<p>Blushing…</p>
<p>Shrinkrap,
It is unusual to find a psychiatrist able and willing to also do therapy.</p>
<p>In my office are 2 psychiatrists, so collaborative work is quite easy. In addition, I attend dinners at least 1x/week with psychiatrists/neurologists, so we all know each others’ areas of expertise. </p>
<p>I’ve worked with a few boys with computer game addiction, men with porn addiction, and now several adults addicted to online dating services. I’ve found many teens spend all evening on MySpace and FB, letting their homework go down the tube. Parents have taken out computer cables, tried to limit time,moved teens’ computers into a family room to monitor if their child is doing homework or playing. I don’t know experts in this field, but I truly feel its becoming more problematic. Whether it stems from O/C tendencies, social anxiety, or the addictive quality, intervention fromfamily and professionals are needed.</p>
<p>I sympathize with the OP, and support her Herculean efforts.</p>
<p>I find this symptom common in my practice and in my home. The “last straw” is often the uncharacteristic anger or even violence that appears when someone tries to come between an individual and the “substance”. Without taking away from the OP’s situation, I think what a GOOD evaluation will provide is shedding light on the complexity of the problem at the individual level, while avoiding a simplistic label, cause, or solution. Early in my career the concept of a “chemical imbalance” was seductive but I had to start including therapy and the hard work of formulating rather than labeling the problem, when I realized the limitations of some current practice models.</p>
<p>hi well we had a session today and I must say it actually went well, things are looking up somewhat. He has not played the game in about 5-6 days and though he has been going through withdrawals of a sort, he has not been as angry or as rebellious as he was a few weeks ago. I sense a toning down of the level of anger. I know we are far away from being out of this but I do feel like we are SLOWLY turning a corner. Today felt almost just a little normal, he was doing homework,there were no distractions, I knew I didn’t have to check on him in his room because I knew the computer wasn’t in his room, I also having spoken to his teachers feel better about where things stand and am trying to help him get everything on the table and work out a a schedule. The psychologist spoke briefly with us and he did say and observe that everything my son has ever done on his own, he has given 150%…joining the football team, he gave it his all and therefore was the star quarterback for the two years he wanted to play, played tennis and became a ranked local player within a few short months, because he was relentless, took to snowboarding and skateboarding and literally spent hours everyday diong them, until he was approached about being sponsored…when he hadn 't studied at all for the SAT’s and my husband told him he probably wouldn’t do well, he spent 6-8 weeks literally crashing for about 4 hours a day on his own and earned a 2000 SAT score, which is a very respectful score and in his school in the top 10% of scorers. My point…that he is one who is very black or white, he either gives it his all and then some or none at all, with WOW he gave it his all and this conveniently replaced what was uncomfortable for him at the time (pressure of having to go out with a girl that he thought came on too strong) it started to make some sense, though this game is still a mystery. I am really saying that I finally feel in a very small way that this whole experience is slowly unraveling and I am starting to put my anger and hurt, aside and getting inside this and trying to understand how this even happened and escalated to this point. I REALLY like this psychologist, he really cares for us to understand where they are, what they are achieving, and knows of our concern and therefore keeps us abreast of progress without compromising his confidentiality. I will keep you posted and hope we keep moving in this direction. Thanks and good night!</p>
<p>I just recieved a <em>free</em> 14 day WOW disc and trial!</p>
<p>I’m so glad to hear this very positive report, ctmom!</p>
<p>Shrinkrap-
They make very nice frisbees :)</p>
<p>Awww…too late. Already “filed”.</p>
<p>ROFL COPTER you hire a psychologist…i only playd for 2 hours and my parents said i had a problem -_-…and it was after i finished my homework</p>
<p>Quitting is for losers.</p>
<p>“Quitting is for losers”</p>
<p>Really? How so?</p>
<p>Because it shows a distinct lack of dedication and sticking-to-it. First he quits WoW then it’s School, next thing you know he’s giving up on life and he’s s’n d’s for crack on the back alley.</p>
<p>okey dokey</p>
<p>I will respond as if you are serious- quitting very often is a sign of strenghth and brains</p>
<p>pssssssst…to all the ‘kids’ who post nonsense on the parent forums: I know this will come as a terrible shock, but you really aren’t cute.</p>
<p>ctmom - I too am glad to hear you had a good session and are seeing improvement. I don’t post much, but I am reading this thread and thinking of you and your family. Your’s is a cautionary tale which benefits us all and I appreciate your candor and willingness to share.</p>
<p>Am I one of those “kids”? ;)</p>
<p>Oh… I think the ‘cute’ ones know who they are 1of42. </p>
<p>Or, in other words, if a kid who has come on this forum acting like an overbearing $marta$$ and they are wondering if I’m talking about them…then the answer is YES.</p>
<p>i hate how video games have a bad reputation. if parents successfully teach their children to indulge in moderation, then most of the time there would be little problem. playing the blame game doesn’t solve anything, as a child who is obsessed with one outlet of entertainment would probably be drawn to another, anyway.</p>
<p>oh, and strategy games are awesome in the sense that they really make you think - a quality underrated by those quick to attack gaming. i’d also say they require a certain level of coordination and dexterity. personally, i play them when i can to alleviate (from school, work, etc.)</p>
<p>Please…before video games, the ways in which we, the ‘old folks’, enhanced our coordination, dexterity and thinking skills included riding bikes, playing dodgeball in the street, swinging a bat at a tiny ball, attending dance class, doing logarithm races the hard way for math club, playing a musical instrument in the band, etc…all of which required us to also interact with our peers and hone our social skills rather than hide in our rooms becoming irritable messes.</p>
<p>I just get annoyed at the argument video games are the ‘be all-end all’ and life just wasn’t meaningful before technology. Anything a video game can do for you, the real world can do for you…only better.</p>
<p>I haven’t read this whole thread yet, but maybe I will. Anyway, I’m sure this has been said before.</p>
<p>I’m the same age as your son and I used to play this game for a while. I just deactivated my account a few weeks ago because I was just bored. You can hope that this happens to your son.</p>
<p>But in the mean time, WoW actually does have some parental controls. If you go to their website, [World</a> of Warcraft Community Site](<a href=“http://www.worldofwarcraft.com%5DWorld”>http://www.worldofwarcraft.com), and look on the right hand side, you will see the parental control button. You will then need his account information to log onto his account and you will also need his password verification answer (What is your mother’s maiden name?, etc.). From there, you can set up your parental password.</p>
<p>After that, you can set up your play schedule parameters. They have some premade schedules such as weekends only, Friday and weekends only, after 6pm and weekends only, after 3pm and weekends only, and after school and weekends only (which allows play from about 3 to 6 pm on weekdays and all day on weekends).</p>
<p>This is probably the best way for you to limit his time if he can’t do it himself.</p>
<p>Hear, hear, ldmom06!</p>