40% of World of Warcraft players are addicted

A few years ago, the author of the article had a colleague who was addicted to the game. Much of his time is devoted to the EverQuest multiplayer online role-playing game.

When not playing, he still can't stop talking about it, write articles about it on forums or dream about the next play.

He plays like an obsessed person, going home to jump right into the computer. There is no need to speculate how his family and social life are affected. Final outcome: He lost his job.

Picture 1 of 40% of World of Warcraft players are addicted Source: peliplaneetta The case like your friend is not uncommon. The game addiction has appeared since the days when MUD is still in the form of text, but it has not been until recent years that the terms variable such as "Ever-dun" or "World of War-collapse" become popular .

Now, psychologist Dr. Maressa Hecht Orzack of McLean, Massachusettes Hospital, goes even further when affirming: up to 40% of WoW gamers suffer from game addiction.

She confirmed that the data was taken from a reputable forum, but did not forget to add that, even if the ratio is only 5-10%, they still represent a huge number of "lost players". behavior control ".

Orzack has been studying game addiction for 11 years and during that time, she said she consulted countless people, from bewildered parents, neglected wives and girlfriends and sometimes, the gamer himself.

Find a solution

She argued that responsibility should be attributed to games rather than players. " Can't mention the power of reason here. These games are all designed to seduce you, attract you, hold on to your computer friends. It's like a vicious circle: the more you play, the more people playing less time for career and personal relationships also began to break . "

The solution Ozrack suggests is that MMORPG games need warning labels in addition to CD boxes, just like a warning on cigarette packs. In addition, she also believes that computer-related addictions (including chat and the Internet) should be considered a legitimate neurological disorder, that is, need to be covered by health insurance. .

Of course, Dr. Orzack is not the only one concerned about the game addiction syndrome. The Chinese government recently decided to restrict online gaming time due to concerns that young citizens are spending too much time on games like WoW.

A hospital for psychological recovery for game addicts has just sprung up in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. However, according to the advice of experts, the best measure is to propagate to the player the sense of balance of his or her life: playing, working and entertaining need to be harmonious, logical and scientific.

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