Orly? Yarly! However, we didn’t need Dr. Phil to find that out. Who needs a shrink? Me? No Way! With 11 Million players worldwide comes the percent of real people addicted to playing the MMO for 8-12 hours straight a day. Considering a mere 10% of 11 Million is still over a million people … that’s a scary percent. I made up that percentage. Could that be higher than 10%? Even less than 10% is still a lotful of people.

Dr. Phil aired a TV show with the topic: Virtual Chaos, focused on MMO Addiction. Is someone like you obssessed with video games? Do some of your fingers get numb? Does your wrist aches? Those are symptoms you have been playing too much in a row. The same happens to me after playing Half-Life 2: Deathmatch for over 4 hours. Or spamming heals in raids from 7:30pm-12am or longer.

Dr. Phil says games are meant to have fun, not to risk life or risk marriages. He presented a case where a young man in his age 35 spends 80 hours a week playing video games. To be honest, I am one of those addicted players. Back on 2004, during beta and after the game went retail, and when Burning Crusade launched I was playing 16 hours a day nonstop. Sometimes longer.

Over the years I have been decreasing those hours, but there is no self-denial. I am addicted to games. And it has affected my life. The same way it has affected yours, if you play excessively for many hours and you are unemployed for a long time, as I was.

The case presented by Dr. Phil is a man my age, who wakes up at noon and plays all day past midnight up to 1-2am in the morning. I see myself reflected in that mirror. Sure, go ahead. Call me a loser. At least I acknowledge and recognize my symptoms as addiction. That takes courage. And I do care. There are many out there with the same issue. Are you brave to accept you are doing wrong with your life, and affecting those around you: your wife, your daughter, son? The Monday TV show helps you how to control your obssession before it is to late.

Dr. Phil has a webpage with a Gaming Addictive Behaviour Audit. Fill the 10 questions provided in the audit and find out if you are addicted, or if you are only a casual gamer.

Like Father, Like Son
He continues,