Quote From: melodylI was so grateful that Dr. Phil had a show like this. I have not seen my son in 7 years. He moved out at age 20, telling us he was going to go to game design school. That never happened. He discovered gambling, and then, when the money ran out (he never worked a day in his life), he found Second Life (which they used to allow virtual gambling). They have since stopped it inside Second Life but my son told me "we found a way around this.".
My son has several avatars. My son literally lives inside Second Life. He used to do Worlds of Warcraft, and Everquest. He obviously has an addictive behavior personality. He's also been diagnosed wih Aspergers. He is on SSI. He has an apartment, a computer, dsl line, and does nothing but play this game night and day.
We can't do anything, but if any parents out there own playstations, or watch as their kids are on the computer, don't let them near a role playing game.
I am sorry that the 21 died. This is horrible.
I actually never knew that this game can cause such depression that one can die from it.
My son has depression, is on all kinds of medication. He is lost to us.
If I had known about the potential addictions of video-gaming, I never would have bought him that nintendo set when he was younger. NEVER!!!
Then came the playstations, the game-boys, the X-boxes, and most dangerous of all...VIRTUAL REALITY GAMING.
What a shame. and what a loss!!!!
Thanks for listening.
I am sorry to hear about what has happened to your son, but there are a few things you need to understand. Your son has a gambling problem. He got into Second Life because it enabled him to feed his gambling problem without spending real life money. When they disabled in-game gambling, he "found a way around it".
Your son is an especially interesting instance of this problem because he also has Aspergers, which is frightening in its own right without throwing any kind of gaming into the mix.
That being said...
It's horrible what has happened to many people who play video games to an excessive degree. It's as bad as when people do anything else excessively. Blaming the game for the people who play excessively is like blaming food for people who eat excessively. It's nonsensical. There was an underlying control issue with your son, as you have stated.
Telling parents everywhere not to let their kids near role playing games or virtual reality games is not helpful. It's fear-mongering. Rather, you should be telling parents to monitor how long their children are playing these games and to teach these children the most important lesson they will ever learn: Moderation, moderation, moderation. Do everything in moderation.
If you see the signs of a gaming problem early, pull the plug early. The longer you wait, the longer it will take to solve the underlying problems leading to excessive gaming.
Again, I am sorry for what happened to your son because of his lack of self control. He's just barely younger than I am. I've been down his road, although I didn't have a disorder like Asperger's standing in my way. It's not easy to come back from. It takes years and years of hard work.
And I have to ask you something in all honesty. You said you haven't seen your son in seven years. Why? Why have you not seen your son in seven years? I think that's the saddest part of your story, to be honest. It's almost like you've written each other off, and that's really a tragedy.
