Other articles by Phil Villarreal:

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Skip to 2012: Lindsay Lohan checks into treatment because the actress just can't stop hitting the bars — the falling block-bars on Nintendo Tetris.

A 33-year-old office worker is fired because he wouldn't stop playing "World of Warcraft 3" on the job. He sues and is awarded back pay and reinstatement, along with the accommodation that he be allowed at least three raids per day on the computer game.

These scenarios could come to be if the American Medical Association classifies video game addiction as a mental condition tantamount to dependence on drugs and alcohol.

On Wednesday, delegates at the American Medical Association's annual policy meeting adopted a directive to encourage more research on the validity of gaming addiction as a mental disorder. The organization stopped short of labeling video gaming dependence as an official psychiatric addiction.

Any formal classification was tabled until 2012, when the next update is scheduled for the American Diagnostic and Statistic Manual of Mental Disorders, which the American Psychiatric Association uses to diagnose mental illnesses and insurance companies look to for guidelines. The manual's last revision was in 1994.

Dr. Mohamed K. Khan of the AMA's Council on Science and Public Health insists games are addictive in his report, "Emotional and Behavioral Effects, Including Addictive Potential, of Video Games." The report estimates that between 10 percent and 15 percent of players suffer from excessive use — at least two hours a day — and that gaming can cause physical symptoms such as seizures and tendinitis, short-term aggressiveness and other social problems.

More seeking rehabilitation

In Tucson mental-health experts welcomed the study, saying the problems are real and on the rise. But some devout gamers say the issue is overhyped.

"It is a valid addiction," said Paul Gallant, a clinical outreach coordinator for Sierra Tucson, a treatment center for addictions and mental disorders. He said he's seen a 20 percent increase in calls regarding compulsive gamers in the past 18 months. One case involved a 22-year-old college student who spent up to 20 hours on a computer game every day, and had failed classes and lost his job.

"It meets many of the classic criteria for process addiction," Gallant said. "Many people who doubt that these cases are addictions do not understand neurochemistry or the working of the addictive brain. Many people feel that unless there's ingestion of a mind- or mood-altering substance — whether it be heroin, cocaine or alcohol — without that, addiction cannot be present, and that's a lie."

Video game addiction can be very disruptive, costing gamers jobs and relationships, said Christi Cessna, Sierra Tucson's director of marketing and intake. "It's had a serious impact on lives, and frankly that's one of the reasons the (American Psychiatric Association) is looking at it as a diagnosis," she said.

"It's similar to the idea of Internet addiction in that people are using video games to kind of disassociate from their lives in some way," Cessna said. "We are getting calls, which is a challenge because no program out there specializes in video game addiction itself." Those hooked on gaming also may suffer from additional problems, such as anti-social behavior and depression, she said.

Psychologist Rose Allinder, who has been practicing since 1980, said she first saw patients with video game addictions in the mid-1990s. She has seen the problem increase as games have grown in popularity.

"I'm a therapist. I've worked with wives who have been very upset that their husbands were addicted to it," said Allinder, who is in private practice in Tucson. "It really is a definition of addiction — 'I continue to do something even though I know it's harmful.' When it's affecting family and life, relationships with kids and your sleep and whatever else, you know something is wrong and you just can't stop it, that's the other part of addiction. It's very difficult to know what to do about it."

"I can quit anytime I want"

Nearly 70 percent of American heads of households play video games, according to an Entertainment Software Association study released in 2005.

One of them is Neil Kight, a 34-year-old shipping and receiving clerk who unwinds by playing his Xbox 360 for two or three hours a day after work. He said he doubts that video game addiction exists, and he chuckled when told that playing two hours a day could put him in the danger zone.

"Well then, I can quit anytime I want," Kight said sarcastically.

"They've been doing research into the harmful effects of video gaming for quite some time," he said. "It's funny. I don't see them bring up chess or any number of games. I find the argument specious at best. They don't seem to have much scientific study or backing to reinforce the idea."

The media add to the hype, he said.

Kight says he and his gamer friends are all well-adjusted.

"I do have friends who are very, very serious" about gaming, he said. "I've had friends literally put aside paychecks to get new games. You can spend way too much money, but I think it's like any hobby."