Abuse Result of Video Game Addiction

[Annette]

This is highly disturbing, to say the least. We often describe certain games as "addictive." In fact, "addictiveness" is a characteristic we strive for as developers and publishers...something of virtue we seek as gamers. But I doubt anyone envisioned this:

Addiction to the Internet and the online version of the fantasy role-playing game "Dungeons & Dragons" is what led a Reno couple to nearly starve to death their young children, authorities said.

Michael and Iana Straw,25 and 23, are accused of losing themselves in a virtual world of monster-slaying missions while their children suffered starvation and sickness.
One child is 11 months, and the other nearly 2 years old.

Friday morning, the Straws pleaded guilty to two counts of child neglect. Both face a maximum 12-year sentence...

While child abuse because of methamphetamine addiction or alcoholism is common in Washoe County, abuse rooted in computer and video game addiction is rare, said Deputy District Attorney Kelli Ann Viloria, who is prosecuting the Straws.

Last month, addiction experts at an American Medical Association meeting backed away from a proposal to designate video game addiction as a mental disorder, saying it had to be studied further. Some said the issue is similar to alcoholism while others said there was no concrete evidence it's a psychological disease.

Patrick Killen, spokesman for Nevada Child Abuse Prevention, said video game addiction's correlation to child abuse is "a new spin on an old problem." He said there has not been much research on how it impacts child abuse but said it likely goes unreported.

The full story was found at the Reno Gazette-Journal.