“Cyber Junkie” Author Discusses Addiction

October 21, 2010 -

If you happen to live in the Michigan area, the Royal Oak Public Library will be holding a videogame addiction discussion on Thursday, October 28.

The chat will be headed up by Kevin Roberts, author of the book Cyber Junkie: Escaping the Gaming and Internet Trap. Roberts, who states that he has been “both gifted and challenged with ADHD,” is a self-proclaimed recovering “cyber junkie” himself, having “wasted years” of his life in front of a computer screen.

In the introduction to his book, Roberts stated that he doesn’t blame the videogame industry or the Internet for his past troubles, “I blame myself.”

Among the tips and information offered on his website, here is Roberts’ answer to the question, “What can I do to help the cyber addict in my life?

First of all, stop enabling. If any of your actions prevent the addicted person from experiencing the consequences of the addiction, you have to stop. If, for example, you have a 23-year-old son living in your basement who ‘can’t find a job’ but manages to game 10-12 hours a day, kick him out of the house.

Roberts on the topic of videogame addiction itself:

I think we have to get past the debate of whether or not video gaming is an addiction. Gaming is a problem if it negatively impacts a person’s social life, carrying out responsibilities, career or school. An excessive gamer is not always an addict.

Roberts, who offers help to addicts through support groups, will be selling and signing copies of his book at the Royal Oak Library event.

Comments

Re: “Cyber Junkie” Author Discusses Addiction

Submitted by Dan on Thu, 10/21/2010 - 19:06.

lol. Meatspace sucks. I'll be the first in line to beta test the Ono-Sendai Cyberspace 7 and join The Wired. The NHK won't hold me back!

 

 
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Monte: trolls are just at their absolute worst when it comes to women and feminist. You could bet good money that if the developer were male the trolls would be silent and the conversation would actually focus on the journalism.10/18/2014 - 9:18pm
Monte: Papa: Not the first time we've had a journalism scandals before, but the harassment never got close to this level; the difference with this scandal is that feminists are involved. Without the feminist angle, their would be A LOT less harrassment10/18/2014 - 9:15pm
Papa Midnight: Monte: That's honestly rather short-sighted. As has been proven with other persons who have been targeted, if it wasn't Quinn, it would be someone else.10/18/2014 - 6:26pm
Avalongod: I think that's part of what gives an esoteric news story like this real life...it taps into a larger narrative about misogyny in society outside of games.10/18/2014 - 3:29pm
Avalongod: @Monte, well the trolls made death threats that came to police (and media attention). I think this is tapping into a larger issue outside of games about how women are treated in society (like all the "real rape" stuff during the last election)10/18/2014 - 3:28pm
Wonderkarp: Zippy : Havent tried the PS4 controller. might later.10/18/2014 - 2:37pm
Monte: Seirously, If Quinn was not involved and GG was instead about something like the Mordor Marketing contracts, the trolling would have never grown so vile and disgusting. There have been plenty of movements in the past that never sufferred from behavior..10/18/2014 - 1:57pm
Monte: We have seen scandel's before but the trolling has never been as vile as what we see with GG. Trolls usually have such a tiny voice you can barely notice them, but its like moths to a flame whenever femistist are involved.10/18/2014 - 1:53pm
ZippyDSMlee: Wonderkarp: You might be able to if you had a PS4 controller.10/18/2014 - 1:00pm
MaskedPixelante: http://store.steampowered.com/app/327940/ Night Dive starts charging for freeware.10/18/2014 - 12:21pm
Matthew Wilson: the sad thing is there are trolls on both sides of this. people need to stop acting like their side is so pure.10/18/2014 - 12:19pm
MechaTama31: So, only speak out on a scandal that hasn't attracted trolls? I wouldn't hold my breath...10/18/2014 - 10:49am
Monte: I feel like GG just needs to die. The movement is FAR to tainted by hatred and BS for it to be useful for any conversation. Let GG die, and then rally behind the NEXT gaming journalism scandal, and start the conversation fresh.10/18/2014 - 10:33am
quiknkold: and we dont have a Dovakin to call a cease fire10/17/2014 - 7:37pm
quiknkold: The whole thing is Futile. Both sides are so buried deep in their trenchs that there isnt a conversation. Its just Finger Pointing, Name Calling, Doxxing, Threats. there needs to be a serious conversation, and GG isnt it.10/17/2014 - 7:37pm
quiknkold: I thought it was a good article. Jeff is right. I feel like GamerGate did destroy its message. I am for Ethics in game journalism, but man. so much hate. and its on both sides. I've seen some awful stuff spewed on twitter. Its a big reason why I exited..10/17/2014 - 7:34pm
Matthew Wilson: while he focused on gg, he did call out both sides crap.10/17/2014 - 7:18pm
Papa Midnight: That was a damn good read offered by Jeff Gertsmann.10/17/2014 - 7:17pm
Matthew Wilson: http://www.giantbomb.com/articles/letter-from-the-editor-10-17-2014/1100-5049/ deferentially a nice write up.10/17/2014 - 6:44pm
james_fudge: I think Evan killed it. He's a great guy and super smart.10/17/2014 - 6:38pm
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