  The reason for the attention drawn to video games is that it seems to be attracting more 'addicts' than other hobbies.
 
I think that classifying 40% of WoW users as addicted is a bit high though (maybe 10%?).  The interviewee seems to have pulled that number out of thin air.  Of course in her line of work, most of the people she meets will be addicts.  More research needs to be done to learn more about this issue.
 
Everybody who plays a game like that goes through a period of time (usually no more than a week or 2) where they play the game daily.  That is not addiction, it is just finding a new hobby.  We all tend to get a little obsessive about a new hobby that we enjoy.  But when you keep playing a game every single day for months at a time, this can become unhealthy.

I play Wow, and honestly, I am addicted to a certain degree. However, if WoW were removed, e.g., if my account was closed and I could not reinstall without buying it again, I wouldn't. Also, before WoW was around, I was addicted to Command and Conquer Generals: Zero Hour, and before that it was the KOTOR series of games.
 
My point? Parents are the problem--the only reason WoW is successfull is because people pay for it, so should we blame Blizzard because they came up with a SUCCESSFUL game, or should we blame parents/individuals for being irresponsible with their money?
 
Also, there is no new disorder--it's the same frikin thing as existing disorders--they call it addiction. Addiction can be with video games, movies, sitcoms, Internet surfing, myspace browsing, cell phones, etc. To say that video game addiction is something new is stupid, it has been around practically since pong!

Posted mine before I saw yours--yes, agree 100% with your post, gm0n3y.

A point that isn't mentioned is that MMO's are also extremely cheap entertainment. Compare the cost of a 2-hour movie, or a night at a bar to a 1-month subscription to an MMO.  Many people do not have a lot of disposable income, so I think it's no wonder that people have gravitated towards this form of entertainement due to its cost effective nature.

Her reasoning isn't real off base.  It's not like a drug which can lead to a physical addiction.  But it can lead to a pyschological (sp.) addiction.  I know a lot of folks who daydream or think about computer gaming whether they are online or not.  And I do know guys that will blow-off a real life commitment to get one more level, or one more scrim in before logging off.  It's habitual since if you're like me, you prefer gaming to other activities like watching television.  
 
What she doesn't get is that a true addiction becomes your life.  I don't think 40% of the WoW players out there completely blow off everything else but the game.  It almost seems like she would consider anything an addiction if you showed a "preference" toward a certain repetitive habit.  I can't put down a good book or stop watching a movie part way through...  guess I have a lot more addictions than just my tobacco habit.
 
I remember similar claims about television too...

+

WTF I don't play wow but i do play counter strike and others since a few month ago anyways.
 
It is not the devs fault it is the pepole who play it. They don't desing it to be addictive you insane moronic doctor.  
 
They desing a good game..Witch are fun Were addicted to fun not game you Hat.
 
 
I Play games I am addicted. I DO NOT want help. I am perfiectly fine with being addicted.
 
This "woman" as you call IT *seems more like the devil to me*
Needs to die.

WTF I don't play wow but i do play counter strike and others since a few month ago anyways.
 
It is not the devs fault it is the pepole who play it. They don't desing it to be addictive you insane moronic doctor.  
 
They desing a good game..Witch are fun Were addicted to fun not game you Hat.
 
 
I Play games I am addicted. I DO NOT want help. I am perfiectly fine with being addicted.
 
This "woman" as you call IT *seems more like the devil to me*
Needs to die.
 
I see the trolls have come out to play...
 
 
Also, I have to disagree about television being in the same category.  I don't know of anybody that will blow off important things in their life (work, relationships) to watch "just one more show".
 
I think we can all agree that Dr. Orzack goes a little overboard with her assertions about the evils of game addiction.  But, I can also understand her viewpoint as she is on the front lines for this sort of thing and as I mentioned above, her view may be a little skewed because of this (as I'm sure are ours).

