Cute Dolls Disrupting Private and Professional Lives

The promise of cute dolls, Chang Chun-hung, a psychiatrist in Taiwan, says is disrupting private and professional lives. Chang said the proliferation of over 10,000 claw crane arcades across Taiwan has got many people addicted. He cited the case of a 35-year-old man, Lin, who worked as an elevator repair man in Hsinchu.

Chang said Lin became so addicted to the claw machines that he ran out of money to play them and ended up taking out a loan without telling his wife. He became so desperate that he began stealing to raise funds to pay the loan and feed his claw machine addiction. This resulted in him losing his repair man job. Chang highlights another case, that of a 40-year-old man who worked on construction sites. He spent all of his monthly salary, US$675 on claw cranes. Chang said the man despite spending a huge amount was unable to grab a set of Bluetooth speakers worth US$650, thus he used a powerful magnet to steal them instead. And this triggered the shop's alarm and he was arrested on the suspicion of theft.

The psychiatrist said the human brain, from the perspective of brain science, has a reward and feedback system commonly known as the 'pleasure centre'. It is speculated that the claw crane machines may stimulate the brain by releasing dopamine and producing a sense of pleasure. Chang said there are three characteristics of addiction - tolerance, abstinence and loss of control. New research highlights that certain behaviors, such as playing claw crane games, can also be addictive.