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We have internet-addiction clinics in China. And video-gaming detox in Amsterdam. In 2006 a UK survey told us that one in nine MMORPGers are physically addicted to their game of choice. And now a recent survey by Sweden’s Youth Care Foundation tells us that Blizzard’s World of Warcraft is . . . wait for it . . . AS ADDICTIVE AS CRACK COCAINE.

You heard it here first.

Okay: so maybe you didn’t – this is hardly breaking news stuff. But what is new is the announcement that a consultant psychiatrist from the UK plans to provide therapy to MMORPG addicts . . . by signing up and playing WoW himself.

Dr Richard Graham, a consultant psychiatrist at the Tavistock Centre in London, is so concerned that he plans to provide online therapy for ‘youngsters’ who have ‘lost touch with the real world’. He believes that some players are so addicted to these massively multiplayer online games that they play them for up to 16 hours a day, leading them to neglect their family and social lives, and their education. As those affected don’t exhibit the same outward warning signs as most teenage anti-social behaviour issues – chiefly because they’re in their bedrooms, seemingly ‘out of trouble’ – parents/guardians are slow to spot the signs, and traditional psychiatric treatments are ineffective.

“We will be launching this project by the end of the year,” says Dr. Graham. “I think it’s already clear that psychiatrists will have to stay within the parameters of the game. They certainly wouldn’t be wandering around the game in white coats and would have to use the same characters available to other players.”

“Of course one problem we’re going to have to overcome is that while a psychiatrist may excel in what they do in the real world, they’re probably not going to be very good at playing World of Warcraft. We may have to work at that if we are going to get through to those who play this game for hours at end.”

In an attempt to get more professionals involved in the virtual world of MMORPGs, he has called for Blizzard et al to waive or strongly discount membership fees so that therapists can reach and communicate with at-risk players. Blizzard were not available for comment.

Now let us take a moment to consider the irony of psychiatrists signing up and potentially getting addicted to WoW themselves.

Source: The Telegraph