Is there such a thing as internet addiction?
Posted in: Internet Use/New Technologies at 08/03/2010 03:41
Can the internet be as addictive as drugs or alcohol, and should online games addicts be treated in the same way?
Ben Alexander always struggled to fit in. Teased at primary school and beaten up in senior school, he turned to the internet, where he found a whole new world of friends. Subscribing to the hugely popular online game World of Warcraft, he joined 12 million other people -- including the actor Vin Diesel, the presenter Jonathan Ross and his wife Jane Goldman -- in a quest reminiscent of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.
In the game, players create avatars in whose guise they spend hours joining guilds of other players to fight battles. "There's lots of working together," says Alexander."That's what made it so attractive, because the social thing was something I always had trouble with. It was a lot easier to socialise and make friends online than it was in real life."
http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/the_way_we_live/article7052999.ece