Originally Posted by MooseMan3000

To tell you the truth, I don't think this is the best forum for this question. The question isn't about WoW; it's about addiction. Everything you described about his behavior sounds exactly like alcoholism. Or a marijuana addiction (think it can't happen? Think again. One brother addicted, one friend addicted - only one recovered). Or any other type of addiction you can think of.

It's cearly taking over his life. He's letting his friendships, his work, his CHILD fall by the wayside to feed his addiction. He lies about playing - if that doesn't scream addiction to you, then you're obviously not paying attention.

Have you ever been to any AA meetings? Most people don't have any reason to, but I think it would be incredibly enlightening to you to just attend a few. Like I said before, they're not about alcohol; they're about addiction. You would learn a lot about how this is affecting him and his life, and you might learn something that will help. If there were WoWA meetings, I'd tell you to go to a few, but this is probably the next best thing. Seriously, I think it would help.

Even if you don't go, however, the fact remains that he has a serious problem. You won't be able to do anything alone, that I promise you. You need to get help from friends, from family. Getting his clan members involved probably won't help, because they don't see the entire picture. I'm sure none of them even know a problem exists. You may even want to speak with an addictions counselor. They usually offer their services for free, and while I doubt any of them have ever counselled a WoW addict, they'll still be able to help you.

I can't stress this enough - all addictions are the same. Any resource available to you for coping with any addiction will help. If you're really serious about helping this friend, you'll get some help. He won't outgrow it on is own. He may get tired of the game, but once you become addicted to something, unless you make an active effort to get better, you will always be an addict. He'll find something else to drown the pain. People who don't get help don't recover.