Having fallen into the 8-hour gameplay haze on more than one occassion myself, I still find myself having little to no pity for anyone who is so addicted to video games that they’d need to check themselves into a clinic in order to kick the habit and lead a productive life. Nonetheless, some doctors in Amsterdam have launched the world’s first video game detox clinic, and I expect they’ll do a booming business. I’m sure that there are a few people here and there that could actually benefit from this sort of thing, but 99.99% of the time, people that are this involved in their fake worlds really just need mom or dad to kick their lazy asses out of the house for a few hours a day.

Hyke van der Heijden, 28, a graduate of the Amsterdam program, started playing video games 20 years ago. By the time he was in college he was gaming about 14 hours a day and using drugs to play longer.

“For me, one joint would never be enough, or five minutes of gaming would never be enough,” he said. “I would just keep going until I crashed out.”

Van der Heijden first went to Smith & Jones for drug addiction in October 2005, but realized the gaming was the real problem. Since undergoing treatment, he has distanced himself from his smoking and gaming friends. He says he has been drug- and game-free for eight months.

Spread the word!