SigEx Telecom : Being addicted to a game is just like being addicted to drugsby Ioana Madalina Tantareanu

Video games can give you an addiction, as doctors have agreed, just like drugs or alcohol. This won't kill you, but it will ruin your life even worse than if you spent 18 hours a day at the office. At least if you work, you get paid; games give you status at best. It appears that online role-playing games are the most addictive, especially for unpopular kids who get respect and power in a virtual world. As their hero becomes stronger, the game becomes challenging, up to the point where the player can think only of the game. This type of addiction has symptoms just like other types, including the inability to control the need and escaping to the game world whenever real things go wrong. It stands a good chance to be included in the list of mental disorders that psychiatrists use to diagnose patients. Admitting you have a problem is always the first step to recovery and clinics to help gamers get better have appeared lately in the US and Amsterdam. And it's not only teenagers that need help; older people have been found to suffer from this disorder as well and their number is increasing in other parts of the world too, for example South Korea. The effects are the same: no interest in their spouse, in social activities, weight gain and other problems linked to becoming involved in a single activity 24h a day. Hardcore gamers think about advancing to the next level even when they're away from the computer and there's really no point in blaming the video games industry. After all, each game has a Quit button.

related story: http://www.pentictonwesternnews.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=102&cat=44&id=1034844&more=0

by Ioana Madalina Tantareanu for SigEx Telecom (http://sigex.com)

SigEx Telecom is quickly becoming the leading telebroadcasting communications provider allowing people to easily talk, view, upload and share video clips through free online TV broadcasting, free unlimited global calls, websites, blogs, video-mails and SMS. SigEx Telecom captures many add-on services for its clients generating royalties and fees in a broad spectrum of marketing services including public relations and promotions.