South Korean psychiatrists claim to have successfully reduced video game addiction by giving the addicts an antidepressant drug called Bupropion.

The study was conducted by Han, Hwang and Renshaw from the Department of Psychiatry at Chung Ang University, College of Medicine.

Eleven participants had been categorised as having “Internet Game Addiction“, because they played Starcraft on average for at least four hours per day, which actually seems quite modest. However, six of them had been absent from school for more than two months because of their dirty little habit, while two of them had actually been divorced because they played so much.

The group was given Bupropion, an antidepressant and smoking cessation aid for six weeks. After the trial period, their group’s cravings to play Starcraft apparently decreased by 23.6 percent and total playing time decreased by 35.5 percent.

They also performed some MRI scans and discovered that the addicts’ brains responded to pictures of Zerglings – the six-limbed raptor popular in Starcraft — less strongly after taking the drug.

With the advent of Starcraft II, however, the participants have a whole new hurdle to overcome. Perhaps this time Bupropion just won’t be enough.

Video game addiction is a serious problem in Korea. According to their government, about two million South Koreans — nearly one in 10 online users — are addicted to the internet.

In a bid to protect children from addiction, the government has put measures in place to disable internet connections for six hours per night for underage gamers (starting at midnight, 1.00am or 2.00am), affecting only a “blacklist” of 19 specific games.

Bupropion is also known as Wellbutrin, Wellbutrin SR, Wellbutrin XL, Zyban, Voxra, Budeprion, or Aplenzin; formerly known as amfebutamone. More info on the drug can be seen here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bupropion