Control the controller, defeat the (videogame) addiction: opinion


A boon: A study claims that children with ADHD improved their working memory and levels of attention with half an hour of videogame play a day.

Have you ever heard of an addict who was cured of his or her addiction because someone limited, but did not eliminate, their access to the substance or behaviour in question? No, you have not. Is an addiction to gambling less harmful if the addict is only allowed to gamble five hours a week? No, it is not. The proposition is absurd. 

Before I continue, a digression: I am allowed, by law, to call myself a psychologist; therefore, I am a psychologist. However, I am ever-increasingly aware that I do not have much in common with most people in my nominal profession. In this regard, I am of the experienced opinion (38 years) that clinical psychology is more ideology than science, more fad-driven than fact-driven, and that the facts are not impressive. Does several years of graduate school make one a better advice-giver? Is any form of psychological therapy reliably effective? These questions, and many more, remain unanswered to a satisfying degree. 

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