Gaming Addiction

I was recently interviewed by Global TV regarding online gaming addiction. My experience tells me that this is a very serious issue, and one that needs a lot more attention from therapists. It can either be individual games played on the internet or downloaded, or uploaded, or it can the be massive multiplayer online games, such as World of Warcraft.

The symptoms of online gaming addiction are the same as any other in some ways:

Trying to rationalize one's usage to oneself or others.
Trying to hide one's usage.
Loss of sleep
Loss of time at work
Decrease in feelings of sexuality.
Avoidance of Social and Family interaction so one can go online.
Telling oneself one will quit, and then not being able to do so.
Spending large amounts of money.
Depersonalization or disassociation where one finds one goes into a kind of fugue state and one loses massive amounts of time from one's life.

If you think you or someone you love has a gaming addiction issue, get them the help they need. You could save their life.