Psychiatrist Calls for Gaming Rehab Clinics in Australia

[The Great JT]

And they decided to make a gaming clinic over, hm, a substance abuse clinic? Yes, because gaming has such ramifications as liver failure, short-term memory loss and death. What's that? You got pills that cure the death? Get outta here, Pilz-E!

 

[GrinningManiac]

My thoughts:

1) It's a voluntary clinic, not a concentration camp
2) It's a clinic, not a District 9-for-Gamers
3) It's in Australia, I'm in the UK

Damn not given

I approve of the Beaker and Bunsun Muppets, though

 

[XJ-0461]

Wow. Australian officials really doesn't know how to deal with videogames, do they? They can't make a freaking 18+ rating, then they go and do something like this.

 

[TheBarefootBandit]

I'm all for job creation but seriously this...

 

[Dogstile]

"more than 4 hours a day"

screw them, seriously

 

[Amnestic]

Roughly 70 percent of "problem gamers" spent more than four hours a day playing

Could we get a survey done on how long people - on average - watch TV or use the internet per day?

Will we be seeing Internet Addiction Rehab clinics?

We first need book addictio clinics. There are people who read all day! Also, the same for music!

And iPhone addiction rehab clinics. God, people fiddle with those so much. =_=

 

[polygon]

The pic you chose for this is perfect.

 

[Vierran]

So we can choose to go to rehab but not to buy games rated for adults?

 

[silentsentinel]

Oh, research psychiatrists... they think they know so much more than they really do...

 

[Samurai Goomba]

Yes, let's turn it into a mental disorder. Great idea. We don't have enough whiners with fake disorders and feelings of entitlement.

People who get addicted to games would probably get addicted to something else anyway. It's the root addictive personality traits that need addressing, not "rehab" for game "users." Although I like the idea of comparing Gamestop to a crack dealer.

What do we expect from a place that elected Michael Atkinson?

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I'm quoting this to give you more attention, so your IP will be banned faster. I hate very few things the way I hate spambots on message boards.

 

[Le_Lisra]

I really like the closing line. What an interesting country.

 

[Proteus214]

I have seen people who do seriously have a gaming problem and they do need help, but these morons' definition of a "problem gamer" is retarded.

 

[DeathWyrmNexus]

Okay then, this was the breaking point. I now consider Australia to be a punchline, a sad and stupid punchline but one nonetheless.

Haha I can already see the possibilities.

And now for bad joke theater..

Two men walk into a bar... You would too if Australia wanted to be your mom.

Twenty men walked into a bar. Same deal.

Pop Quiz. What country wants to sound morally innovative like the Puritans? Australia.

What country has more danger just going to the bathroom with all the critters but wants to consider flicking lights akin to mind control? Australia.

What country has a ton of idiots and self importance? America but Australia has high aspirations.

Thank you, thank you, I'll be here all week.

 

[TechNoFear]

The fact that Australia doesn't have an effective videogame rating system doesn't seem to bother Vladan Starcevic, a professor of psychiatry at Sydney University. The real problem, apparently, is the lack of a gaming addiction rehab clinic like Broadway Lodge [http://www.broadwaylodge.co.uk/], a residential treatment center in the U.K. that recently began taking on videogame addicts.

I find it disappointing you selected the source that sensationalized and distorted Starcevic?s presentation to the conference in Adelaide.

Five other sources list the percentage of ?problem gamers? as 8%, and some also quoted Starcevic;

And it seems to us that these people seem to? have other mental health issues, and it seems excessive video game playing is a manifestation of these underlying problems.

Our recommendations are that medical professionals, when dealing with adolescents, ask about patients' use of video games,

The other sources also mention that the survey of 2000 gamers worldwide showed 92% displayed no problems with their gaming and that length of play was not an issue (20% of respondents were from Australia, 50% US/Canada).