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New in game Stipulations apparently
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Post by
Bladeslicer24
Ok so im bored and surfing the web, when i come to yahoo and they have a "Featured Story" and it involves Therapists and World Of Warcraft......Here it is lol....
July 28 5:15 P.M.
If Dr. Richard Graham has his way, massively popular online game World of Warcraft will soon get an unofficial new character class: the therapist.
According to The Daily Telegraph, the London psychiatrist is spearheading a movement that would let mental health workers join online game worlds as avatars in order to better treat players suffering from game addiction.
Dr. Graham believes the key is reaching at-risk players on their own turf.
"Those affected don't exhibit the same outward warning signs as most teenage anti-social behaviour issues do because they're in their bedrooms most of the time, seemingly out of trouble," he told the Telegraph. "Because of this we can't get through to them in the traditional educational environment or intrude on their actual bedrooms -- we need to turn to the Internet itself to tackle these problems."
The issue of game addiction itself is still quite thorny. The American Medical Association still doesn't consider game addiction to be a legitimate disorder, while other reports -- including a Swedish study claiming that Warcraft is "more addictive than crack cocaine" -- say otherwise.
Graham hopes to launch the project "by the end of the year," and has called on Warcraft maker Blizzard to possibly give therapists free access to the game. He also notes that since most therapists probably aren't Warcraft experts, the project could potentially recruit gamers to act as "peer mentors" and help identify troubled players.
What do you think about it? Will it work, and should it even be allowed?
Oh and
heres the story if you want to read it
Edit: See my thing is for those that are addicted, what the hell are the therapists going to do? sit on WoW for 12 hours a day and not become addicted? aint happening, thats why i dont think it will work because if they are saying it is worse than "crack cocaine" they are jsut as screwed as the people already addicted....bwahaha
Post by
Cambo
Dumb therapist crits for STUPID!11111
This is what will happen:
Therapist's boss: "Good sir, I require the patient report like... now!"
Therapist: "Sorry boss, have just joined a Naxx group. Will be another 4 hours."
Post by
Starkie
That's really interesting, although I don't personally see it working the way they want to.
While Blizzard *may* jump on the bandwagon, I can't see gamers giving up other gamers that easily, and hell, who doesn't have a problem that plays wow? Props to them if they pick out the troubled ones.
Post by
392412
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Jaspirac
WoW is more addictive than crack cocaine? So that's where they got their Blizzard name from.
I can see it now:...
Therapist in group begins analysis regarding dungeon run. "Therapist" has been removed from group. Group is ignoring you.
PvP server: Horde kills therapist- commence corpse camping.
Trade Chat: Therapist has been "reported" for spam.
All this would serve to do is show the therapist the fun of WoW and as Campo said:
Therapist: "... just joined a Naxx group. Will be another 4 hours... while I analyze the Lich King's childhood and why he is so bent on madness.
Post by
191285
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Post by
ArgentSun
The definition of addiction (not the dictionary one) is "something you don't need to do to live, but still do and cannot voluntarily stop". Some things (e.g. drugs, alcohol, WoW) are often perceived as addictive. Obviously. Other things - your relationship with a loved one, for example - is rarely called an addiction, yet it is one. Just not a harmful one (usually).
Just keep that in mind as you move on with the discussion.
Post by
380356
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Post by
Dralas
That's like hosting an AA meeting in a bar, just brilliant.
Brilliant, just brilliant.
Post by
Spinkert
I'd love it if a therapist whispered me. I'd send them to my
therapist
.
Joking aside, interesting idea but without knowing any details of the scheme, it comes off a bit half-baked. Are they not aware of the ignore option?
Hmm. Perhaps the therapists can help all the gold farmers who fight over nodes.
Post by
91278
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Post by
Arideni
I agree with Dr. Graham's interpretation of the issue. It is hard to find red flags in a person's life when they're living online. The same psychological issues develop, but are completely masked through a series of tubes.
Post by
166878
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Post by
90137
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Post by
292710
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Post by
etrin
yea and they are wanting buzzard to wave the $15 fee
Hell that fee is why I need a therapist
and I agree, why do they want to do this in game.
QUIT THE GAME..I can't (cry)....WHY NOT!...because I have to be in the game to quit the game.
HUH
Post by
320570
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Post by
Shiverlynn
An addiction to WoW may not be the healthiest thing for your social life, but it won't harm you in any way.
Unfortunately, the consequences of an addiction to video games in general include health problems. It's not just stories that your parents tell you to discourage you from playing too much.
Post by
292710
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Post by
hymer
"Health problems" include mental health problems. If you spend a lot of your waking hours doing something that eventually cripples you socially, you have a problem. Just looking at how hard some people deny the possibility of problems is kinda scary.
People have been known to ruin themselves playing WoW. Couples have broken up. Jobs have been lost.
What exactly do you think the psychiatrist is suggesting? He's not going to /w his patient in the middle of a raid to start a conversation about how your mom and dad got along. Maybe he will, with something like GM status, see what his patient is doing, how he interacts, how much time he spends on this or that. He may find out an awful lot, and then he can use that in therapy. It's not unusual to use observation, especially with kids.
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