Addiction: Merriam-Webster defines it as “Compulsive craving and use of a habit-forming substance (such as heroin, nicotine, or alcohol) characterized by tolerance and by well-defined physiological symptoms at the time of withdrawal; in general: persistent compulsive use of a substance that the user knows to be harmful”.

That’s how it is. People are addicted to cigarettes, drugs and alcohol. That’s why there are so many ways to get away from these additions. People are also addicted to other things, such as food (chocolate ranks high in food addictions) and gambling. There are all these programs available to help people break free from these addictions: Alcoholics Anonymous, Overeaters Anonymous, Gamblers Anonymous…

A newer addiction is computer addiction. People can spend hours browsing the web or playing the latest computer games.

But the biggest addiction seems to be Spider Solitaire. It’s so easily available. It comes free with every Windows installation. It only takes a few minutes to learn. You start with a single suite. Move quickly up to two suites. And then the challenge begins… Four Suites! That’s when the addiction comes. The game allows you to go back as many moves as you want, even back to the beginning of the game. You can spend hours just retrying the same game, but when that game ends, whether you win or lose, you’ll quickly hit “new game” and start over.

I did some research on how the game has affected people’s lives. Responses I have received:

• i stayed up all night playing
• Didn’t walk the dog (what a mess!) Burnt dinner (lucky smoke alarm)
• I forgot to pick up my children from school
• I spent a full day at work just playing
• Missed a full day of work
• ________________________ Write on your own: no one is immune.

The solution

Everyone has been through it. There are no simple solutions. No special gum. No patches. No clinics. There are no support groups (who might walk away from Spider to get to a group meeting). There is only one solution. Delete the game from your computer. The work one too. Do a good search to make sure you’ve removed any instances of it. Then you just pick up a new computer addiction (try Facebook). No other computer addiction is as bad as Spider Solitaire.