game addiction
Culture
Survey Says U.S. Gamers Older, Fatter Than Thought
12:20PM Owen Good | Hooray! Video gamers average age is that of mine – 35. Less celebrated: gamers are more likely to be unhealthier, fatter, and more depressed than others. Those are the findings of – ding ding ding!!! – a new study. More »
Culture
Video Game Obsession Cited In Halo Shooter’s Lenient Sentencing
1:40AM Mike Fahey | An Ohio judge has granted Daniel Petric a lenient sentence today, citing the teen’s video game addiction to Halo 3 as a potential contributing factor in the 2007 shooting that left his mother dead. More »
Culture
Boy Has Siezure After WoW Marathon, Daily Mail Has A Fit
10:40AM Michael McWhertor | Did you know that playing World of Warcraft is addictive to its players on par with cocaine? It’s true!* Too bad you don’t get the by-product of a slimmer physique and coke-fuelled sex benders… More »
Culture
PlayStation Gets Its Own Skin Disorder
12:20AM Mike Fahey | Just when you think things are beginning to look up for Sony, the PlayStation goes and gets its very own skin disorder: PlayStation palmar hidradenitis. More »
Petric Convicted Of Halo 3 Inspired Matricide
2:20AM Mike Fahey | Daniel Petric, the Ohio teen who shot and killed his mother over a dispute involving Halo 3, was convicted today of aggravated murder, attempted aggravated murder, and other charges related to the heinous crime. More »
A Look Inside China’s Game Addiction Treatment Centres
7:00AM Brian Crecente | The Christian Science Monitor recently visited Beijing’s internet addiction centre to talk to the docs and addicts about the issue of, among other things, gaming addiction. More »
Compulsive Gaming Is A Not An Addiction
2:20AM Mike Fahey | The head of Europe’s first treatment centre for gaming addicts has revealed that 90% of young people who seek counseling for compulsive gaming habits aren’t actually addicts at all. Keith Bakker of The Smith & Jones Centre in Amsterdam explains that while a gamers who show other addictive behaviours such as drinking or taking drugs have been successfully treated using traditional abstinence-based treatment models, the vast majority of compulsive gamers have a social problem, rather than a psychological one. “This gaming problem is a result of the society we live in today,” Mr Bakker told BBC News. “Eighty per cent of the young people we see have been bullied at school and feel isolated. Many of the symptoms they have can be solved by going back to good old fashioned communication.” More »
Dr. Phil Tackles Game Addiction
4:30AM Mike Fahey | Dr. Phil loves the video games, or rather the amount of attention gamers give him when he talks about them. In today’s episode he tackles the dangers of computer game addiction, with the entire show dedicated to people who play games when they probably shouldn’t be. The show starts with a virtual Dr. Phil complete with a sword and hair talking about how virtual games let you escape from reality before launching into the story of l34-year-old Fred, who sits at home and plays World of Warcraft all day while his wife supports their three children. “Apparently he’s got you supporting him and taking care of the house. I wonder what level that is in the real world,” Dr. Phil quips. More »
Warcraft Cited as Main Reason for Couple’s Divorce
5:00AM Flynn De Marco | It seems that World of Warcraft is the cause of yet another relationship breakdown. A gal named Jocelyn has divorced her husband of six years citing a crippling Warcraft addiction as the main cause. More »
