Black-Ops Addiction Help?

[Kisa]

My dad was once addicted to alcohol. He was able to give it up with much hard work and dedication but has replaced alcohol with Black-Ops. He now plays Call of Duty: Black-Ops on XBOX Live so much it is interfering with his life. He is ignoring his kids and his 4 year old son, he is fighting with my mom often because she feels like he is ignoring his family for the game. He plays all the time. Literally, he wakes up, plays Black-Ops, goes to work, comes home, plays again, eats, plays, spends time with the family (like 20 mins tops) then plays until bed.

He will sometimes spend more time with his family, but it is quite obvious that his life revolves around the game. We have tried telling him that he plays too much, but he denies it. His son has started to say that "Daddy always plays Black-Ops" and has begun to act out and misbehave to attract any sort of attention from his dad. He and my mom will have a huge argument about how much he plays and he will stop for a few days but then will always slip back into hardcore playing.

He also gets very into the game. If ANYONE steps in front of the tele while he is playing, they will get yelled at. When my 4 year old brother wants to show him something or ask him a question, one of the adults has to YELL for my dad to look at him because he won't even respond. That, or he will get a "cool", "sure", "ok", or any other one word response. Even a 4 year old knows that means, "I'm not paying attention and what I'm doing is more important," and he gets very upset.

It has now reached the point where I fear Black-Ops will be the end of their marriage. Any and all advice is welcomed.

[teh_blumchenkinder]

Addiction has similar patterns-- in both how you get into <it> and out of <it>.
Ask him about being addicted to alcohol; and then ask him about his pattern of gaming. He might be able to draw the conclusion himself and realize how he's been acting.
Give him lots of love. People need it the most when they're at their most unlovable.

[Seshat]

Talk to his doctor, as well, and to whatever support team helped him break the alcohol addiction.

Neither group will be ethically (or by law) allowed to TELL you anything, but you telling them what is happening will give them information they can use to help him. They may well make a 'follow up' or 'aftercare' visit to him, based on your information. See the issue for themselves, and help.

Addictive behaviour appears to be something that gets stuck in someone's mind/personality/whatever. As far as I know, the research is still uncertain on whether it's genetic, something that happens as the personality is developing, a response to stuff in the person's life, all of the above, some of the above, or something else.

But it's dreadfully, dreadfully easy for an addict to replace one addiction with another - as you clearly know!

Therefore, the support teams who help an addict out of one addiction are familiar with this sort of issue. Heck, Black Ops probably started as a comparitively harmless distraction technique when he 'needed' a drink. If it had stayed that way, it WOULD be harmless.

Bah. I've slipped into lecture mode. Get the professionals who helped him fight the alcohol addiction to come back and talk to him. And YOU and your mom and the little boy should go to support groups for the families of addicts. (The kid, obviously, to one that's age-appropriate. )

Good luck. This has to be heartbreaking for you.

[Mytical]

Some people have addictive personalities and will replace one addiction with another. I will just restate what the others have suggested. Especially getting the people who helped him kick the alcohol addiction involved.

[emax4]

I am sort of the same way on Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, until i get my ass handed to me multiple times. At first i thought, "eh, just see if you can befriend a really good player to constantly kick his butt" but thats not realistic. Part of me thinks you should mess with the main switch outside and shut the entire electricity off. If he asks, just tell him he hasnt spent enough attention to see that the electric bill needs paid.

Seriously, i would look up therapists. Dont tell your Dad to go though. Talk to a therapist first and see if they not only treat video game addiction, but ask on how to approach your dad about the subject too.