Gaming addiction classified as disorder by WHO

[Skycloud]

Hmmm.... this doesn't look good for me. I gamble on video games about big game hunting.

Oh no I've just downloaded Panda Pop

 

[Barry]

Sorry, but I don't see anything at all controversial or inappropriate about this. I'm seen pathological gambling addiction close up, people who had lost everything, their lives destroyed, torn apart with grief because all they could think of was where to find the next stake. It affects huge numbers of people and exerts a hold as strong as alcohol or any addictive drug. Most people can gamble a bit without needing to keep doing it. A minority can't — to them it's a need exactly like a drug fix — and that's surely a mental health condition, possibly involving some genetic predisposition. Talking about it as though it's just a bit of a lack of self-discipline would be to fail to understand the severity of the condition. It destroys lives as surely as ME or non-operable cancer.

The WHO is right to recognise it.

Not really looked into this thread much so far, but I agree also. For quite some while now I have felt there is addictive potential here - as well as for virtual reality experiences generally. And I think it will be exploited by many unscrupulous vendors, especially as it will be much more difficult to regulate.

 

[TiredSam]

Haven't listened to this myself yet, but it looks interesting and is in my queue of podcasts to listen to while I drive to work:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3csv1bv

 

[Skycloud]

The UK happens to do really well in this field of design/production. It's a successful part of the creative industries, which are a much bigger part of the economy of the UK than people might think.
Sorry can't remember any supporting facts.

edit - changed important for bigger

 

[sb4]

I think there are 2 aspects to this.

1: Simply having nothing better to do / look forward too / no direction /escapism. From 10-17yrs I really only enjoyed playing games and not much else in life. All I did and really cared about was video games, back then I was far down the social ladder and so hated school and most other activities and didn't have any goals to work towards. I changed this at 17 when I decided to get my shit together however before this I guess you could say I was "addicted".
To resolve this addiction I simply had to come across the idea I could be so much more in life and there was a path to do this.

2. Blue Light. Blue light is very stimulating and messes with dopamine. Blue light makes sleeping very hard. Before I got interested in health I'd regularly not sleep till 2-3am. How do you think those 20yrs old kids could stay up playing games 51hrs straight before having a heart attack? The blue light was stimulating them, they were getting dopamine kicks from the game and melatonin was destroyed.
This one has an easy solution. Block the blue light.

 

[Sly Saint]

"Is there a link between smartphone, social media and depression.

Teen use of smartphones and social media skyrocketed simultaneously with rates of adolescent depression. Though causation has yet to be established, for parents — it’s better safe than sorry."

"A study published last month by The Association for Psychology Science found, in two nationally representative surveys, that adolescents in grades 8 through 12 have been subject to a staggering 30% increase in depressive symptoms, suicide-related outcomes, and suicide rates from 2010 and 2015 — young women were affected most, with reported suicide among teen girls is at a 40-year high. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found that the number of adolescents who experienced at least one major depressive episode leapt by 60%. Their 2016 survey found that about 13% of 17,000 kids had a major depressive episode, compared to 8% of the kids surveyed in 2010. Suicide deaths among people age 10 to 19 have also risen alarmingly, according to the latest data from the CDC."

"
Across the board, research and academic literature suggests that how you use social media matters when considering health and well-being. As Sir Simon Wessely, president of the UK’s Royal College of Psychiatrists, explained,

“I am sure that social media plays a role in unhappiness, but it has as many benefits as it does negatives. We need to teach children how to cope with all aspects of social media — good and bad — to prepare them for an increasingly digitized world. There is real danger in blaming the medium for the message.”"

https://beat.10ztalk.com/2018/01/09/is-there-a-link-between-smartphone-social-media-and-depression/

 

[Adrian]

New
"Is there a link between smartphone, social media and depression.

Teen use of smartphones and social media skyrocketed simultaneously with rates of adolescent depression. Though causation has yet to be established, for parents — it’s better safe than sorry."

In the mid 2000 there was a report in the US on cyber bullying and one of the issues they raised was that for kids most of the cyber bullying came from people they knew in schools. But unlike more traditional bullying it didn't just happen when someone was at school but being online allowed the bullying to be extended into the home and what would have traditionally be a safe place. It seems to me that smartphones and social media would also intensify this effect and could lead to issues.

 

[Alvin]

Is there a link between smartphone, social media and depression.

But it can't be, according to common wisdom and all the marketing depression is biochemical and genetic. So either thats wrong or this is incorrect or they want to have it both ways...

 

[TigerLilea]

A 28 year old man has shot and killed his mother after losing a video game. I don't think he intended killing anyone; he just lost it mentally and sadly this is the result.

https://tinyurl.com/ybb88ugj