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Rehabilitation for too much gaming? |
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Written by Laura Schreier, KRT
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Wednesday, 05 July 2006 |
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DALLAS — As a freshman at the University of North Texas, Daniel Folmer would sometimes play video games for 12 hours straight. He stopped going out with friends. He sank onto academic probation.
When his girlfriend came over, he stayed in his virtual world. Then she told him something that jolted him back to reality.
“She just waited for me to look at her, or acknowledge her, or hug her or whatever, and she said she fell asleep waiting,” he said. “I looked in the mirror, and I did not like who I was becoming.”
Folmer sold his online gaming account and now, at 21, is a rehabilitation studies major and wants to be an addictions counselor.
Now that another hot summer has arrived, many kids are spending lots of time with their computers.
And experts say what starts as a harmless pastime can become an escape from reality — an emotional coping mechanism that turns into an addiction. The trend can be seen as far away as Amsterdam, where a center recently opened to combat the problem.
Closer to home, mental health professionals who were once dismissed as alarmist are now being asked for advice on how to deal with the problem.
Chat rooms, friendship networks such as MySpace, a multitude of traditional video games and massive multiple-player games all can lead to compulsive behavior.
A technology addiction is like any other, said Keith Bakker, director of Amsterdam’s Smith & Jones Consulting. It’s an escape from real-world problems.
Such addictions often go hand in hand with emotional problems such as depression or anxiety, and often accompany drug abuse, counselors say. But just because someone plays video games doesn’t mean that person will become addicted. A person has a problem if gaming affects other areas of his or her life, such as losing sleep or neglecting relationships.
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|  | "Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is Alchemy's first law of Equivalent Exchange. In those days, we really believed that to be the world's one, and only truth." | |
|  | We're not that bright, even though in our own little world, we're geniuses. We like 80s hair bands and one-hit wonders, but among us we have respectable tastes, too. Metallica, Iron Maiden, U2. Pursuit of all things trivial is a lifestyle, not just a game. We like some sports, love other sports, and can find something to say about anything. We watch TV and movies and we've read a book or two, even a few classics (Yes, Classic Comics count!)
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I am a recent college graduate of Minnesota State University Moorhead. After recieving my B.A. in English and Mass Communications this past August I moved down to Colorado.
I enjoy long walks on the beach, candlelight dinners, and heavy metal. My hobbies include reading and writing, music, movies, and getting drunk. Some of my favorite contemporary authors include Bret Easton Ellis, Chuck Palahniuk, and Kurt Vonnegut. My top movies are anything directed by Kubrick. I enjoy listening to anything that rocks.
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| | My name is Michelle Turley and I'm 28 years old. I live in Severance with my hubbie, Brandon. We have 2 dogs and a cat. We enjoy camping, four-wheeling, and just being in the mountains. I like to cook, clean (go figure), flea market, and play poker. I have so much to say about poker... | |
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