Gaming Addiction
Details
Please listen to both or either of the following podcasts for our discussion around the neuroscience of addiction within the context of video gaming.
- From gaming addiction to healthy gamer: Dr K's story
Why is gaming addictive? How do you know if it's a problem? And what should parents do if they're worried about their kids' gaming habits?
This week, psychiatrist and author Dr Alok Kanojia (Dr K) unpacks gaming addiction.
Long before Dr K was the co-founder of Healthy Gamer, he had his own story of addiction — playing for 20 hours a day and failing out of uni. How did he turn his own struggles into a global online community supporting gamers?
And what practical advice does he have for gamers (and the parents raising them) who want to find a balance?
https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/allinthemind/gaming-addiction-healthygamer-dr-k/106911626
- Let’s talk about gaming
Video gaming can be fun and engaging, but in some cases, what starts out as a hobby, turns into an addiction, interfering with all aspects of life.
In 2019, The World Health Organisation added gaming disorder to its list of diseases, recognising it as a behavioural addiction.
As a psychiatrist working on the front line, Dr Kim Le sees the psychological effects that too much screen time can have on the brain.
He says that severe cases of screen addiction are leaving parents at breaking point with young people not sleeping or eating or refusing to go to school because of their obsession with playing online video games.
In this Life Ed podcast for parents, Dr Le outlines what constitutes a gaming disorder and explains the cognitive effects gaming addiction is having on some young people. He unpacks how video game designers try to hook young people into forming a habit and shares strategies on how to stop gaming addiction from taking hold.
While studies suggest that gaming disorder affects only a small proportion of people who engage in digital, it is a growing problem, and many families are dealing with gaming overload, if not addiction.
https://lifeeducationqld.org.au/gaming-addiction-podcast-dr-kim-le/