Campaigners have warned about the dangers of online game addiction after a teenager allegedly killed a seven-year-old girl for her earrings to feed his video game habit. Mong The Xuong, 15, confessed to luring the youngster into woods in Nghe An province in the north central coast of Vietnam, and beating her to death with a rock, Vietnamese police say. He said he killed Anh Nhu because he did not have money to play online games at an internet cafe near his home in Yen Hoa, it is claimed. Locals said the 9th grade high school pupil often spent hours at internet cafes every day, playing Vo Lam Truyen Ky (Swordsman Online) - a violent, massively popular multi-player game in Vietnam, based on Chinese kung fu stories. Online Gamers Anonymous, a US-based support group for addicts, said the killing - and the level of violence used - highlighted the need for action to be taken to restrict excessive gaming. Anh Nhu's killing is the latest in a long line of deaths and violent crimes around the world attributed to video game addiction. According to his confession, Mong lured the girl into woods near their village on May 23 by asking her if she wanted to help him pick fruit to sell at a local market. He told police he suddenly pushed her down a 20ft rocky drop near a stream before climbing down and beating her repeatedly on the back of the head with a rock, hoping people would think she suffered her injuries in the fall. He said he cut the earrings into pieces with scissors, and then wrapped them in paper and hid them under the leg of a wardrobe. He was later arrested. Elizabeth Woolley, who set up Online Gamers Anonymous after her son Shawn committed suicide because of his addiction to online games, said it was time governments stepped in and did something about the ever-growing habit. "Until governments around the world recognise it's a problem, it's just going to keep getting worse and worse in terms of murders and crimes caused by excessive and obsessive online game play," she said. "It's exactly like drugs or alcohol - once people get addicted, they feel they have to have it. There are always certain people who will get addicted to a drug, and in gaming we estimate it's about 20% to 30% of people." The Association for UK Interactive Entertainment (UKIE), which represents businesses in the UK video games industry, was unavailable for comment.
It's not due to gaming addiction.. Gaming has nothing that's addicting.. It doesn't have any chemical reaction that makes you addicted.. Gaming addiction is a fabrication of the media. This kid has mental instability. This is a result of bad parenting, misplaced values, and a huge lack of self-control. Getting sick of this "gaming addiction" bullshit
Have you ever took a psychology class Dan? Gaming can become an addiction, and it doesn't have to deal with any chemicals going into your body for an addiction to occur. Your body can create its own chemical that creates the addiction. According to the ASAM "Addiction is a primary, chronic disease of brain reward, motivation, memory and related circuitry. Dysfunction in these circuits leads to characteristic biological, psychological, social and spiritual manifestations. This is reflected in the individual pursuing reward and/or relief by substance use and other behaviors. The addiction is characterized by impairment in behavioral control, craving, inability to consistently abstain, and diminished recognition of significant problems with one’s behaviors and interpersonal relationships. Like other chronic diseases, addiction can involve cycles of relapse and remission. Without treatment or engagement in recovery activities, addiction is progressive and can result in disability or premature death." So basically, these kids who are addicted to gaming, their brain are stimulated by chemicals created in their own body. This chemical creates a satisfying and content feeling and results in the kid urges and need for more of this feeling.
I couldn't have said it better myself. In some cases, addiction to gaming can be as powerful as with opiate or nicotine dependency, but in this case the craving is for the release of a class of neurotransmitters like serotonin, which contribute to the brains's feeling of well being. This is strikingly analogous to the runners who run not for their health or fitness, but for their craving of endorphin release, to get what is referred to as a "runners' high" even as their running damages their body.
" Mong lured the girl into woods near their village on May 23 by asking her if she wanted to help him pick fruit to sell at a local market. He told police he suddenly pushed her down a 20ft rocky drop near a stream before climbing down and beating her repeatedly on the back of the head with a rock, hoping people would think she suffered her injuries in the fall." kids n their fuckin' imagination..
I know I'm late to the party but in response to Ralph and WeakNiz: I have taken basic psychology and I understand that there are stimuli that triggers the release of body chemicals that can be addicting. I agree that these chemicals generated by our body is addicting, however my argument is not that these chemicals are or are not addictive. I am arguing that gaming itself should not be likened to drugs like cocaine or anything of the sort, because it does not cause the same number of addicts per use. Every user of cocaine becomes an addict, as the substance contains addictive properties. Not every game player becomes an addict. Only a small fraction of gamers become addicted, and I'm throwing an arbitrary number here, 1/10 gamers become addicted; and not due to the game itself, but due to the chemicals that are released by the stimuli of games. So for games to be treated like drugs is unfair. Games should not be the blame, and thus should not be considered synonymous with controlled substances. Games have been around since forever. Humans seek the adrenalin rush from extreme sports. People have died due to extreme sports. But you don't see people complaining as they do to games, now do you? So why is it that games must be treated like drugs, when the death/addiction rate per player is much MUCH lower than the death/addiction rate per drug user?
