--Previous Message--
: Have you been spending too much time with Zerg, Protoss and
: Terrans ... and perhaps too little time with your fellow human
: beings? Perhaps a little pharmacological assistance is in order.
:
: A group of South Korean psychiatrists say they have successfully
: reduced "StarCraft" addiction by giving players a
: popular antidepressant. Bupropion - also known as Wellbutrin -
: was used in a study conducted at the Chung Ang University
: Department of Psychiatry.
:
: The study followed eleven subjects - people who had played
: "StarCraft" more than thirty hours a week. Two of the
: test subjects had been divorced because of their gaming habit
: and six of them had missed school for more than two months
: because they'd spent so much time gaming in internet cafes
: instead. (They don't call it "StarCrack" for nothin').
:
: These folks were compared to eight "healthy" subjects
: - people who had experience playing "StarCraft" less
: than three days a week and less than one hour per day. (Though
: we can't help but wonder: How is it even possible to play
: "StarCraft" for that short a period of time?)
:
: The result, according to the study: After six weeks of bupropion
: treatment, the addicted players showed "significant
: decreases in terms of craving for playing 'StarCraft'" -
: that is, their desire to play had gone down by 23.6 percent
: while their total playing time was reduced by 35.4 percent.
:
: South Korea - which some might argue is the video game capital
: of the world - recently declared that two million of the
: country's citizens are internet addicts. "StarCraft"
: has been an especially popular game in the country, where
: competitive matches are often televised on one of South Korea's
: two cable channels dedicated to showing E-Sports competitions.
:
: As it turns out, the study comes as especially good news for
: those of you who'd like to not only kick your gaming habit but
: perhaps kick your smoking habit at the same time.
: Bupropion/Wellbutrin is a popular smoking cessation drug as
: well.
:
: Then again ... why would anyone want to go and kick their
: "StarCraft" habit when "StarCraft II" has,
: at long last, finally arrived.
:
:
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