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Jan 17, 2007 - The Straits Times
By Tan Hui Yee & Chua Hian Hou
IS THERE A GAMING ADDICT IN YOUR HOME?

IT MAY start out looking like a harmless hobby, but for more and more Singaporean youths, video and computer games are becoming a serious obsession.

Five or six years ago, about one patient under the age of 19 admitted to the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) in a year would have problems associated with gaming or Internet addiction. Now, about 12 of the roughly 200 new young in-patients the institute sees every year need treatment for such problems, said Dr Daniel Fung, a senior consultant psychiatrist at the IMH's child guidance clinic.

The warning signs are varied, but not difficult to spot: withdrawal from social activity, worsening grades, restlessness when away from the computer and even outbursts of anger if prevented from playing games. The problem is significant enough that a new centre was opened in August last year to help young people truggling with game addictions. So far it has handled more than 40 cases. Touch Community Services, which runs this 'cyberwellness' centre in Bukit Merah, provides mentoring and counselling for young people and also works with their parents on the problem.

The rising number of cases comes as online video games like World Of Warcraft and MapleStory become more popular. A 2004 report by research firm IDC put the number of gamers here at more than one million.

In one case the centre saw last year, a secondary school boy had lost touch with many of his friends after moving to a new estate and resorted to online gaming to get to know people. According to Touch's cyberwellness and sports manager, Mr Poh Yeang Cherng, the boy eventually became hooked, spending more than 12 hours a day playing the game MapleStory. Once an extrovert, the boy turned moody, his grades slipped and he began playing truant. After the boy went for counselling, he made friends with the staff and mentors at the centre. Meanwhile, his mother attended workshops to understand the difficulty her son
was going through and joined a support group for parents having similar problems with their children.
Today, the boy spends only about two to three hours gaming every day and has found a new group of friends.

Mr Poh said it is important to understand the child's motivation. In some cases, he may want to feel the sense of achievement, or like the competition or immersing himself in another world. By identifying the motivation, it is easier to address the problem.

Experts said that parents can prevent their children from becoming video game addicts by keeping a look-out
for the warning signs and engaging their kids in meaningful activities. They also said that some parents who notice signs of addiction do not react until their children begin failing exams or throwing temper tantrums.

Delaying action can allow the obsession to get out of hand, making it harder in the long run to help the child get back on track.