Topic : 06/03 Virtual Chaos

I have only watched the first 10 minutes and can relate! I have an 18 year old son who had kidney failure 3 1/2 years ago. Around that time he started playing world of warcraft and hasn't stopped. We figured out if he had worked the amount of hours he's been on the game, at $8.00 an hour he'd have over 20 thousand dollars! While he was on dialysis 11 or more hours a day I felt it wasn't so bad because he was stuck in his room. Now he is 2 years out from his transplant and it is a real problem. This game keeps him up all night and he is not functioning like a normal person. I don't know how to divert his attention and get him interested in starting life outside that stupid game.
Needless to say, I'm recording the show and we will watch it together and discuss what we learn. Maybe this will help him understand it's not normal to play a game 12 hours a day.

i have something to say to those who think that it's the video game's "fault" for making their family member's lives go down the drain.  i want to know what the families of these game players were doing as they saw their family crumble. i'm only 17 and i know that if something was wrong in my family, we would all try and fix it the best way we can.  if i was having a problem with video games, my parents would just pull the plug on it.  why wouldn't these families do the same!?  its absolutely disgraceful that they would not take that step to help them out.  it's pretty much a no-brainer.  if they truly cared about their family, they would have done SOMETHING instead of just watch their lives go down the drain.  so really, who's fault is it that these people have video game addictions? the developers? no one has the proof to say that developers make games because they are addicting.  developers make games because it is their job.  the way the public reacts to the way they do their job is completely out of their hands and on the sole responsibility of the players.  think of the millions of games that are arguably "addicting".  now think of all the cases in the last 20 years of when some kid somewhere went crazy and did something drastic. maybe 5.  and that's a generous number.  now think of the ratio of games sold to addicting habits formed because of the game.  the number would be something in the range of less than one ten-thousandth percent.  is there really a problem? perhaps. perhaps people blow it out of proportion because they don't want their family member to be remembered as a loser who couldn't control something that is easily controlled.  so why don't you get the facts straight before you start pointing fingers.

This reminds me of the D&D phenomenon in the 80's. There were kids killing and being killed by people involved in the game. People were staying up all night missing work and classes. There was some getting involved with Satanic stuff too. There were uproars all over, especially on college campuses. The game was banned in places which was ridiculous and never stopped the game. Instead of blaming the problems on people that were ill or evil the game was blamed. This game was played with books, dice and imagination. I remember some people being overly involved and always trying to get a game going, and years later I found out several of them were on medication or in jail. Do we blame books and dice? I’ve known people that are obsessive about fishing, and have been divorced because of it. Evil fish! The Parker-Hulme murder was committed by two girls caught up in an obsessive fantasy world they created in written stories. (Hulme is the very well respected Victorian murder mystery writer Anne Perry)  People will always go off the rails if they are predisposed to do so. I think I’ll go play my records backward now ;-)                  
   

After living together for a year my partner went visit his parents and came back with wow.

 

After a year of being together and no sign of gaming, he jumped straight to 8 hours a day.

 

He got sucked.  We tried scheduling play, we tried certain days, then times, however promises were always broken.

 

Even his best friend would bitch about the amount of time he spent gaming and then lo and behold my ex got him sucked in too.  They are both now hooked.

 

So yes, it can start just like that.  Maybe don't mention things like that unless you know for a fact.

I am mean really the 15 year old is the only one in the house with any common sense, which by the way he actually has a lot of.  Ironically, the only thing the dad said that was correct was the 15 year old knows everything.  Of course it was sarcasm the dad didn't actually mean , but ironically it turned out to be true.   Domestic Violence, Irresponsible Spending, Filthy House, Lack of Parental Supervision, Violent Children, this house is just a disaster waiting to happen.   Why would the mom let the 5 year old stay up until 1pm playing video games and worse yet why would the dad encourage it.  How is he going to learn in school if he is up all night?  

I was a thirteen-year-old Internet addict.

(I still am thirteen.)

And, I know you may be thinking,

"Oh my god, what in the world is that girl thinking!? Posting her age? Oh, unheard of."

But let's face the facts, huns.

Everyone does it,

And nothing is really going to change that.

But anyways,

Dr. Phil, I honestly love your show!
Really, I do.

And today's episode was pretty cool, because I was like that.

My parent's just did not get it.

They did not get the fact that, contrary to what you even said, you can have Internet friends.

 And quite honestly, I they thought I was crazy.

So, they had me go see a therapist  . . .

But it wasn't solely for that purpose.

Apparently I was 'angry' too, but that is off topic, and thus I will skip it. (:

I was on the computer,

and let me mind you, this was from the 23th of July to the 30th,

A grand total of 29 hours, and 45 minutes.

