You might remember our hotly-debated editorial about the concept of "MMO addiction," published last month. In it, we reviewed the negative media coverage and various claims that MMOs are addictive, supposedly leading to social withdrawal and real-world failures. It's a debate that will probably rage for years to come, although some mental health professionals might already be preparing for an "epidemic."

According to a recent article in the UK's Telegraph, addiction therapists plan to sign up for MMO accounts (such as World of Warcraft) and use their in-game characters to offer resource advice and counseling to "youngsters who are spending so much time playing these games that they have lost touch with the real world," according to the article.

Although it admittedly seems like a novel idea, when you consider that today's generation of doctoral graduates are potentially just as tech-savvy as your average 15-year-old, it could be the logical "next step." The plan is being spearheaded by Dr. Richard Graham, a consultant psychiatrist at the Tavistock Centre in London. Apparently, he's petitioning Blizzard Entertainment to offer free subscriptions to his staff and other like-minded organizations, to make it easier for them to reach "at-risk" youth, according to the article.

Graham says he's planning to launch the program by the end of the year. Believe it or not, the Telegraph quotes Graham saying, "Of course one problem we’re going to have to overcome is that while a psychiatrist may excel in what they do in the real world, they’re probably not going to be very good at playing World of Warcraft [...] We may have to work at that if we are going to get through to those who play this game for hours at end."

Perhaps it's just me, but I interpreted that statement as, "In order to get through to those who play this game for hours on end, we're going to have to play this game for hours on end." To see a virtual presentation created by Graham about the upcoming program, check out this link (via WoW.com).