Second Skin and On-Line Gamers Anonymous

Truth be told, I'm still not quite sure how to react to the film Second Skin. I play more games than the average "casual gamer," but (like most gamers) I've never reached the level of obsession that the MMORPG players in this film exhibit. As such, the aspect of  the movie I found most thought-provoking was the sad tale of Elizabeth Wooley, the founder of On-Line Gamers Anonymous. Despite the inclusion of her son's tragic story, I felt that the filmmakers intended to cast her in an overall negative (or at least morally dubious) light. To be honest, I had no qualms with this at first - I'm of the opinion that video games themselves are not directly at fault in such situations, and that these addictions are extensions of more deep-seated emotional/psychological  issues rather than extensive gameplay. Of course many people legitimately struggle with game addiction, and it would be silly for me to suggest otherwise. My concern is that, instead of focusing on helping the gamer with their own personal issues, emphasis will be placed upon the games as the source of the problem. I felt terrible for Mrs./Ms. Wooley as she expressed her desire to go back in time and destroy her son's computer, but at the same time I couldn't help but wonder why she didn't express a desire to go back and draw her son away from the games; to try and help him work through whatever mental issues he apparently suffered from so that he wouldn't need the game anymore. If that failed, then the "crowbar-into-computer" option would still be on the table as a last resort.

I don't intend to come across as cold or calloused, and I can't even begin to imagine the pain that losing a child under such circumstances would bring. It's quite possible that I'm flat-out wrong on all accounts - since I have never experienced such an addiction, I can't accurately comment on what forms of "intervention" are the most effective. It's possible that having someone go all Gordon Freeman on my PC/Xbox/ColecoVision would be the only way to initiate a recovery. Thus, out of curiosity, I read around On-Line Gamers Anonymous' website  for a bit this morning to get a feel for the general approach members take towards addicts. By and large, I found many people simply giving emotional support to the needy, encouraging them during possible relapse periods and such. There is even a section of the site for atheists and agnostics who don't subscribe to the more spiritual aspects of 12-step programs, which I found rather interesting. However, I also noticed a trend of affirming that gaming addiction is no different from substance abuse (ranging from alcoholism to more hardcore narcotics). Again, I cannot comment on the validity of such claims, but it brought me back to my original worries that these people are being "treated for games" instead of the more individual issues that brought them to the point of addiction. Regardless, it's hard to argue against people trying to help others, and I truly respect anyone from this organization who has managed to help repair an addict's life. Perhaps all of my fears are completely unfounded, and I'm simply biased because I identify as a gamer.