mmORPGs And Game Addiction

If you're suffering from dry eyes, headaches, back aches, erratic sleep patterns, it may be more than just your average hangover: according to Dr. Maressa Orzack, you could be suffering from video and computer game addiction. A clinical psychologist, Orzack is founder and coordinator of Computer Addiction Services at McLean Hospital in Newton, Mass., and is also an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School. Computer Addiction Services is one of the few outpatient clinics in the U.S. that provides specific treatment for game addiction.

While many people dispute the notion, Orzack believes that game addiction is a true mental disorder. As a result, she has worked with numerous gamers over the years to help them break the hold that games have on them.

Having treated all types of addictions for more than 15 years, Orzack says there's little difference between drug use, excessive gambling and heavy game playing. And with millions of gamers hooked on mega-popular massively multiplayer online role playing games (MMORPGs), she believes the problem is growing rapidly. In fact, Orzack says as much as 40 percent of World of Warcraft players are addicted to the game. TwitchGuru talks with Orzack to find out more about the issue of game addiction, and the effects of games like World of Warcraft.

Dr. Maressa Orzack

RW: When did you first begin to feel that video game addiction was a real problem?

Dr. Orzack: Well, 11 years ago, when I first started looking into this issue, everyone thought I was nuts. But if you fast forward to today, with all the amazing technological advancements, a lot of people now feel this is a real problem. I think things really began to change with video games around 1998 or 1999 with the rise of the Internet, and the introduction of some of the more well-known MMORPGs.

RW: How bad is the problem? What do you see today at the hospital's Computer Addiction Service?

Dr. Orzack: I'm pretty much swamped with people asking me for help. A lot of people are asking me to get help for their teenaged children, boyfriends, spouses and sometimes themselves.

RW: So more often than not, the addicted person isn't seeking help?

Dr. Orzack: That's correct. Usually, some type of intervention is needed. Video games used to be contained in arcades, so there were certain limits imposed on the amount of time that you could play them. Now, with the Internet and computers in most people's homes, it has become harder to control.

RW: Give me an example of a typical case.

Dr. Orzack: I was talking with a patient, a young man, the other day. He was a heavy World of Warcraft player, and 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.

RW: Then aren't the issues at home more of a problem than the actual games themselves?

Dr. Orzack: No, I disagree. You can't say that about Blizzard, which structures the games like World of Warcraft to be addictive. They design these MMORPGs to keep people in the game. I do think the problem is tied in with other things like family issues, but the games themselves are inherently addictive. That's ultimately the cause of the problem.

Join our discussion on this topic