The other day I was sitting in my office's kitchen, reading the newspaper and catching up on what's going on in the world beyond videogames.  Yes, there is a world outside and it's good to know what's going on in it.

So in the July 30th, 2008 issue of The Tennessean, there was an article about internet addiction.  While I often joke about how I am addicted to the Internet, I know there are people who spend far more time on the computer than I could ever imagine myself.  And yes, there are people who have lost the line between reality in the real world and reality in their online personas.  I even know a few personally, and I have even been accused of taking the things said online too seriously.

But that is not what surprised me.   Or really, what disgusted me.  What did was this quote:

"There are no real drugs for this yet," she (Kimberly Young) said. 

Drugs for Internet addiction? What the hell?!  It's not as if there isn't already a pill for everything from blood pressure to curbing hunger, but they are looking to make a pill for this?  What happened to removing the source of the addiction and providing healthy alternatives?  Maybe something like a book, or going out to a movie with friends?

And for all you gamers out there (and if you're on this site, I know you are one) it gets even better:

 "Initially we primarily had people addicted to surfing the Web, chat rooms, virtual communities and things like that. Now we are looking more to gaming," (Coleen) Moore said.

Brian Robbins, of the entertainment agency Fuel Industries Inc. and a member of the International Game Developers Association, said there's been a big increase in people playing video games online.

"The vast majority of the Web-based games, probably 90 to 95 percent, are free to play," Robbins said..."Gaming is certainly one of the things that could get people addicted to the Internet because it's such a compelling content..."

And people wonder why they call it "World of Warcrack"...

I'm not looking forward to a day in the near future where my family might take my researching games for the Hump Day Blues column as a bad addiction and send me away to some rehab clinic and pump me full of drugs to help me heal.

It's my opinion that the real problem is doctors who are quick to medicate, and in reverse people looking to pills to solve their problems.  I understand that there are conditions that do require medication to help correct imbalances with body chemistry.  But where will this lead into the end for our society?  Why must we look to put more chemicals in our bodies to fix problems that we ourselves have created?  When will people actually take responsibility for their own well being, and not depend on others in society to find the miracle cures for them?

That being said, if you listen to Jonathan Coulton's song I Feel Fantastic, you might wonder if the world would end up being a better place when we are all in a drug induced haze that makes us feel great with no problems that can't be cured.  Or maybe this constant search for the easy fix will lead us to a world similar to the ones shown in Wall-E and other science fiction films that show the destruction of society as a whole.

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