Video gaming addiction is now officially a disease: World Health Organisation

or many years, parents have raised concerns that their children might be addicted to video games.

The emergence of Fortnite and other online games has since seen gaming addiction in young children and teens spiral.

Now, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has officially added video game addiction — characterised by "a pattern of persistent or recurrent gaming behaviour" that "takes precedence over other life interests" — to their International Classification of Diseases (ICD) database.

Read the full article on NZHerald.

The Dopamine Brain by Dr Anastasia Hronis

Clinical psychologist and founder of the Australian Institute for Human Wellness Dr Anastasia Hronis lifts the lid on dopamine to help us live by intention, not impulse. A transformative guide to breaking free from impulsive habits and living a more intentional life.

Science

Reducing social media use improves appearance and weight esteem in youth with emotional distress

A brief 4-week intervention using screen time trackers showed that reducing social media use (SMU, experimental group) yielded significant improvements in appearance and weight esteem in distressed youth with heavy SMU, whereas unrestricted access to social media (control group) did not.

News

Australia passes landmark social media ban for under-16s

Australia has passed landmark rules to ban under-16s from social media, approving one of the world’s toughest crackdowns on popular sites like Facebook, Instagram and X.

Screen Sense