Play Too Much StarCraft? Take Some Pills! - The UpStream

Play Too Much StarCraft? Take Some Pills!

posted Sunday Aug 22, 2010 by Josh Henry

Play Too Much StarCraft? Take Some Pills!

A study recently conducted by the Department of Psychiatry at South Korea's Chung Ang University has found that StarCraft "addiction" can be treated with Bupropion, an antidepressant and anti-smoking aid. Yes thats right...StarCraft "addiction." The study found that individuals who took the drug for six weeks saw their average StarCraft playtime decrease by 35.5 percent. In addition-- and this is honest to god no joke-- MRI scans showed that participant's brains reacted less strongly to pictures of Zerglings after the treatment. It's studies like this that make me think, "Why does North Korea want them back?"

For those of you that don't know what StarCraft is North Korea helpfully summarized StarCraft for people just like you:

As a military leader for one of three species, players must gather resources for training and expanding their species’ forces. Utilizing various strategies and alliances with other species, players attempt to lead their own species to victory.

Treating someone's obsessive behavior towards a video game with real-life pharmaceuticals is a fairly heavy prescription. Then again, out of the survey's eleven participants, six had dropped out of school for two months due to the amount of time they put into StarCraft every day. Two participants were divorced due to their demanding StarCraft schedules. Now I have never had an addiction to a specific game but I know how much of a hassle it is too keep up with things like raids or guild functions. One minute you are just playing a game, having fun, and all of a sudden it feels like a job that you have to do. I wonder what game addiction they plan to tackle next. World of Warcraft, Aion, or StarCraft 2 perhaps? Only time will tell, but one things for sure I am looking forward to whatever whacky study South Korea comes up with next.

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