South Korea Discovers StarCraft Addiction Drug

[Tom Goldman]

South Korea Discovers StarCraft Addiction Drug

Doctors in South Korea claim that they're found a method to treat patients addicted to Zerglings.

A study conducted by South Korean psychiatrists from Chung Ang University may have proven that videogame addiction can be treated with a pill. After administering Bupropion - a drug proven to aid in substance abuse dependency - to so-called videogame addicts, they responded less strongly to the allure of the Zerg.

Eleven test subjects exhibited symptoms for Internet Videogame Addiction (what the study calls IAG) such as skipping school or getting divorced due to at least four hours a day of videogame play, with all subjects playing StarCraft II [http://www.amazon.com/Starcraft-II-Wings-Liberty-Pc/dp/B000ZKA0J6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1282333551&sr=8-1] for more than 30 hours a week. They were put on a six-week program of Bupropion.

After the six weeks were up, the researchers found that the IAG group's cravings for StarCraft II were reduced by 23.6% and that their total playing time had decreased by 35.4%. Using MRI scans, it was also determined that the drug had reduced the videogame addicts' brain activity when they were shown pictures of StarCraft II's Zerglings.

The research suggests that Bupropion may change brain activity in a way that can help treat those than can't handle their videogame habit responsibly. It might be an easy reaction to say that these results are total garbage, as brain-altering drugs will often change a person's activities no matter what. Games make people feel good though, just like drugs (don't do drugs), and can often be used in a similar and unhealthy way. I have a few 14-hour days of Dark Age of Camelot [http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Age-Camelot-Platinum-Pc/dp/B00025ALAW/ref=sr_1_4?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1282333773&sr=1-4] under my belt that I'm not too proud of myself. It's not that incredible to me that a drug made to treat substance abuse could also possibly treat videogame abuse when much of the cause of both can be inside the brain.

Source: GamePolitics [http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2010-08/19/starcraft-addiction]

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[Torque669]

Wow, I knew Starcraft addiction in Korea was bad but I didnt think that it got so bad that people were studying whether they'd be better off on drugs.

 

[The Great JT]

We must destroy this drug! The Overmind wills it!

 

[ShadowKirby]

"Games make people feel good though, just like drugs (don't do drugs)"

Winners don't do drug -- Tom Goldman


I wonder how much this drug affects other activities. Maybe they just play less because they are too high on Bupropion to do anything.

 

[scarab7]

Well hope the world never needs wide spread use of this, or the at least the idea of drug treatment. Hopefully gamers in general will improve rather then spiral down. I'd hate to see the day where parents will be so convinced that video games are the "problem" to the point where those parents will use a drug treatment to solve the "problem".

I want to see a double blind study with placebos in South Korea and other countries; a wide range of data would be interesting to say the least.

 

[_Janny_]

Good for them, I guess. But I'd rather get a friend to lock away the computer then take pills for a game addiction. Isn't it dangerous in the long run? I mean, we are messing around with the chemistry of the brain and all that.

 

[Murlin]

Video game addiction isn't about getting cured, it's just like most mental addictions: Once you gain control of it instead of letting you control it there's not much of a problem left,

 

[Jumplion]

I've said before, video game addiction is just as legitimate and serious as any other addiction. People can be addicted to gambling, sex, various alcohol and drugs, coffee, adrenaline rushes, TV, your iPhone, etc...and video games are no exception and why would they be an exception? Video games can be just as addictive and life-consuming as anything else and it should be treated like any other serious addiction. It's all about responsibility and balance.

It's good to see that these people have found help for this stuff, though I'm inclined to believe it's more of a placebo effect than an actual "cure" for it.

 

[Mr.Geoson]

Meh, I wouldn't take any drugs that would alter something in my brain. Plus if I ever decide I don't need it anymore I would go right back to playing again. NOW IF I DIDN'T TAKE IT and stop playing as much I have a higher chance of not getting sucked back in. Now if your like that guy that spent like 20,000 hours in one game, I can see why you need it but once you get it down low you still have to do it without the drugs or else you just go back to playing. Honestly this will work about as well as those stupid camps that try to "fix" these kids.

 

[Last Bullet]

We must destroy this drug! The Overmind wills it!

