Psychiatrist: Gaming Addicts More Ashamed Than Porn Addicts

Speaking with the Boston Globe, Oregon psychiatrist Dr. Jerald Block expressed his opinion that "language barrier" between gaming addicts and their psychiatrists limits their treatment effectiveness.

"[Dr. Jerald Block] believes that psychiatry needs to do a lot of catching up in order to understand why people get stuck in games like Warcraft. One problem: Most therapists have no idea what a "guild" is or what it means to hit Level 60. Because of this language barrier, many gamers wind up begging for help in online support groups rather than seeking out mental health professionals."

Dr. Block published an editorial in the American Journal of Psychiatry arguing that "Internet Addiction" should become a new diagnostic term.

Interestingly, Dr. Block revealed that addicted gamers feel worse about their habit than those addicted to pornography.

BLOCK: Some people come in for trouble with Internet porn. But the computer gamers tend to be harder to treat. People feel a lot of shame around computer games. Whereas, it's socially acceptable to have a porn problem.
Boston Globe: You can't be serious. You mean your clients are more ashamed of ...
BLOCK: ...playing World of Warcraft than looking at porn. Yes.
Boston Globe: Why?
BLOCK: As a society we understand that porn is something people do, and you can see a psychiatrist and get treated for it. But gaming is hard to describe to anyone else. So these people can't explain their situation to friends. In fact, it's hard to give you an example of what my clients talk about, because gaming is enormously complicated.