We tried telling Gramps that gaming was addictive
Well okay maybe not Gramps but with most young people thinking that anyone over the age of 30 is just way too old to be cool or a gamer I thought it worked. The point is that for the most part gaming has always been considered the territory of those kids hiding out in the basement playing something on those computers hours on end. We’ve all heard the stories about gaming addiction and how we need to rescue our children from the depth of hell and let them know that there is more to life than some controller or mouse in their hand. This has become even more prevalent as online gaming has grown after all people have been known to die in cafes after playing for 24 hours straight for God’s sakes.
However it may no longer just the kids that need to be saved from this life sucking gaming world. No, apparently even those of you approaching the “Gramps” stage of life are now in danger of being sucked into the World of Warcraft never to be seen again. In a post by Sara Boesveld and Zosia Belski on the Globe and Mail site write
It’s a growing problem as the age of the average gamer has risen to 32, said Liz Woolley, founder of Online Gamers Anonymous. And because gaming has more social acceptability than alcohol or drugs, most adult addicts don’t realize they have a problem. But it can have a similarly destructive effect on family and relationships.
“People are just sort of living on these things,” said Kimberly Young, director of the Center for Internet Addiction Recovery in Bradford, Pa., adding that most gamers have a family and a good job.
Not even that but did you know that for extreme gamers it’s no different than being a heroin addict. Yup it’s true – at least according to Dr. Young
Dr. Young compares the most extreme gamers with heroin addicts who eventually disengage from work and their relationships.
Dr. Young said it usually takes a “rock bottom experience” such as a divorce, a pink slip or traumatized children to wake up an addict.
So consider yourself warned okay? .. and to you wives out there you’d better hurry up and lock up those consoles and computers. Not only will you be saving your children you’ll now be saving that gaming drugged out husband who is also showing you a lot of strange pictures he’s found on the net and just wanted to share them with you in private.
Yup let’s forget about responsiblity and self control as we all plunge into the depths of gaming addictions. At least you will be able to say the family who games together can rehab together.
