The explosion of video games and their popularity bring along several pressing social problems. Increasingly, there is one more reason to be wary of video game addiction: wrecked marriages. A study conducted by Divorce Online reveals that of the women are filing for divorce on the grounds of “unreasonable behavior”, about 15percent believe that their partners place gaming before them. This represents an increase of 5 percent in the short span of a year.
Divorce Online marketing manager Mark Keenan decided to look into the issue when he and his team of researchers noticed the recurrence of World of Warcraft (WoW) mentioned in divorce cases. The study looked at 200 unreasonable behavior petitions filed by women.
Specifically, these wives appeared to single out WoW, an MMORPG where gamers control a mythical creature in a fantasy world, as well as Call Of Duty, a shooter game series where gamers battle in warzones. From their inception, MMOs have received heavy criticism for their addictive qualities, some even claiming MMOs to be more addictive than cocaine.
Ryan G Van Cleave, an expert on video game addition, states that many gamers are unaware that gaming can become an addiction; even if they do, they believe that they are in full control. He suggests that the problem comes in when “the non-gamer doesn’t appreciate that it’s an addiction. This means that it’s not a choice to spend so much time in a virtual environment versus time spent with spouse and family. It’s a compulsion.”
The devastating effects of video game addiction have been highlighted in popular US television series Dr Phil, with divorce and the breakdown of marriages as a common consequence. Nonetheless, Van Cleave believes that like in the case of any other addiction, gaming addicts can overcome the problem with understanding and professional help. Citing the results of his study, however, Keegan believes that divorce rates pertaining to video game addiction could continue climbing in the following years.
“The increase could be a consequence of people staying indoors more because of the recession, or it might be being used by men in particular as a means of escape from an already unhappy relationship.”
A summary of Dr Phil’s series on video game addiction can be found here.
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