ST, Aug 4, 2006
Virtual addiction is no fun and games
By Chua Hian Hou
PSYCHOLOGIST Angeline Khoo had heard a lot about video game
addiction while working with parents concerned about protecting
children from the ills of the Internet.
To find out what made the activity so compelling, she started
playing the online game World Of Warcraft last December.
Before long, she was hooked, playing more than two hours on
weekdays, longer on weekends.
'It started as research, but I really enjoy it too. So it's become
difficult to separate what's work and what's play,' she said
wryly.
Her verdict, from first-hand experience: 'Yes, games are definitely
addictive.'
As video games grow in popularity - a 2004 report by research firm
IDC put the number of gamers here at over a million - the issue of
game addiction and its potentially averse impact has come under
increasing scrutiny.
The American Psychological Association classifies video game
addiction as 'behavioural abuse' just like gambling.
Addicts - mostly males in their teens and 20s - display symptoms
that hurt them socially and professionally: pre-occupation with
games, needing more and more time playing before feeling satisfied,
being restless when not playing, displaying anti-social behaviour
like lying to loved ones or skipping school to get their fix.
The ultimate sign: the addict knows he is playing too much and
wants to or has tried to stop - but cannot.
How bad can it get?
One Singaporean father who did not want to be identified told The
Straits Times how his teenage son changed drastically after getting
obsessed with the online game MapleStory.
The once-studious boy would lock himself in his room playing, and
did not do his homework, study, or even care when he failed his
examinations.
Parents and the school tried to counsel the teenager, to no avail -
he would even turn aggressive and abusive if asked to play
less.
When the father threatened to disconnect the Internet line, the
teenager packed up and left home.
'The maid told me that he returned once a few days later, in the
afternoon when I was working, to take the computer,' the father
said.
That was a year ago. The boy, now 16, is staying with a relative
but has rebuffed all attempts to contact him.
Dr Daniel Fung, a consultant psychiatrist with the Institute of
Mental Health's (IMH) child guidance clinic, said he has seen a few
extreme cases each year of child addicts who become so aggressive
and uncontrollable they have to be admitted for treatment.
With his other 200-plus patients, something he hears regularly is:
'Oh, by the way, he plays a lot of games.'
And unlike drug or glue addicts who typically come from
lower-income or broken homes, most game addicts are from
financially stable families, he noted.
A search online turned up heated discussion of the issue: hundreds
of articles from the international medical community on game
addiction and its impact on families and loved ones.
Last month, Amsterdam-based addiction clinic Smith & Jones
became the first in Europe to specialise in game addiction.
Over the telephone, director Keith Bakker told The Straits Times
that the clinic opened its gaming unit after seeing more and more
'pure game addiction cases'. The clinic is now treating 15
in-patient game addicts and has received numerous inquiries,
including some from Malaysia, Hong Kong and South Korea.
One major challenge with video game addiction, experts say, is
identifying it.
'It is a very quiet addiction - you don't fall down drunk, you
don't chalk up gambling debts, you don't have needle tracks, and if
you can control it somewhat you can still pass exams or keep a
job,' said Mr Bakker.
It is also less known than drugs, gambling or sex addiction.
Mr Hyke Van Der Heijden, 28, who is undergoing treatment at the
Dutch centre, said in a phone interview: 'I played for 14 hours or
more every day for years, only leaving home to buy toilet paper -
but everybody just thought I was at home doing other stuff.'
He said he sold his technology company during the dot.com boom in
2000 and had 'too much money, too much time' on his hands.
Family members and friends finally forced him to confront his
addiction and seek help. Admitting he was addicted was the first
step towards recovery.
At the IMH, which also operates a community addiction management
programme, treatment usually begins with counselling to help the
addict realise the impact of his addiction. This is followed by
encouragement and advice on how to manage it.
If counselling fails, the addict is warded and barred from playing
games.
Dr Fung said it is possible for someone who is hooked to reduce the
time spent gaming or to go cold turkey on his own.
It means staying away from computers and gaming centres. It calls
for willpower and self-control.
For now, Dr Fung expects that video game addiction is here to stay,
and could even get worse as computers become more accessible and
games, more compelling.
More help will soon be available. Welfare group Touch Community
Services is opening a 'cyber-wellness' centre tomorrow for those
hooked on gaming.
The issue was a top worry of teachers and parents here when Touch
ran talks at 160 schools in the past two years.
Its manager for cyber-wellness and sports, Mr Poh Yeang Cherng,
said that since March, he has worked with almost 600 cases of
youngsters in trouble because they spent too much time
gaming.
The decision to open a centre followed from that. 'We had to turn
away so many requests for help previously as we did not have the
facilities to do counselling and rehabilitation for game addicts,'
he said.
As for Dr Khoo and her fondness for the World Of Warcraft, she
makes a face when asked if she is on the verge of addiction
herself.
'I won't have a problem stopping,' she said.
'But I will miss it, a lot.' 