Worry not, young cerebrate. We shall assimilate with these tactical genii Terran, given time. Nothing shall stop The Swarm!

 

[Keava]

Maybe it's not the drug, maybe they just got bored of the repetitive gameplay? 30 hours a week is over 4 hours a day, over 6 weeks thats 180 hours of playtime, with avarage match length between 10 and 15 minutes it gives more less ~20 matches a day, 140 matches a week, and total of 840 matches. You can really get sick seeing even picture of a zerg after that much. Don't need drugs for that.

 

[2fish]

It started out just a zerg rush every few days, then next thing I knew I was doing five to seven zerg rushes a day... It only went down hill from there. Now thanks to the meds I am zerg free.

Ok my only worry is how long does one have to stay on the pills? Am I trading one addiction for another? I hope this helps the true addicts, but I have a fear in the back of my mind.

This just in, Science finds cure for video games! That's right we can now fix your children with pills and brain chips!

 

[CZS PublicEnemy]

Lets take away the one thing that makes South Koreans happy.

 

[Jared]

Only in Korea would they be researching this...only in Korea

 

[Vilcus]

We must destroy this drug! The Overmind wills it!

Worry not, young cerebrate. We shall assimilate with these tactical genii Terran, given time. Nothing shall stop The Swarm!

*Spawns 20 Overlords* The preperations for the brood are complete, we shall now attack with the full fury of the swarm... SEND IN THE MASS ZERGLINGS!

I find it funny how they are actually using a drug to curb video game addiction.

"Hmmm, he's having fun, it must be unhealthy! Qick someone pump him full of drugs with terrible side effects!"

 

[Nouw]

We must destroy this drug! The Overmind wills it!

Worry not, young cerebrate. We shall assimilate with these tactical genii Terran, given time. Nothing shall stop The Swarm!

FOR THE EMPEROR! DEATH TO ALL XENOS! Woops sorry, wrong franchise guys.

Ahem, so in my home country there is a pill to stop addiction? That's a good thing I guess...

Only in Korea would they be researching this...only in Korea

America might do that too, their addiction is terrible as well. I'm not saying you live there by the way

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

That's interesting, I wonder what Bupropion [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bupropion#Adverse_effects] does.

Oh, catalyses and increases (sometimes severe) hypertension, increases the chance of seizure. Of the 540,000 people tested in the UK only 60 had fatal results. Three cases of liver toxicity, and one case of clitoral priapism.

Not including basic adverse reactions like dry mouth, nausea, insomnia, tremor, excessive sweating and tinnitus.

And reports of unusual behavior changes, agitation and hostility, are just reports. As is the rare cases of Mania. As is Psychosis, delusions, hallucinations, paranoia, and confusion.

But you can always stop it, although cold turkey does occasionally lead to dystonia, irritability, anxiety, mania, headache, aches and pains.

But at least you're not addicted to Warcraft. Better living through chemicals!

 

[Nalgas D. Lemur]

Ok my only worry is how long does one have to stay on the pills? Am I trading one addiction for another?

Not all that long. It's one of the same things they use to help people stop smoking (and incidentally, bupropion is the generic name and doesn't need capitalizing, while the brand names for it like Wellbutrin/Zyban do). I've known people who've taken it for that and stopped after all of a month with no problems, although some may take a bit longer. Also, bupropion is not addictive anyway.

Edit: And to the person above me, the vast majority of those things are pretty rare and tend to be associated with/significantly more common with higher doses (which, not surprisingly, is why they have recommended limits that are below the levels associated with an increased risk of those things happening) and/or with people who already have psychiatric/neurological issues. It's obviously not completely harmless, because anything that has zero ability to cause unwanted side effects also has zero ability to cause beneficial effects, but it's generally a fairly benign medication for most people and has been in use for a long time and is fairly well understood.

 

[blackhole1]

You know when something becomes a problem when people start perscribing pills to cure it. Seriously, what kind of world do we live in for that kind of research to even get funding?

 

[Lenny Magic]

It might be the fact that "Decreased brain activity" was mentioned, but I kind of think that they should have tried some pictures of other things. Just to make sure they haven't done something unintentionally to their subjects brains.

Seems like there is a lot of room for errors in there to me :/