World Of War-Crack?

RW: According to your research, and your experience with patients, how many addicted gamers are there today?

Orzack: Well, let's take World of Warcraft as an example. Let's say there are around 6 million subscribers for the game. I'd say that 40 percent of the players are addicted.

RW: That's a lot of gamers. That's more than a million people that can't pry themselves away from World of Warcraft.

Dr. Orzack: Yes, it's quite a lot of people. That's why this is a serious issue: there are many people out there that are neglecting their jobs, studies, families and friends because they're addicted to games like World of Warcraft.

World of Warcraft

RW: A lot of comparisons have been made between video game addiction and gambling addiction. Are the two similar?

Dr. Orzack: They are pretty much the same. They have many of the same symptoms: neglecting work and severing personal relationships, for example. People get the same type of excitement from gambling and playing video games. It's called variable ratio reinforcement, which basically means that you keep playing or gambling and failing until you reach your intended goal, but once you reach that goal, you still keep playing.

RW: What about self control and willpower? Should players take some responsibility for their heavy play?

Dr. Orzack: This isn't about willpower or restraint. These games are very elaborately designed to ease you in gently, entice you, and keep you there. And it's a cycle: people begin to spend too much time playing and their careers and personal relationships begin to deteriorate. Then they begin to withdraw more into the game because it's an escape from their real world problems.

RW: So what's the solution?

Dr. Orzack: For patients, there has to be a readiness to change. Without that, there's really no point. I think another important factor is awareness - more people are beginning to accept that this is a real problem. Currently, video game addiction isn't found in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders [the primary handbook used to diagnose mental disorders and illnesses, published by the American Psychiatric Association]. Until that happens, most health insurance companies won't recognize it, and therefore won't cover the treatment. But there's more hope that this is changing, and it is being accepted as a real clinical disorder.

RW: What about the games themselves? What do you think should be done there?

Dr. Orzack: I think there needs to be warning labels on MMORPGs like World of Warcraft, similar to warning labels on cigarettes. People should know that these games are potentially harmful. I'm sure the game industry will be up in arms over it, but that's what I'd like to see happen. I don't think we have a right to make Blizzard or other game companies change their products, but that may be what this comes to, down the road.

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