Are You Addicted?
Thu, 27 July 2006
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| source: The Sunday Times | thanks: pee bottles
Wild Horses could tear us away
"Just ... one ... more ... turn..."
Remember the Dutch clinic,
Smith & Jones Wild Horses Center, that recently made headlines by announcing the world's first treatment for computer game addicts? Well, after the opening last week,
The Sunday Times reported that the clinic has been swamped by gamers looking for treatment. What's more, many of these gamers are travelling to the Smith & Jones Center from all around the world, including gamers from the United States, Asia, and the United Kingdom.
"It's amazing, I've never seen anything like it," said Keith Bakker, the American director of the Smith & Jones clinic in Amsterdam. "The phone has been ringing constantly. Computer game addiction is obviously an even greater problem than we imagined."
Tim, a 21-year-old from Utrecht, said he had hardly left his bedroom for five years because he was so obsessed by his computer games. "My room was a mess," he said. "Curtains drawn, pizza boxes, empty bottles and junk food wrappers everywhere . . . I didn't even get up to use the bathroom but peed in a bottle while I kept playing."
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The Sunday Times
Judging by the overwhelming demand for treatment, the Smith & Jones Center has obviously tapped into the need to address a much maligned and often overlooked addiction - but an addiction nonetheless. We often associate addiction with gambling, drugs and alcohol, and while gaming may not be a chemical addiction, it is still an addiction which has the potential to severely impact on a person's life, and the lives of those around the addict.
For anyone interested in knowing if they, or someone they know, may be addicted to their computer or computer gaming,
Computer Addiction Services has a whole website dedicated to the subject.
Some of the symptoms may include:
Psychological Symptoms:
- Having a sense of well-being or euphoria while at the computer
- Inability to stop the activity
- Craving more and more time at the computer
- Neglect of family and friends
- Feeling empty, depressed, irritable when not at the computer
- Lying to employers and family about activities
- Problems with school or job
Physical Symptoms:
- Carpal tunnel syndrome
- Dry eyes
- Migraine headaches
- Back aches
- Eating irregularities, such as skipping meals
- Failure to attend to personal hygiene
- Sleep disturbances, change in sleep pattern
