World of Warcraft habit harder to treat than porn addiction - The Boston Globe
Well, so says Dr. Jerald Block, interviewed in The Boston Globe yesterday. He very briefly touches on pornography addiction, but his comments about compulsive relationships with computers certainly make it an interesting read.
"As a society we understand that porn is something people do, and you can see a psychiatrist and get treated for it. But gaming is hard to describe to anyone else. So these people can't explain their situation to friends."
From my experience, people troubled by their porn habit often find it extremely difficult to explain to their friends. But I can appreciate Dr. Block's point; most of us can understand the allure of porn to some extent. Abandoning your life for a world of online wizards and elves is even more likely to be met with ridicule.
Some of the parallels between gaming and porn addiction are obvious. The underlying motive of escape from a relationship or some other part of our real lives. The ease with which gaming may fill a void created by loneliness or lack of confidence in real world interaction. The intense connection with the computer and hard drive. I worked with an addict who buried his plastic-wrapped hard drive in the garden when he was forced to go away for weekends; even he struggled to explain that one.
Dr. Block also mentions his disdain for the term 'addiction' when discussing these issues. As much as we loathe the connotations, we are all locked into the vocabulary.
Porn Game Over is Jason's self-help plan for quitting the habit. Click here for a fresh approach to internet pornography addiction...
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3 comments
I'd say I'm probably addicted
I'd say I'm probably addicted to both porn and gaming... i spend too much time on both, that's for sure. I just find it really difficult to turn off the computer.
Hello, How fascinating
Hello,
How fascinating that you mention strong paralells between online gaming and porn compulsions. I have lived over the road to a young couple in their twenties for about 10mths now & they were engaged & had moved into the house live together. She was pretty and hard working, passed her driving test & bought her first car.
They seemed like a attractive successful happy young couple with everything going for them. But I did notice one thing, they bought the biggest flat panel LCD TV I had ever seen, it was way to big for such a small terraced house front lounge room. I also noticed that he would be playing interactive online games almost every day and sometimes late into the small hours. This went on for months I know because they seemed to leave the curtains open so anyone could see the TV was switched on.
Then the next thing I heard they had split up? I'm not saying I can prove this but I have a VERY strong gut feeling that she split because of his online gaming obsession. Certainly made me think about that?
Alex.
I hate this gaming crap. My
I hate this gaming crap. My husband lost his job and hes been playing games for 4 months I hardly ever even get to talk to him, he plays all day and all night. Everything I say or do is an annoyance to him while he's "beating this boss" or talking with his guild members. This is ruining our marriage and he can't even see it! We have only been married a little over a year and the whole situation sucks.
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