Wiz - Non-WOW Playing Addiction

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MAN ADDICTED TO NOT PLAYING WORLD OF WARCRAFT


An IT worker in Newcastle, UK, has been diagnosed with a form of non-computer gaming addiction. In a remarkable scenario, Terry Smith, a cyber-cafe worker, has had to attend a dozen sessions with a psychotherapist who has found that he is addicted to not playing WOW - sometimes for hours on end.


"I just hate those WarCraft geeks and their sordid little virtual world." he confessed. "Day in, day out, clicking on monsters, casting spells and then finding better weapons and items to fight bigger monsters. I feel so amazing when I'm not playing it, I get a bigger 'buzz' the longer I don't."


It all began at his workplace, a cyber-cafe called Gaming Realm in Newcastle, during a lunch time.

"A few friends were talking to me about World of WarCraft before it was released. I was ok with that, you know, since it was light stuff. Then they started playing the beta version with their first Horde characters and I joined in. After a few hours, I went to lunch for a while."

"During my lunch hour, I found that I was hooked. " Terry mused. "From that point on I knew that I enjoyed doing anything other than playing it. I got a real kick out of knowing that I wasn't - I grew to hate how repetitive role-playing games are and I preferred sitting in a pub or something."

"Before I knew it, I was completely craving anything that didn't involve the game, even remotely. I'd go to the gym and I took up playing the guitar as a hobby. I even told strangers in the cyber cafe to stop talking about their 40-player Molten Core raid which they had done last night, and I took down posters that advertised the game's front cover."


Things soon took a turn for the worse. "My gaming social life went downhill. None of my friends from the internet wanted to know me since I didn't dedicate the hours to play or to barely even recognise the game's existence. I got angry at them sometimes and told them that I just wasn't interested in it and to leave me alone. It was a dark time for me."

Terry sobbed "I even got a girlfriend in real life."

"I came to the point of thinking 'What have I done with my internet life? I've thrown it all away.' to myself. I was spending less and less time on computers overall. I'd barely play for a few minutes a day before I did something outdoors."

"All I could think of was where the next activity that didn't involve WOW was coming from, like an alcoholic after his next bottle of vodka."

Bravely, Terry recalled the worst moment. "I went over to the house of one of my cyber-cafe friend's on a weekend. We had brought around our PCs so we could talk to each other while playing WOW, though I didn't want to play it all the time. It was mostly just because they were playing it and I didn't want to spoil the atmosphere."

"At one point they somehow got me playing with a new level 1 character for the Horde. I managed to kill several boars in the Valley of Trials, then there was a small flash of light around my character as he reached his second level. I started getting withdrawal symptoms then and there."

"Poor Terry. He totally freaked out." said his friend, Graham Love. "He started sweating and everything. It were right uncanny."


Terry continued to play for a further two levels but he couldn't take anymore. "I wasn't able to get a taxi home since I had spent money on drinks in the pub with my girlfriend the night before - it was stupid, I know. All I could think about was how to stop playing the game. It was so late and I ended up asleep on the couch while the others played. I was having cold sweats since I could still hear the game. At least I think I heard it - I may have just imagined the sounds of orcs grunting, quillboars dying and shopkeepers saying "Trom'ka!" as I slept."


Terry didn't turn up for work the next day and soon sought medical assistance with the help of a psychotherapist at the local NHS Trust hospital.

"We discussed everything about WOW - what the game was and why I didn't like it so much and what happened when I was and wasn't playing. I was prescribed some kind of pills but they didn't really do anything. My doctor and I both agreed that it was a mental condition, one that I'd have to sort out myself."

Despite his ordeal, Terry is confident about the future.

"I decided that I now have to find a balance since I'll destroy my gaming life for good if I don't. I remind myself that I don't want to be a sad loser with a girlfriend and an ongoing social life. I've reduced the time I spend outdoors a little and I set aside a few hours just for reading about WOW on the official website. I think that's a good start."

"Someday, who knows, perhaps I'll get the courage to reach level 10 and we'll see where it goes from there." he said with a smirk.

"For now I'm just taking it one day at a time."

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