The ever expanding problems with World of Warcraft

Hello everyone this is Mandy McKellar from Willick Law Group.

"Do the dishes, Get the Laundry done..." But still all you do is stare at the back of his head... This may be a joke to some but to others it is an utter nightmare.

I have been doing some extensive research lately on online role playing games (World of Warcraft kind of stuff) and its effect on marriage. I have not had this problem come into fruition in my practice as of late, but I have begun to see that it is a serious problem. An ever growing number of stories have come out speaking about gamers who play for extended periods of time and in turn their marriage, homelife, chores bills and jobs seem to suffer. There have even been some stories about people dying as a result of too much video gaming. But the biggest item to suffer is their marriage. Dr. Phil recently had a show on this topic as well http://www.drphil.com/slideshows/slideshow/4149/?id=4149&isTip=&slide=1&null=null, and if you look online there are many support groups around to deal with this issue. Specifically http://www.olganon.org/ is an entire support group devoted to those who are effected daily by this problem.


This of course was probably not something that my other fellow members of the bar would have predicted could be a major contribution to the dissolution of marriage a few years ago, in fact it was unheard of. But now it is time to recognize it. Here are a list of questions one can ask in order to determine if you or somoene you know has a gaming addiction. They came off of Dr. Phil...and there are also a series of questions on Olganon (Online Gamers Anonymous).

1. Do you feel that you need to play online games as a way of dealing with anxiety or depression in your general life?
2. Are you preoccupied with gaming so much that you are distracted from the priorities in your life, such as relationships, school or jobs?
3. Have you lied to your friends or family to conceal your obsessive thinking about gaming?
4. Do you get restless and irritable when you are away from gaming or feel that you are restricted from your next gaming event?
5. Have you attempted to stop or cut back your gaming behavior, but failed because of the anxiety, depression or general stress you experience?
6. Do you feel you need to play online games because it gives you the self-esteem and confidence other activities don’t?
7. Have you lost or damaged a relationship, such as affectionate, sexual or parental connection because of your obsession, lying or distorting your behavior of gaming?
8. Have you diminished your goals, such as grades, sports, money, etc. because of your obsession with gaming?
9. Have you lost or damaged job opportunities because of your obsessive gaming behavior?
10. Have you lost or damaged family and community relationships because of your gaming behavior?

If you say "yes" to most of these you may have a bigger problem than you think...