What medical professionals absolutely must know about game addiction right now.
This post is meant to give you very preliminary surveys of research done to date and varied approaches to treatment. It should be noted that we understand very little about excessive gaming. Most of the research is preliminary, and some completely lacks face validity (which basically means that it doesn’t make sense on a practical level). At this time most treatment centers focus heavily on pre-existing or co-morbid conditions existing alongside excessive gaming. Many treatment centers consider these conditions to be the root cause of excessive gaming, although there is little data exploring whether that is accurate. My research and data has led me to believe that the key to understanding excessive play lies in three major areas, but that is the subject for another post. =P
1. Research
This research is organized by author(s). Some deals with game addiction, and some deals with critical elements to games. While small critiques are provided for each piece, there are also sections that discuss the major problems with the research, and future directions that game addiction research should consider.
Kimberly Young, PhD.
Article: Internet Addiction: A new clinical phenomenon and its consequences. Date: 2004. What it explored: Copied criteria almost directly from the DSM criteria for gambling addiction in order to explore problematic internet use. Young then goes into much more detail explaining the anecdotal evidence for her “IAD: Internet Addiction Disorder,” the most notable anecdotes being ‘online affairs,’ ’student internet abuse,’ and ‘employee internet abuse.’ Young’s criteria for gaming is also a copy of the DSM criteria for gambling addiction. She displays it prominenly on her website, here, as a self diagnosis tool. This is despite the fact that the DSM is intended for use only by medical professionals.
Elias Aboujaoude, MD, MA, Lorrin M. Koran, MD, Nona Gamel, MSW, Michael D. Large, PhD, and Richard T. Serpe, PhD
Article: Potential Markers for Problematic Internet Use: A Telephone Survey of 2,513 Adults. Date: 2006. What it explored: Used a well-planned system in order to conduct telephone surveys documenting internet use and abuse. Utilized criteria similar to Kimberly Young’s.
Sara E. Allison, M.D., Lisa von Wahlde, L.M.S.W., Tamra Shockley, M.S. and Glen O. Gabbard, M.D.
Article: The Development of the Self in the Era of the Internet and Role-Playing Fantasy Games. Date: 2006. What it explored: A single case study of an adolescent male admitted by his parents for “game addiction,” treatment. What he recieved instead, was a deep case study that explored the positive and negative impacts working simultaneously in his play. This is an excellent example of medical professionals who, unhappy with the quality of the current resources on game addiction, took a nuanced and deep approach to understanding and treating the adolescent male.
2. Treatment
Given that we know so little about excessive gaming, it should come as no suprise that treatment varies widely. This list is organized by Country. Treatment methodologies and websites are provided where available. If you have information on non-English speaking programs, most especially those in Korea or China, I would greatly appreciate any information that you can provide.
America
Center for Internet Addiction Recovery
About: This site is run by one of the first researchers to examine excessive use of the Internet, Kimberly Young. Treatment: Her site is primarily geared toward promoting either her books or online therapy sessions, which she currently prices at 95$/hour. Criticisms: Young is one of the most criticized in game addiction, most notably by John Charlton, and John Grohol. When she created the criteria for “Internet Addiction Disorder,” in 1996, she copied almost verbatim from gambling addiction. Her research appears to pull almost exclusively from anecdotal cases and market research, as no clear research data has been made public for peer review. In the 10 years since she originally presented her criteria she has conducted no research in order to verify whether her criteria actually reflect the problem.
Massachusets, Computer Addiction Services
About: Maressa Hecht Orzack is a clinical psychologist and a member of the Harvard Medical School faculty. Treatment: The major form of therapy forwarded by Orzack’s Computer Addiction Services is, “Cognitive Behavior Therapy, which teaches the patient to identify the problem, to solve the problem and to learn coping skills to prevent relapse.” She also notes that medications and support groups can be of some use.
The Netherlands
Smith and Jones Addiction Consultants
About: A preexisting treatment center which began offering services for excess gaming. One of the most widely publicized treatment centers for game addiction, it claims to have created the first outpatient treatment center in Europe. Treatment: Patients are treated with the 12-step model for addiction. The most popular form of the 12-step model in America is the group Alcoholics Anonymous, or “AA.” Criticisms: No widely publicized or major criticisms have been leveled at the Smith and Jones center. However, it should be noted that 12-step programs in general are not for everybody.
Korea - In General
About: Korea currently supports no less than 100 treatment programmes. The Centre for Internet Addiction Prevention & Counseling is a major government-funded resource run by the nation’s Korea Agency for Digital Opportunity & Promotion. Treatment: Public education campaigns and treatment centers exist, but there is very little information in English on the criteria used, and the exact nature of treatment. If you have more information on this, please email me.
China - In General
About: China created one of the world’s first treatment centers for addiction in Beijing. Shanghai reportedly also houses numerous shelters that allow short-term stay for problem gamers. Treatment: Psychologists and social workers are noted to venture into internet cafes, attempting to persuade those online to pursue other activities. The programs are reported to use many treatments similar to those found elsewhere. Acupuncture is reportedly used widely. Criticisms: Chinese authorities and clinicians associate excessive gaming with an erosion of morality. While the moral model is a popular perspective on addiction, it has been widely criticised as less than helpful. If you have more information on this, please email me.
Canada
About: A preexisting treatment center, it began offering specific services for excessive gaming in late 2006. Treatment: Richmond addictions uses a bio-psycho-social model model, where patients are often able to choose their treatments. Holistic and spiritual treatments join more traditional models for addiction.
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I hope this has been useful to you, no matter your aim in reading. I welcome all comments and suggestions. There’s definitely more research out there worth noting, this was just meant to give a very quick outline.
Neils Clark :: Jan.02.2007 :: Game Addiction ::
[…] Sure, I’m excited to see this because I might be in it (w00t!), but of course there’s more. Evanor is invested in really teaching people something about who gamers really are, the good and the bad. There’s so much idiotic information out there, info that slates gamers as some kind of purely degenerate subculture. Pundits like Bill O’Really, experts like Kimberly Young, and even some gamers see play as some kind of illicit substance. They spread information that fundamentally misrepresents gaming. This causes good aspects of games to fall by the wayside, making it less likely that harmful elements are correctly identified and appropriately handled. […]
hey neils,
just got a chance to look through your blog–i like the approach you are taking to this issue (self aware, critical, honest…gee). i completely agree with the frustration that simplistic and naive dismissals or props to games just polarize people and rob us of an opportunity to learn and grow about amazing phenomena current to our lives.
for instance, while for the most part i have to say i am against genetic engineering of food, you will often hear me arguing with others of the same mind who dismiss it as “unnatural.” quite frankly, it’s a bs line of reasoning that implies that somehow humans are even capable of doing something “unnatural.” in other words, an extension of the system of cartesian dualism of mind/matter and humans vs nature, which in turn props up the idea of “scientific objectivity” as if we can ever be outsiders looking in but detached (emotionally, physically) from whatever it is we are studying. in truth, whatever our object of study, we are also always studying the self.
anyway, just wanted to let you know that i think you’ve started a great thing at this site, with a lot of good info that is presented in a fair and honest manner within cultural and historical contexts.
Thanks Ethan. I honestly really appreciate it.