The greatest challenge is stating the problem in a way that will allow a solution.

Monday, November 23, 2015

Center for Internet Addiction by a pioneer in the field, Dr. Kimberly Young


Center for Internet Addiction

Growing Epidemic

What is Internet addiction and how much time online is too much?

How young is too young for children to go online?

What can you do to better manage your technology use in your daily life? I address these questions and more in my first TED talk.


I launched the first study on Internet addiction in 1995, I wrote “Caught in the Net” in 1998, the first book to treat Internet addiction, and I have worked ever since to develop and discuss research and treatment for this rapidly evolving problem.

Signs of Internet Addiction
Meeting 5 of the criteria of the Internet Addiction Diagnostic Questionnaire (IADQ) means you are addicted.
  1. Do you feel preoccupied with the Internet (think about previous online activity or anticipate next online session)?
  2. Do you feel the need to use the Internet with increasing amounts of time in order to achieve satisfaction?
  3. Have you repeatedly made unsuccessful efforts to control, cut back, or stop Internet use?
  4. Do you feel restless, moody, depressed, or irritable when attempting to cut down or stop Internet use?
  5. Do you stay online longer than originally intended?
  6. Have you jeopardized or risked the loss of significant relationship, job, educational or career opportunity because of the Internet?
  7. Have you lied to family members, therapist, or others to conceal the extent of involvement with the Internet?
  8. Do you use the Internet as a way of escaping from problems or of relieving a dysphoric mood (e.g., feelings of helplessness, guilt, anxiety, depression)?
Other Symptoms Include:
  • Failed attempts to control behavior
  • Neglecting friends and family
  • Neglecting sleep to stay online
  • Being dishonest with others
  • Feeling guilty, ashamed, anxious, or depressed as a result of online behavior
  • Weight gain or loss, backaches, headaches, carpal tunnel syndrome
  • Withdrawing from other pleasurable activities
Read about my first novel, The Eighth Wonder
Look at my blog for my novel at KimberlyYoung.net

What you need to know about internet addiction 

 Dr. Kimberly Young

Published on Jan 5, 2015
This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences. We are all a bit too connected to our smartphones and web-connected devices.

Dr. Young helps identify warning signs of Internet addiction and what we can do to manage technology in our daily lives.

She also asks “How young is too young?” for screen time, warning parents about the dangers of technology use in children as young as two.

She offers strategies for how we can build “Screen Smart” schools, and introduces her new 3-6-9-12 Parenting Guidelines for managing tech use at home.

Psychologist Dr. Kimberly Young launched the first study on internet addiction in 1995, wrote "Caught in the Net" in 1998, and has worked ever since to develop and discuss research and treatment for a rapidly evolving problem.

Young is a professor at St. Bonaventure University and founder and director of the Center for Internet Addiction Recovery in Bradford, Pa.

She founded the first inpatient clinic for Internet addiction recovery in the United States at the Bradford Regional Medical Center.

Her work has been featured in The New York Times, Newsweek, Time, USAToday, CNN, Fox News, Good Morning America, MSNBC News, and The Today Show.
 

Link: https://youtu.be/vOSYmLER664


Center for Internet Addiction(Blog)

Your resource for treating Internet addiction since 1995.

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

How ISIS uses video games to recruit children

ISIS has been recruiting in new and strategic ways using video games to lure in children and teenagers. Game players in general can utilize ISIS-based games to recruit soldiers.
ISIS supporters are distributing a sickening video game that allows users to play the role of Islamic extremists on a mission to murder Westerners.

Supporters of the terror group, which has brought rape and massacre to vast swathes of Syria and Iraq, have modified the popular video game ARMA III to create characters based on ISIS militants.

Also, thanks to ISIS, the successful video game franchise Grand Theft Auto now has an unauthorized sequel in its series: “Grand Theft Auto: Salil al-Sawarem (Clang of Swords).”

The ISIS bootleg features the same carjacking, pistol-whipping mayhem-entertainment as the original, but now players detonate roadside bombs and execute Iraqi police officers.

Of late, ISIS has combined brutality with social media acumen to become one of the most feared and reviled organizations on earth in recent months, publicly releasing videos of beheadings of American and British hostages in addition to broadcasting other unspeakable acts of violence.

Their latest video isn’t that horrific or extreme, but it is three and a half minutes of Grand Theft Auto 5, cut and edited in a way to try and recruit new, young members into the extremist organization.

The video uses clips from Grand Theft Auto 5 to demonstrate that they “do the things you do in games, in real life on the battlefield,” according to a loose translation of the introductory text.

Children who play violent video games may experience an increase in aggressive thoughts, which in turn, could boost their aggressive behavior.

Studies have shown children who played a lot of violent video games showed an increase in aggressive behavior — such as hitting, shoving and pushing — meanwhile, those who decreased the amount of time they spent playing violent video games saw a decrease violent behavior.
Children and adolescents who play a lot of violent games change over time, they start to see aggressive solutions as being more reasonable.

