I think it's more than one factor, and some that are often over looked.

First, is the goal is to stop playing WoW, as in that picture, that's easy, just play Warhammer Online, it's a ton more fun.

But if we are talking about MMO's in general, often a bit of maturity is needed along with examination of your own life.

The times I have found myself become really addicted to an MMO are the times when my life isn't going that good. Bad relationship, miserable at work, whatever it might be, I found myself playing an MMO a lot to get away from those problems. It's a way to ignore real life.

When things are good, I find it easy to step away from the games and not play. Because there are other great things to do in life.

So I don't think it's an addiction at all, it's an escape from reality. People just need to either take a hard look at their lives and work on their problems, or they need to seek therapy, which is an admirable thing to do in times of trouble.