This week, I was lucky enough to catch an episode of Dr. Phil titled "Virtual Chaos" which dealt with a handful of individuals who had crossed well over the line of computer game addiction. While I know "Dr." Phil isn't a primary source to obtain information, the show brought about many interesting points which relate to our current topic of people with addictions to on-line "worlds" such as the second life chat room.
The episode actually begins with Dr. Phil dressed as an avatar in a virtual fantasy world like the ones we explored through Second Life and There. He quotes in support of the video gaming world ““In the virtual world, I can be someone completely different. I can be Super Mortal Phil, defender of my countrymen, and a super-stud who gets to have cool hair while playing. And in this virtual world, I’m agile, powerful and I never have to do what my wife says!” He continues in the real life setting to explain how he even enjoys the occasional computer game, but he also recognizes that while they are fun, they can also rob people of their lives. One guest he spoke with was the mother of a young man named Shawn. Shawn, she explained, was like any other young man when he first got into a video game known as EverQuest; a young adult with a promising future. Within no time, though, the game began to consume his life. He stopped being social (she describes him as completely withdrawn) he stopped going to work, he would stay up all night, and he rarely ever left the house. About 3 months later, Liz, his mother, found him in his room in front of the video game with a rifle in his hand after committing suicide.
Liz is now an advocate for telling others about gaming addiction, which she strongly compares to a drug addiction. Often parents will purchase these types of computer games for their children as a way to “preoccupy” them so they can get other things done. Sadly, if the child doesn’t become a video game addict, the fact remains that, as we have noted in class many times before, the computer is still a pitfall for many young people. Dr. Phil shares the statistics that “One in three kids happen on to pornographic sites while on the computer, one in 11 are harassed while in chat rooms, 16 percent say they would consider meeting someone in real life that they met on the computer and 69 percent say they get personal messages from the computer.”
Like Shawn, Caiko from our episode of True Life shared a similar addiction to an online world, along with millions of other Americans. This episode of Dr. Phil shared a lot of interesting insight on the horrors of online addiction and the ability it has to consume an individual. We have also noted in class, though, that when treated maturely, the computer is an extremely valuable tool for both entertainment and educational purposes. Unfortuantly, it can all too often become a source for addiction in which can result in the loss of connection with the real world, or even worse, the loss of a valued life.
To evaluate gaming addictive behavior in yourself or someone you know, review the following list: http://www.drphil.com/articles/article/573
3 comments:
I find it so weird to think about Dr. Phil being an avatar, but he is right, it is much easier to be the person you want to be in video games, than who you might be in real life. At least he knows how addicting video games can be. It is such a shame when games take over a life, like it took over Shawn's. Video games should not have that power, but they do just like Second Life, Facebook, and Myspace.
I also saw an episode of Dr. Phil about video games. They were interviewing a wife and husband, and the husband had been addicted to video games for I believe nine years. He was so addicted that he would ignore his children whenever he was supposed to be watching them, and did not know the one time that one of the children got hurt. They had to wait until the mom came home for the attention necessary. It is ridiculous that children "loose" their parents or siblings to video games. It is just like having a dad, but that dad being an alcoholic.
You are totally right when you said that if you use the computer maturely, you can gain many benefits from it. But unfortunately, like any situation there is a negative side, and that negative side is addiction, and sometimes the ending of a life.
I too actually saw this episode of Dr. Phil and couldn't believe that someone could get that addicted to a video game. It's really sad to think about how much it took over his life to the point where he committed suicide. At least Shawn's mother has become an advocate for this cause since the passing of her son.
The computer can be a very addictive thing. It can be very harmful to a person if they abuse it. Technology comes with so many positives but also so many negatives. I agree with what you said about how it can be a useful tool if people can use it maturely and not abuse the technology. It's important to remember that these types of things can and do happen. It's not worth losing your life over being addicted to a online virtual world.
I thought about video games becomming addictive but I never thought of someone committing sucide over a game. That was very interesting to read. It is very sad to hear about people who do become addicted to video games and virtual networks and worlds. I can see where it may be easier to be the person you want to be but what I can not understand is how people get so caught up in these games and other worlds that they believe it is all real.
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