CULTURE: Latest gaming addiction disaster

A young Nevada couple have pleaded guilty to child neglect after leaving their two young children starving and suffering other health problems while they played MMORPGs.

"They had food; they just chose not to give it to their kids because they were too busy playing video games," Viloria told the Reno Gazette-Journal.

Police said hospital staff had to shave the head of the girl because her hair was matted with cat urine. The 10-pound girl also had a mouth infection, dry skin and severe dehydration.

Her brother had to be treated for starvation and a genital infection. His lack of muscle development caused him difficulty in walking, investigators said.

This is the kind of thing that I believe puts the American Medical Association's decision not to classify video game addiction as a mental disorder in question. I know this isn't a popular view, but I strongly believe people can become addicted to video games in the same way that they can become addicted to drugs, and that the problem should be treated just as seriously.

MMORPGs are a unique source of this problem because they fulfill social needs while releasing a steady flow of dopamine. There's also no point in which the game is 'beaten' - you can continue amassing more loot and power even when you've reached whatever insane level cap the particular game has in place. Unlike multiplayer shooters, which are broken up into individual scenarios and maps, there's no natural break in RPGs. Even when not on a quest there are people to talk to, things to do. People are able to perform incredibly repetitive tasks in games like World of WarCraft because it produces a hit of dopamine each time their character is slightly bettered. In laboratory tests, scientists found that they could starve a mouse by offering periodic drips of dopamine from a tube. The mouse would stay at the tube, lap up the dopamine as it was produced, and forgot to eat until it starved.

The games function like drugs in that each time the player achieves a goal they get a hit of dopamine not dissimilar to a minor drug rush. This is more than they gain from other actions like going outside, going to school, going out with friends or spending time with their kids. WoWDetox is testament to this.

Not every MMORPG player is going to develop a drug-like addiction, just like not every person who tries meth will become addicted to it. But the similarities between gaming addiction and drug addiction are hard to miss, and I don't see why they should be treated differently, particularly when they have the potential to be just as dangerous.

[Nev. couple blame internet for neglect via Yahoo! news]

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