Holo-addiction

Psychological dependence on holodeck fantasy

A compulsive dependence on holographic simulations as a refuge from real life, most closely associated with Reginald Barclay, whose struggles with it are shown in Hollow Pursuits and Pathfinder.

Holo-addiction, sometimes shortened to holodiction, is a recognised psychological problem of the 24th century: the habit of retreating into holodeck programmes because they are easier and kinder than reality.
The best-known case is Reginald Barclay. In the Next Generation episode Hollow Pursuits the shy engineer spends his off-duty hours in simulations where he outfights caricatures of the senior officers and is adored by a holographic Counsellor Troi. Geordi La Forge and Troi discover the programmes, and with their encouragement Barclay deletes almost all of them.
The problem resurfaces in the Voyager episode Pathfinder. Working on Earth to make contact with the lost ship, Barclay recreates Voyager and its crew on the holodeck and all but moves in. His superiors fear a relapse, although on this occasion the obsession yields a working method of reaching the Delta Quadrant.