The games were created to "raise the morale of the Mujahideen, and the training of children and young teenagers to fight the West, and throw terror into the hearts of opponents of the state," according to Egyptian news weekly El Fagr.
According to Arabic journalists, the concern is that these images turn into recruitment propaganda aimed to train children and youth how to battle the West and to strike terror into the hearts of those who oppose the Islamic State. 

The fear is that children are already vulnerable to developing aggressive behaviors after excessive game play and those who suffer from addiction are even more susceptible to developing harmful attitudes and violence against Western cultures.  

Monday, November 10, 2014

Should video games be considered a collegiate sport? I say No…

Last week, I was flying home from Germany where I met with my research colleagues at the University of Duisburg-Essen. We held an entire symposium on Internet addiction including cybersex addiction, social media addiction, and Internet gaming addiction – an especially potent addiction in countries such as Korea, China, and Taiwan.

Imagine my surprise when, while waiting at the airport to catch my plane, I saw a story on CNN about Robert Morris University in Aurora, Illinois becoming the first school to categorize playing video games as a varsity sport, even offering scholarship funds for the "athletes."

The team meets every weekday for practice between 4 and 9 p.m., with an hour break for dinner, and competitions are every Saturday, according to Kurt Melcher, the school's associate athletic director.
That day, I was being interviewed by ABC News for a story on Candy Crush Saga, when I told the reporter about my deep concerns over video games being considered an athletic sport, she followed up with a story,
 What It's Like to Be a Video Game Athlete on College Scholarship.
Given the research on Internet gaming, in 2013, the American Psychiatric Association included Internet Gaming Addiction in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders as a new condition for further study.

Other studies have repeatedly documented that what begins as a recreational activity can easily turn into an addictive problem. For instance, in an effort to curb video game addiction among youth, South Korea's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has implemented a sort of gaming "curfew" that will block underage users from accessing online computer games after midnight.
Studies have shown video games feed the brain’s reward centers in a similar way that drugs or alcohol produce an appealing “high.” Further studies have shown that gamers quickly lose themselves in these virtual worlds and their behavior has serious consequences. This summer I met Valerie Veatch, the producer and director of the HBO documentary “Love Child,” a film about a South Korean couple who had let their 3-month-old daughter starve to death while they spent up to 12 hours a day playing “Prius Online” at a local internet cafe. At a special preview of the documentary that we both attended, she said, “They were unable to distinguish the virtual world from the real world.”
These problems are not only seen in Korea, China was one of the first countries in the world to label overuse of the Internet a clinical condition and in response the Chinese government has created treatment facilities to detox and cure teenagers of their addictions to online life.
So, should American colleges view video games as an eSport? The problem of video game addiction isn’t as simple as playing too much or really enjoying video games. At the Center for Internet Addiction, a U.S. firm, we see addicted gamers who are more than twice as likely to have ADD/ADHD, get into more physical fights, and have health problems caused by long hours of game play (e.g., hand and wrist pain, poor hygiene, irregular eating habits). Many need treatment to improve their academic performance and return to normal functioning.
We find treatment for video game addicts to be very difficult because addicted gamers need to spend more time and money on video games to feel the same “high,” skipping out on responsibilities like household chores or homework to play games, excessive thinking about game play, trying to play less and failing, and stealing games or money to play. In their eyes, they don’t see this behavior as an addiction.

Although the U.S. is lagging behind countries like South Korea, which boasts more than 100 clinics to treat video game addiction, there should great concern about American colleges deeming video games as sport. It is important that we first understand the impact of these games on our youth. While video games can be fun and entertaining, I continue to hear from families who are struggling because of a child's gaming habits. What may seem like a competitive sport could be masking a deeper problem. 
Posted by




Dr. Kimberly Young is a pioneer in the field

 Blog: http://netaddictionrecovery.blogspot.ca/

 

Supposedly. Korea is ahead of America in addressing this probem:

South Korea online gaming addiction rehab centers ...

www.businessinsider.com/south-korea-online-gaming-addiction-rehab-c...
Mar 25, 2015 - Korea's internet addiction crisis is getting worse, as teens spend up to 88 ... When Shea asked him if he had a back-up career plan, the young ...
Aug 1, 2011 - Media captionInternet gaming has gripped South Korea's youth ... camp in the hills is an attempt to prevent internet addiction, rather than cure it.
Jun 10, 2015 - These problems are not only seen in Korea, China was one of the first ... a comprehensive Master Plan to prevent and treat Internet addiction.
You visited this page on 22/11/15.

Internet Addiction Disorder - Learn more about this new ...

netaddiction.com/internet-addiction-disorder/
Mar 26, 2014 - For instance, in Korea, they are a leader in this field as they are the first to have established a comprehensive Master Plan to prevent and treat ...

Internet Addiction: Neuroscientific Approaches and ...

Christian Montag, ‎Martin Reuter - 2015 - ‎Technology & Engineering
13.4 Internet Addiction Response Program in Korea The Internet addiction ... Third, the plan should extend services to encompass post-treatment outcome ...
Jan 17, 2015 - Internet addiction in South Korea is so severe that state-funded treatment centres are now available. ... While internet addiction treatments in the UK look set to remain in private clinics for .... Rollercoaster landing for UK plane.


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