SadCraft

It’s no wonder so many Koreans are addicted to video games. Not long ago, a Korean couple killed their baby after neglecting it in favor of playing some crappy MMO. And so many people play StarCraft that it’s a valid career path for troubled youths.

This probably has something to do with the fact that South Korea is surrounded by a bunch of terrible neighbors. It can be stressful knowing that the people you hear stomping on your roof are actually the malnourished, lobotomized army of a tiny madman sitting on a nuclear arsenal. For a few years, I was convinced the guy living across the hall from me was a Mafioso, and the only thing that took my mind off stray bullet nightmares was a slavish devotion to Minesweeper. Also, lots of mushrooms.

But it seems some Korean psychiatrists have successfully treated StarCraft addiction in particular with the antidepressant Buproprion. The study participants each played StarCraft an average of four hours per day. Some of them have missed months of school due to their addiction, and others have even been divorced because of their disgusting clicking habit.

This is good news for Korean gamers in search of medical help for their uncontrollable urges. But even though I hate to sound like a prude, there’s really only one 100% effective cure for StarCraft or MMO addiction: taste in video games.