Ridiculous, correct?

Yes, even I think so.

Anyways, I've cut down, so that is a good thing. (:

But, I just wanted to say, it is kinda scary. . .

Being in that situation where you think you need to know what people are doing all the time.

Sad thing is, my Internet addiction has probably slowed because of my new texting addiction,

But never mind that.

I'm pretty much just rambling, but please mind me.

I have one more thing I want you to try to understand.

You can. . .

And I know you will automatically disagree with me claiming,

"They're just a bunch of pixels!"

But no, seriously.

You can have Internet friends.

Absolutely, positively.

I know it's 'dangerous', and all, but I have about . . .

Seven Internet friends that I would be willing to meet at this very moment.

I've talked to eight people on the phone, from just meeting them online.

And I've meet to many people to count (just in 'pixels').

I consider four people online to be some of my 'best friends'.

Yeah, just some facts.

And, it's not like I'm one of those geeky nerdy kids who only talk to online kids.

I was -Laughs- believe me.

But now, I have many many friends. (:

Three of which I consider to be 'best friends'.

Anyways, before I make your eyeballs bleed from all this 'nonsense', I'll let you all alone.

Thanks, Dr. Phil.

Oh, just a p.s.

About what you said about those 'personal messages'.

I get them a lot.

You just ignore them after a while.

Wanna example?

"tell me what on your mind said:

you not into watching guys on cam doing stuff?"

Translation into normal English;

"You're not into watching guys do stuff on cam?"

Msn, darlings.

It happens more than you think.

Creepy, eh?

Yup, and  guess what?

The guy is 25.

Talking like that to me.

A 13-year-old girl.

I said good bye. (:

And blocked him.

LOVE YOU, DR. PHIL 8D <333

Tootles <3

 

 

I am Thrall Warchief of the Horde,  

Hello Dr. Phil, I have gotten word from my messengers and scouts in the fields of this so called "Hollywood". I am not pleased with the information they have brought me...  

   

“Warchief! we have gotten word that a great witch doctor from the lands of Holly wood is trying to disrupt the arcane energies of one of our members, we must act immediately and crush this madman"  

   

So i have come to talk peace with you witch doctor, leave our people alone. Actions in which you are taking are direct violation of the treaty act wrote after the third war. We will not take kindly to your insolence and pestering into our matters. I have sent many a ret pally to the gates of your fortress to sway your actions. Any more such actions against our people will cause me to call forth the word of mass divine storm. Leave the world of azeroth alone, you are the shadow.   

   

-Thrall  

Im writing this because of all the gamers out there who dont realize they have an addiction. Ive been playing online games for over10years Everyone thinks that gaming addictions fall into the same category as drugs or alchohol. This isnt the case, there are multiple levels of game addictions. For instance, im addicted to diablo 2 and first person shooters. the communities surrounding these games are so immersive and open to anything that you can easily lose sight of whats real. other games like world of warcraft and other MMORPG(massively multiplayer onling role playing games) are even more immersive. for about 5 years ive tried to pull myself away from these games and its a uphill battle. I saw the show about game addiction airing and i decided to become part of the discussion because these games are worse than drugs and alchohol or ciggarettes. they pull you in and dont let you think rationally.  This problem reaches far beyond any drug. its a legal way to turn people into  drones. im one of them.

 

ivge lost way to much in my life because of games. i think its time it stopped.

I could relate to this show. My fiancee plays video games with any free time that he has. I feel like he is neglecting me and our children. My fiancee has a daughter that does not live with us. I feel like this is taking time away from him contacting and keeping a relationship with her and I have had it. I am sick of the money and the time that he is spending on this. I feel like his social skills are really being affected as well. We moved to this area three years ago and the only people he meets are others who play games all the time. I feel like he only does what he has to do to get from day to day and the majority of his effort is spent playing video games. If you buy him a gift it has to be video game related or an actual video game. I feel as though he has more of a connection with these strangers online than he does with me. I would love to see him put this crap down and get outside to play with the kids. I have told him that I don't think we should get married. I explained that if he wants to live the life of a bachelor than he should go do it.

My husband started playing World of Warcraft about 2 yrs ago. He was so addicted about a year ago that it nearly destroyed our marriage. A message to others wives, beware of a possible affair happening. If they meet someone else on the game, it is possible that they may end up feeling a strong connection with that person and taking things too far. Thankfully, my husbands addiction is not as bad as it used to be, but he still needs alot of work! This is a serious addiction. It can be just as bad as drugs, so don't look at it as a joke, because it is not! Good luck to anyone involved in this type situation. I symathize with you!