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Crosscurrents

A doctor for your video game addiction

CC License Flickr User RebeccaPollard. Cropped.

There’s debate among mental health practitioners about whether to consider compulsive video gaming a "disorder" that requires psychiatric help. But one thing they do agree on is that too much gaming can be detrimental to the wellbeing of young people.

Dr. Min Tan is a San Francisco psychotherapist and computer engineer. He specializes in treating kids and young adults whose lives have been impaired by spending too much time gaming. KALW's Hana Baba visited his office to ask him about the addictive quality of gaming.

Dr. Min Tan: "First the parents are like, "Hey, he's on the computer — it's Silicon Valley. Great! Why not? They don't realize they substitute their world in the internet to the real world."

Learn more about Dr. Min Tan at his website.

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Crosscurrents psychology