I'm looking for some help with this problem that my family is having. I figured that since it has to do with video games and internet communities that it would be a good idea to post it here. Please don't say anything like "go write it on your myspace." I really need help and I would feel responsible if something goes wrong.
I get off work today and check my messages and find one that says to call home. I call and my sister picks up the phone. She's not her usual annoyingly energetic self, she doesn't even talk to me and she hands the phone to my mom. Mom says hello and then is quiet for a few minutes, almost crying. She hands the phone to my dad because she doesn't even know where to start. Dad doesn't even care about the 0.0 I got in one of my classes because of an error. They're all worried about one thing, and they're all completely worn out.
My brother plays WoW, and he plays a lot. He used to only play raids and that kind of thing totalling to maybe 20 hours a week. But now he plays over 40 hours a week and he's always on the computer. My sister wants to use the computer and he doesn't let her so, as usual, she goes and complains to the parents. They decide that he plays way too much, they tried to get him to slow down earlier to no avail, so now they go for an intervention.
They think it's unreasonable to play so much so they ask him to tone his hours down and maybe go to some sort of family counseling. He goes crazy and walks in and out of the house bare feet, on a rainy day, after they get done arguing. He says he'd rather kill himself than go to counseling and that he made a commitment to his clan to do raids or whatever on certain days and that he doesn't want to stop. He then goes on to mumble about responsibilty and that he lives his life his way and he does what he thinks he must. My mom says that his language is unusual and seems more like something you would hear in a fantasy book than in a real life situation, and this is when he's speaking about how he's doing in school and his friends and that kind of thing.
He said that he was willing to cut down his hours and talk with me about the issue(Big brother, in college, leads a pretty decent life), but he is still pretty insistent about the suicide vs. counseling thing. I'm probably going home tomorrow but I'm unsure if I should bring it up right away or let him cool down a bit. I did suggest to my parents that we go to the grandparents house because they are the people we respect and trust the most, and the entire family needs to work this out.
At first I thought it was just teen angst, but now I'm beginning to get worried about bigger things like schizophrenia or some manic/anxiety disorder. My sister says that he's pretty much a loner at school even though he used to have a lot of friends.
Any ideas would be appreciated, we're pretty much willing to do anything. My mother is crying all the time and father seems like he's ready to have a heart attack from all the stress he is in. They look like they've pretty much given up, I went through a similar thing but didn't nearly go this far, and I did go to counseling with them.
Cliffs
++++++++++++++++
1. Brother addicted to WoW
2. Family does a minor intervention.
3. Brother freaks out, talks about suicide, doesn't want to go to counseling, sounds like a different person.
4. I'm going to talk to him about it. Ideas on how to help?
I get off work today and check my messages and find one that says to call home. I call and my sister picks up the phone. She's not her usual annoyingly energetic self, she doesn't even talk to me and she hands the phone to my mom. Mom says hello and then is quiet for a few minutes, almost crying. She hands the phone to my dad because she doesn't even know where to start. Dad doesn't even care about the 0.0 I got in one of my classes because of an error. They're all worried about one thing, and they're all completely worn out.
My brother plays WoW, and he plays a lot. He used to only play raids and that kind of thing totalling to maybe 20 hours a week. But now he plays over 40 hours a week and he's always on the computer. My sister wants to use the computer and he doesn't let her so, as usual, she goes and complains to the parents. They decide that he plays way too much, they tried to get him to slow down earlier to no avail, so now they go for an intervention.
They think it's unreasonable to play so much so they ask him to tone his hours down and maybe go to some sort of family counseling. He goes crazy and walks in and out of the house bare feet, on a rainy day, after they get done arguing. He says he'd rather kill himself than go to counseling and that he made a commitment to his clan to do raids or whatever on certain days and that he doesn't want to stop. He then goes on to mumble about responsibilty and that he lives his life his way and he does what he thinks he must. My mom says that his language is unusual and seems more like something you would hear in a fantasy book than in a real life situation, and this is when he's speaking about how he's doing in school and his friends and that kind of thing.
He said that he was willing to cut down his hours and talk with me about the issue(Big brother, in college, leads a pretty decent life), but he is still pretty insistent about the suicide vs. counseling thing. I'm probably going home tomorrow but I'm unsure if I should bring it up right away or let him cool down a bit. I did suggest to my parents that we go to the grandparents house because they are the people we respect and trust the most, and the entire family needs to work this out.
At first I thought it was just teen angst, but now I'm beginning to get worried about bigger things like schizophrenia or some manic/anxiety disorder. My sister says that he's pretty much a loner at school even though he used to have a lot of friends.
Any ideas would be appreciated, we're pretty much willing to do anything. My mother is crying all the time and father seems like he's ready to have a heart attack from all the stress he is in. They look like they've pretty much given up, I went through a similar thing but didn't nearly go this far, and I did go to counseling with them.
Cliffs
++++++++++++++++
1. Brother addicted to WoW
2. Family does a minor intervention.
3. Brother freaks out, talks about suicide, doesn't want to go to counseling, sounds like a different person.
4. I'm going to talk to him about it. Ideas on how to help?