In light of recent examples of marathon gaming and its consequences, it seems plausible enough that what some see as gaming "dedication" might begin to border upon something a bit more sinister: addiction. Well, if you think you might have such an addiction or know someone who does and you happen to live in Vietnam, you're in luck. Vietnam's very first gaming rehabilitation center has recently been opened in Ho Chi Minh City.
Apparently, such rehabilitation centers are not uncommon in Asia, where there already exist several centers in South Korea, China and Japan. The Ho Chi Minh City-based rehab program joins their ranks with an eight-week course of on-site counseling and non-gaming activities including social work and artistic and athletic pastimes. The hope, I'm sure, is to introduce "addicts" to more sociable and community-oriented behaviors, as opposed to the perceived anti-social behaviors of playing games alone in your room. The Ho Chi Minh City facility already has 50 "addicts aged 13-18" enrolled in the program. It was not reported whether the "addicts" enrolled willingly or were brought to the center forcibly via parental intervention.
According to the Vietnam News Service, "the first game only appeared in Viet Nam four years ago" but "the Online Information and Consulting Service, [currently reports] around six million game addicts in Viet Nam and [that] more than a half of internet users spend most of their time for playing game [sic] and chatting." Statistics notwithstanding, it was not made clear what specific criteria needed to be met for an individual to be considered an "addict" or what degree of usage was meant to be perceived as problematic. Non-chemical, psychological addictions are a tricky and touchy subject with interpretations of addiction and dependency varying vastly from "expert" to "expert." I'm just going to back away slowly, hands raised placatingly, from this one.
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