I’ve no more eloquent way of saying this but … This is just a crock ... I for one am sick and tired of everyone blaming video games, the internet, television, or anything but themselves, on their own, uncontrollable, personal or social issues ... Grand Theft Auto has not caused an epidemic, where you are so absorbed in the game you feel compelled to acquire an AK-47 and go on a shooting spree in your local neighborhood, bust’n a cap’n some bizch’z-n-ho’z… Oh and watch out you just might find a digital booby hidden in that game, god forbid, but that’s a whole other soapbox … Project Gotham Racing, did not entice people to ram their shiny new cars into each other at high speed on the highways across the planet ... Super Mario Brothers did not cause nation wide mass panic from mushroom bashing plumbers ... And MMO's DO NOT cause addiction.  
 
The ONLY persons whom will be effected by a video game in such a way as to be considered "addicted", are those whom already suffer from addictive or obsessive personality disorders to begin with. Period.
 
Yes, video games can contribute to the obsessive or addictive nature of someone that already is obsessive compulsive aka: an addictive personality or worse, obsessive compulsive disorder (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OCD) ... Then again so can eating, jogging, reading, sex, breathing, washing your hands, chocolate, swimming, baseball, laughing, cars, cleaning, clothes, music, shoes, working, sleeping, drinking, tanning, shooting or just about anything that will illicit a positive chemical reaction in the brain... They are called endorphins (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endorphin) and it's what makes you feel good. When, well you're feeling good... Simply put when your brain is exposed to a stimuli that is interpreted as positive, it will release endorphins, thus giving you the feeling of well being. Psychologically, if you suffer from any level of obsessive, addictive or compulsory disorder then yes, you will be more affected by video games than drinking a glass of water. Otherwise, you’ll never even notice.
 
Hi my name is Jason, I’m 33 years old and yes, I love my video games, I have about a hundred or so in my home currently, 40-50 XBOX, the rest in PC games. Yes, I have O.C.D. but I keep it in check. Yes, I have a wonderful well paying job, beautiful home, 2 new shiny cars, a wonderful wife, great dogs, lots of friends. My wife understands that video gaming is very important to me, I understand that there is a time for gaming and a time for social activities. Well, Dr. Quack-quack Le’Orzack … I guess I’m cured, so STFU and focus on the root of the issue, bizch..
 
 
/rantff
 
Peace,
Jason

Well I play WoW like 20 hours a week and while I used to play a lot more when I had more time on my hands, I'm probably someone that this "expert" (who has probably never played a video game) would say is definately addicted.  But wait... I still skip out playing to hang out with friends instead and havn't had any real life problems because of playing...
 
I would say if you play to the point where you can't do things in real life instead, then you at least have a problem, although it's certainly not a physical dependency like you can get from drugs or cigarettes or whatever.
 
While it's true to say that its possible to have a video game problem if you can't get out of the world and go do real stuff, but if you play for fun and are able to function as a normal human being as well, then there is absolutely nothing wrong with it.  For myself and the majority of subscribers, wow is just a great thing to do with your free time that is extremely enjoyable.

People who don't play video games shouldn't be allowed to say its an addiction, since they have no idea if it is or not.
 
I don't play WOW, havent even tried it but I have played various other mmorpg's and I can say one thing, I get into the game for like 2 days and then get bored from taking 1 minute to kill a monster and killing that same monster 50 times to reach the next lvl. Basically all u do is watch your character hack at the enemy monster, feels like forever and at specific intervals using special moves. So boring.
 
For other games like CS I get bored as well, sure it feels good when u kill someone but eventually it gets repetitive. Same applies for warcraft 3 and DOTA.  
 
For every game I get addicted to it the first time I play but eventually I will get bored of it (usually a time period of 2 days to a month), how can any game be classified as an addiction if you eventually get bored of it. Gambling addiction = never get bored.  
 
Why do ppl like her don't understand the reason new games always come out, its not just for the improved graphics, its because ppl get bored of the old games and want to move on to something new.