By: Radhu Basu

GAMING for up to 15 hours a day, Michael, now 20, failed his N levels and then his O levels.

Overcome by shame, he tried to kill himself twice last year.

An addiction to computers can ruin adolescents' lives in months. Michael, for instance, got hooked on a computer game called Dota (Defence Of The Ancients) during the school holidays in December 2004.

'Within two weeks of my first setting eyes on the game, I was playing continuously for 15 hours.'

When school reopened, he would play for six to seven hours at an Internet gaming shop every day. He soon began playing truant from school. His grades began slipping, but he promised his trusting parents that he would buck up.

But by January last year - despite last-minute studying - he failed two major examinations. Mortified, he returned to gaming with a vengeance. 'It was the only thing I was good at.'

But no amount of gaming could help erase the 'humiliating failures'. He said: 'I kept thinking, my friends were in poly or JC, some were completing National Service, but I was still in secondary school.'

He opted to take the O levels again, but even as he prepared for the examinations, depression and stress caused him to attempt suicide twice between May and June last year.

Ironically, these 'failures' turned his life around.

He was sent for treatment at the Institute of Mental Health. After being prescribed medication to treat his depression, he began to go for counselling sessions to sort out his emotional problems as well as plan and prepare for the future.

His counsellor, Ms Yeo Li Fern, said much of Michael's problems stemmed from his deep disappointment in himself for failing his examinations. She began walking him through his difficulties, trying to change his lifestyle rather than his mind. She spoke to his parents - who are both engineers - and teachers.

Some of the tips were practical - like getting a tutor to help with his studies and establishing a timetable limiting his gaming hours, since he was not ready to quit totally.

Then, using a technique called motivational interviewing, she began reminding him of his strengths - such as his swimming skills.

'Creating hope' during the weekly sessions had its desired effects. He drew on the same discipline he had instilled in his pursuit of sports to concentrate on studies. The efforts paid off. He sat for his O levels again just four months after his suicide bid - and passed.

'Reason works better than force,' he said, when asked how he pulled off the feat - and shrugged off his addiction.

Michael said that most teenagers know that it is against the law to buy drugs or alcohol. 'But everyone plays games - so it's difficult to believe you can get addicted.'

But believe it or not, that is exactly what is happening. In January last year, Singapore's Academy of Medicine published a paper on excessive Internet use, in which it surveyed 2,735 students from Secondary 1 to Secondary 3. One in five admitted to being constantly online at least five hours a day. The report termed this as compulsive usage.

'They use the Internet to such an extent that it interferes with their academic studies and they are very much preoccupied with it,' it said.

Since 2006, counsellors at Touch Community Services' cyber wellness arm have seen 166 young people with gaming and Internet addiction problems, said Touch Cyber Wellness and Sports manager Poh Yeang Cherng. They are mostly male and range in age from eight to 22. They spend so much time in front of the computer that it disrupts their lives by affecting schoolwork and damaging social relationships.

Like many in his field trying to wean young people off compulsive gaming, counsellor Anthony Yeong believes that prevention is the best cure.

Parents should limit computer use right from young and encourage a child to have varied interests. 'Instead, they allow a child unlimited computer use for years and clamp down hard when schoolwork suffers,' he observed. 'This only makes the child more rebellious.'

This article was first published in The Sunday Times.