A social enterprise providing education and information to protect and enhance the mental health of young people
4% of adult Australians play the pokies each week $6 billion spent on pokies each year The growing trend in ‘redemption games’ that are now filling children’s games arcades are setting them on the rocky road to gambling. They are called 'redemption games' because young people play for tickets or prizes, including cameras and TVs. They [...]
• 10% of computer users are addicted to games • Computer game addictions lead to mental health issues More and more teenagers are immersing themselves in a virtual world. Leaving reality behind them they are becoming increasingly addicted to computer games. This has led to some medical facilities offering full time treatment to young people who show signs [...]
Recently there has been a renewed cry for video and computer game addictions to be recognised by the greater community. More and more material is coming to light that confirms obsessive and addictive behaviour is increasing among people, especially young people, who engage in computer games for long periods of time. In Australia, Professor Vladan Starcevic of Sydney [...]
A recent review “Violent Video Game Effects on Aggression, Empathy, and Pro-social Behaviour in Eastern and Western Countries: A Meta-Analytic Review”, published by the American Psychological Association has used meta-analytic procedures to test the effects of violent video games on: Aggressive behaviour Aggressive cognition Aggressive affect Physiological arousal Empathy/desensitisation, and Pro-social behaviour. Today more than [...]
We are currently in the process of planning the 2010 Generation Next series. Thanks to your feedback we have learned a lot of lessons about how best to run the events and use the limited financial and other resources available to us. Importantly, in 2010 we would like to explore the possibility of running the [...]
An American study linked computer games to attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) when it found people who play computer games for around 40 hours a week are more likely to have difficulty paying attention than people who only play computer games for a couple of hours a week. The researchers who conducted the study conceded that [...]
Professor Susan Greenfield, world renowned neuroscientist from the University of Oxford, discussed the impact that computer games can have on the brain in an interview on Lateline on the ABC last week. She concluded that video games change the game player’s mind, both in good and bad ways. Professor Greenfield described our brains as being [...]
An English psychologist has announced plans to start treating video game addicts within the fantasy worlds of the games they play. Richard Graham of the Tavistock Clinic, London, believes many addicted gamers do not realise they have a problem, and would benefit the most from someone who understands the game. The game World of Warcraft [...]
For most people, playing video games is a harmless hobby. For some people however, video games can become an obsession, leading to a number of addictive tendencies including the preference to play games rather then engaging in regular activities. Unfortunately there is a lack of reliable studies examining video game addiction and so little is [...]
While there is increasingly more awareness of the problems resulting from cyberbullying, an often overlooked component of the whole cybersafety issue is internet and online video game addiction. More and more Australian families are being confronted with this very real and, according to all reports, growing problem. Robert (not his real name) sat in a [...]
