Tamsyn Burgmann - When 15-year-old Brandon Crisp occasionally got out of line, his parents would discipline him with the method they believed worked best: take away his prized Microsoft Xbox.

Steve and Angelika Crisp would eventually return the gaming console to the Barrie, Ont., teen, who would resume playing his favourite game, "Call of Duty 4," late into the night.

The Crisps have said the disciplinary measure was their way of grounding Brandon, cutting him off briefly from friends he'd made online. Over Thanksgiving weekend, push came to shove, and Steve Crisp revoked his son's Xbox privileges for good.

On Oct. 13, Brandon took off -- his parents haven't seen him since.

In the following days, the Crisps have spoken out about what they've characterized as their son's "addiction" to video games and the online world he inhabited, while pleading for information on his whereabouts.

While experts distance themselves from calling heavy gaming "addiction," they agree gamers can form strong attachments to the virtual world.

"That's what people don't realize," said Stephen Kline, director of the Media Analysis Laboratory at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, B.C.

"These are very intense emotional experiences for the heavy gamer. There's going to be deep separation anxiety."

Kline, whose research focuses on excessive video game playing by young people, said it's frequently, though not always, teenage boys who plunge whole-heartedly into video or online gaming.

These gamers have several features in common, he said, including being highly devoted to the activity, feeling a loss of control to stop, and being compelled to give up other activities -- like sleep and school work -- to continue.

A number of forces have been suggested as drivers of the compulsion, from its pleasurable and possible dopamine and adrenaline-releasing capabilities to the way it provides a sort of reward for those who do it well.

"That's the paradox, because you're gaining a sense of control because you're becoming better and better," Kline said.

"You're a member of an online team, and you're gaining face within that group. These are meaningful actions for an individual."

Pulling the plug not the answer

The problem, however, is video games or an online community can too easily become used to plug voids in a person's life.

"If someone has social anxiety, they may gravitate towards being on the computer more because it's easier to have relationships on there than face to face," said Bruce Ballon, at Toronto's Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.

"For someone who's being physically bullied, it's easier to go online and chop people up with an axe through role playing games."

Ballon recently launched the Toronto's Adolescent Clinical Education Service, a pilot project that takes a holistic approach to treating problem gaming, gambling and Internet use. He said many obsessive gamers began the overuse as a coping mechanism for other underlying issues.

"If you don't treat some of the other issues at the same time, then you don't get anywhere," he said. "You're just basically chasing around in circles all the problems."

Pulling the plug on the technology entirely is not the answer, because it can prevent children from asking for support from parents when they do have problems, said Cathy Wing, co-executive director of the Media Awareness Network.

"It's working out a balance with them where they understand that this is really impacting on their school, their family life and their relationships with friends," Wing said.

In a longitudinal study on student Internet use in Canada, the Ottawa-based Media Awareness Network found one of the best ways to prevent Internet misuse is to set rules.

Children between Grades 4 and 11 whose time online wasn't limited by parents spent 95 per cent more time in cyberspace than those who were. Those who had a computer in their bedroom also spent double the time using it than those who shared.