Word: maressa
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...According to Harvard Medical School Assistant Professor Maressa Hecht Orzack, the problem is that “our society is becoming more and more computer dependent not only for information, but for fun and entertainment. This trend is a potential problem affecting all ages, starting with computer games for kids to chats for the unwary or vulnerable adult...
...Though video games provide seemingly positive effects such as community, enjoyment, and even emotional depth, there are instances when a good time can get out of hand.“At least 90 percent of the people that play these games have no problems,” says Dr. Maressa H. Orzack, an assistant clinical professor at Harvard Medical School and the director of the Computer Addiction Study Center. “But there is this population that has problems. Take World of Warcraft,” aka WoW—a wildly popular online roleplaying game...
...games may not disengage from a simulated world and thus may be confused in the real one. And while card trading teaches social skills, it may also lead to obsessive behavior. "You don't know whether there's a valuable card in a pack when you buy it," says Maressa Hecht Orzack, founder of the Computer Addiction Service at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Mass. Children under eight aren't able to grasp this fact cognitively, which then leads to disappointment and an increased desire to buy more packs. Children overly anxious to please their peers are also at greater risk...
Total abstinence is an impractical solution, experts agree--especially for people who must use modern technology in their work. "It's like an eating disorder: one must learn to eat normally in order to survive," suggests Dr. Maressa Hecht Orzack, founder and coordinator of Computer Addiction Services at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Mass. Orzack tries to get her patients to recognize the triggers for their destructive behavior and come up with alternative ways for them to feel better...
McLean Hospital is one Boston area teaching hospital which regularly advertises at Harvard and other local college campuses for students willing to participate in research tests. The experiments on human subjects involve various "recreationally-used" drugs and are conducted by Dr. Maressa Hecht Orzack and Dr. Jonathan O. Cole...