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Compulsive Gaming Is Rarely Addiction, Says Euro-Rehab Founder
A treatment center arguing that addiction is over-diagnosed is about as common as a television salesman telling you that TV can rot your brain. But, that is exactly what compulsive gaming counselor Keith Bakker is arguing, the BBC reports.
The founder and head of Amsterdam's Smith & Jones Centre, Europe's only rehab for gaming addicts, Bakker believes that, in most often, the cause for compulsive gaming is of a social, rather than chemical, nature.
"[The] more we work with these kid, the less I believe we can call this addiction," he told the BBC, adding, "what many of these kids need is their parents and their school teachers." This development follows last year's American Medical Association conclusion that gaming is not, in fact, addictive and China's recent conclusion to the contrary.
While he is quick to point out that traditional addiction treatment methods are well suited, and successful, for compulsive gamers also struggling with alcohol or drug addiction, he believes that these types make up only 10% of what could be called 'problem gamers.' The gamers that comprise the other 90% need social guidance in lieu of a recovery program, he has concluded.
In Bakker's estimation, most of these patients are simply plagued with frustration and loneliness, finding both catharsis and acceptance in violent online games. He believes that, if parents and teachers were more communicative with these troubled folks, treatment centers like Smith & Jones could close their doors. [From: BBC]
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Comments
4
Subscribe to commentsKarineNov 25th 2008 5:31PM
This jerk reminds me of the woman tat came up with a program which advocated that alcoholics could control their drinking .. Only to find out that she got runker than a skunk and was thrown in jail because of a severe DUI incident.
guy will get some gambling addicts that are still in denial, because they are looking for the easier softer way ! I hope someone will monitor this European outfit - lets see what happen long term. There is no such thing as a Gambling dust fairy that that waves a wand and pouf! All is well ! Gamblers have ruined families - businesses etc etc .. You bet they are addicted to gambling - it gives them a rush just like a junkie gets a rush from hardcore drugs .. Well - maybe this dude will give his patients a lobotomy - That will work !
cbNov 25th 2008 9:25PM
FYI..this is about video games...not gambling....way to read
DarkLightNov 25th 2008 9:28PM
OK, so, what does gambling have to do with gaming?
Read the words carefully
@the article: "Loneliness" is pretty spot-on, and I think frustration too.. I turn on my XBOX when the loneliness hits hard
However, I don't think it's a social problem in our part.
The thing is that they want us to socialize with normal people.
Geeks and normal people are incompatible. We're too different to socialize with each other. Normal poeple thinks dancing in a nightclub is cool, we think it's stupid. Normal people doesn't care about computers as long as they have myspace and porn, OTOH we think that computers are the most exciting thing ever and myspace sucks.
It's like dogs and cats. Dogs socialize with dogs, cats socialize with cats, but you can't make a cat socialize with a dog.
However, dogs/normal people are 90% of the world's population, cats/geeks are only 10%, so cats can't find themselves in real life, and hence, can't socialize in real life. That's where the network (and networked gaming) kicks in: In the net, it's much easier to filter the dogs out, letting the cats find each other much more easily than in real life. Hence, the cats socialize with each other over the network, instead of real life.
So there, doctors/parents/teachers, stop calling it a problem. It's not a problem at all. Just our nature.
crisJan 18th 2009 11:45PM
Thanks for this article.I have witnessed youths whose lives have been depraved by an awful and annihilating gambling experience . Gambling dependency is obliterating many families, and communities. Without the parental caring aid, gambling addiction can drive health loss, split friendships, hydrophobia, and most importantly, children's destiny. People with a gambling disorder can feel societal isolation, terrorized, debased, and dire . I found two books- The books 111 Tips To Help Beat Your Gambling Addiction and Slot Machine Addiction has helped me a lot to be delivered from the shackles of this dreadful giant. It was found at http://www.gamblingaddiction.tv/