Just a Tad too WOWed

When a respected medical expert tells us that a whole bunch of people on one of the most successful MMORPG's in existence is addicted to it, it tends to make eyebrows go up.

Twitch Guru - Expert: 40 % of WOW Players Addicted

However, while it was a wake up call, it shouldn't have come as a huge surprise. Computer addiction has been bandied about for a long time, but it's not until recently that the mainstream started to recognise that it is a problem.

For me it's a tad scary when you seen an acquaintance sleeping in front of his computer, foregoing food and sleep because he's too enthralled in World of Warcraft. For them, their daily conversation revolves around the game they're currently playing. If you're someone who doesn't play the game, try being among a bunch of them who all play the game and see what happens. There's a high likelyhood that once they get started yapping about their online personas and that virtual life, you will be totally and truly lost. Listen to them for awhile however, and you realise the level of immersion involved. They end up planning what they will be doing in the virtual world while they're right here in the real world, to the exclusion of a great number of other things. The truly scary part is when you give it some thought and realise that these people actually end up giving more thought to decisions made in this virtual reality compared to those in real life.

To counter the howl of WOW players (I can hear it even now.) that this is all wild assertion, an examination of addiction is in order. What is addiction? Referring to an article from the Mayo Clinic on drug addiction (accessible below) contrasted with the symptoms of game addiction:

Symptoms include :

Feeling that you need the drug regularly and, in some cases, many times a day Making certain that you maintain a supply of the drug Failing repeatedly in your attempts to stop using the drug Doing things to obtain the drug that you normally wouldn't do, such as stealing Feeling that you need the drug to deal with your problems Driving or doing other activities that place you and others at risk of physical harm when you're under the influence of the drug

Craving more and more time at the computer Feeling empty, depressed, irritable when not at the computer Having a sense of well-being or euphoria while at the computer Inability to stop the activity Lying to employers and family about activities Neglect of family and friends Problems with school or job

How many of these match the behaviour of people who are stuck to their computers? I'd dare say 4 out of the 6. The first point is a given, considering that many of these gamer addicts need their daily fix, not getting it can make them moody and disgruntle, even worried about how their virtual alter-ego's are fairing in that world. Even during examination periods, when they're deprived of their fix and under high stress, that's where they turn for release. The second, clearly symptomatic, when someone you know spends RM60 or more a month on WOW reload cards, it's maintenance of supply. The third, when these people try to stop, but after awhile relapse back into it. The fifth, while not as clearly parallel as the upper three is how these virtual addicts tend to use this virtual reality as an escape point. Quoting from one of Dr. Orzacks experiences,

"I asked him what happens when he plays the game: was he simply playing a virtual character or did he feel like he was actually in the game? He told me when he plays, he is in the game completely. He had become immersed in World of Warcraft and had trouble removing himself from that virtual world. I also asked what he expected to find each time he turned on the game, and his answer was a sense of belonging. This individual came from a family that was unfortunately breaking up, and World of Warcraft was his way to escape that. This 18-year-old individual was miserable. He didn't get along with any of his family members and kept withdrawing into the game."

While this is admittedly a hardcore case, quite a few players I know do find a sense of identity and belonging in that world. Ultimately, they allow their interactions within the game itself to shape their perceptions. So what? Well, considering how our perceptions shape our decisions, I'd be worried if my perceptions and views weren't based in the real world. That's where there's a real potential for screwing things up. I doubt I really have to go on.

The really fun part of it all is defining when it turns into addiction. Well for drugs, this is how the Mayo Clinic defines it :

"Drug use or abuse crosses the line into drug addiction when you feel you have to have the drug, and you increase the amount of the drug you take."

Let's take that sentence in the context of game addiction:

Game use/play crosses the line into game addiction when you feel you have to play the game, and you increase the amount of the time spent on the game.

The worrying thing is that these people do not fit into the typical image of a person who is addicted per-se. While the common stereotype of an addict of any kind is a loser in life, someone who can't think for themselves, a visible failure, these new generation of addicts are actually very much so intelligent people with opinions and thoughts of their own. A new generation of games is arriving that is ever more inclusive and immersive, and addictive. While generations of past geek and nerd gamers got addicted on far less immersive two dimensional games and shallow story lines, what happens next when you've a virtual world which is ever more immersive? Draw your own conclusions...

For the piece de resistance, well,

"Physical addiction appears to occur when repeated use of a drug alters reward pathways in your brain. The addicting drug causes physical changes to some nerve cells (neurons) in your brain."

has that already started happening to somebody you know? Maybe it is time to sit up and take note...

References:

BBC Article - A cause for concern

Mayo Clinic - Symptoms of Drug Addiction

Computer Addiction - Symptoms