MTV Airs Episode on Videogame Addiction
A recent episode of MTV’s True Life (entitled “I’m Addicted to Videogames”) shadowed two people whose lives have been negatively affected by their propensity for gaming. Both college students, Barry fit the normal gamer profile of a white male, while Charisse is an African American female.
Barry was struggling to get into grad school with a 2.6 GPA, and Charisse lost her financial aid and was put on academic probation because she spent too much time playing and not enough time studying. Charisse and Barry also struggled with how their gaming habits impacted their romantic relationships, but only Charisse acknowledged there was a problem.
When Barry’s girlfriend, Allison, came to visit, she couldn’t seem to hold his attention because he was too busy gaming. After waiting around for hours and getting angry, Barry flew off the handle and accused her of behaving irrationally.
Charisse and her boyfriend, Corey, were eventually able to work out their problems stemming from her addiction. He chose to accept her identity as a gamer, and opened up more communication in their relationship. Charisse was also able to get her education sorted out - she kept gaming, got straight As in her classes, and kept her boyfriend.
In a comment on the story, Charisse added that the heavily edited show didn’t show every aspect of her addiction. She said that her reliance on games caused her to lost her job, neglect her household chores, and lose her financial aid.
